Thread: Astronomy
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Old 12-07-2007, 08:22 AM   #19
aintgotnun
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Justin, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by N7OQ View Post
My Orion Nebula is the color that the camera took
That is an amazing pic. And no enhancement. Great!

Quote:
Originally Posted by N7OQ View Post
One the things that happen to a lot of people getting into Astronomy is they get aperture fever they keep buying bigger scopes until they become much trouble to setup and then they just collect dust. I think that anything above 10" starts to get hard to handle, I have a friend who has a 12" scope and He said he used his 6" scope more often and his 12" is collecting dust because it is so heavy.

For visual viewing the scopes Greg have are the best in my opinion they have the best price to size and so easy to set up you can be viewing in minutes. I could write a book here but there are much better ones already written. Like Ham radio you can spend a lot or a little and you can also build your own scopes.

I was dead set on getting a 12" after all it was only a few hundred more and I had the cash. Then I went to an astro shop and saw them side by side and they let me "move" them around. That's when I decided on the 10". The tube on my 10" weighs about 30lbs with the extra stuff on it. The tube on the 12" weighs over 50lbs. HUGE difference. The base on both is about 26lbs. The overall size of the 12" made it impractical for me as I want to be able to take it camping with me. It would have been a PITA to get in and out of my trailer. My 10" is no problem and it rides on the queen bed with a couple of tie-downs to keep it in place. Set up is quick and easy. If I step outside and see it's a nice clear night I can be up and looking in a matter of 15 minutes and that's with aligning my COL.

And like Steven, I use my low power eye pieces more than the high power as you can get more "stuff" in view. About the only time I break out the high power ones is for planetary viewing. And then it becomes a challange to show people what's in view as everything moves soo fast. At 200+ power, Jupiter will stay in view for less than 2 minutes before I have to "bump" the scope to line it back up. But it's all good. It's a fun hobby.

Whatever you do. DO NOT buy a scope from a department store like wally world. You will use it only once and probably never again. Goto an astro shop and look around. IMO my little 4.5" StarBlast is a great intro scope. About $200 with a couple of eye pieces and easily portable. Set it up on a table and start looking in just a couple of minutes. I don't have any binos yet but they are next on my list.
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