Guest McSuggy Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Just wanted to say hi, I'm very much a newbie to all this, so would welcome any advice, hints etc. Ali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali and a warm welcome to EMS Do you have any equipment yet? (scope, binocs, etc). Or were you looking to get general advice for buying something? If you're a total starter I would advise to go to an observing meeting first and meet the folks and have a look at and through some scopes to get a good feel for the hobby and where to begin. You'll find us a very friendly and welcoming group with members at all stages from "completely new" to "advanced". If you have any specific questions please feel free to post it up in the "beginners help" section and someone will be along with an answer soon. Meantime enjoy reading through the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali and welcome to EMS. Kim has got that spot on, always best to "try before you buy" with regards to astro stuff. What one person likes, the next doesn't. There are plenty of different types of scopes, set ups eye pieces etc, and nobody at a observing meeting would mind you having a look through our kit, I have had queues of people at my scope one night, lol. Also, do a search on Google for Stellarium, a fantastic free piece of software that will help you learn the night sky, it is great and so easy to use. Hope you enjoy the forum and welcome to a great obsession/hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hello Ali, welcome to ems, where are you in the UK ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hinckley, that's Leicester isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi there. Welcome to EMS. I to am pretty much a total newb. Everyone on here is friendly and are always happy to help. Enjoy the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali, a warm welcome to EMS. As already mentioned, don't buy a scope until you have an idea what suits you and your budget. But a pair of binoculars will bring some great objects into view, for a reasonable price. 10 x 50 are about the biggest you can comfortably hand hold for any length of time. I recently bought some 8 x 40's for £18, (second hand) and they are just right for me. Feel free to pop over to one of our meets, you would be very welcome. In the meantime, enjoy the forum, and ask any questions you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali, welcome to the most friendly astronomy forum there is!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 We have two observing sites - one at Belper in Derbyshire and one at Sawley in Nottingham (which is a good deal closer to Hinckley). There are a lot of members in the Leicester and Loughborough area that use the Sawley site when weather allows. We also have smaller impromptu meetings occasionally of two or three members at each others houses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali, welcome to EMS. Everyone here is very friendly and helpful, i've learnt loads from peeps. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fluke Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Ali, Welcome to EMS. Until recently I used to commute 110 miles a day between Sutton in Ashfield and Hinckley. There are some nice dark skies to be had in all that countryside around you. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Nice of you to join the asylum Loads of advice and helpful folks here. Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest McSuggy Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Thanks everyone, I did join another site at first but didn't get much response so was really glad when I opened this up and saw so many replies. I had a Celestron NexStar 5se bought for my "special birthday" last year and also the Eyepiece and Filter Kit. Unfortunately my back garden has a lamppost right next to it so light pollution is a slight problem. I want to try and take pics so am looking at webcams, but again not sure whats best and whats not. Thanks again. Ali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Alison and welcome to EMS. : That's a pretty good scope for starting out. There are loads of imagers on this forum so ask any questions and I'm sure you'll get an answer. Light pollution is an evil problem, I can sympathise with the problems of close street lighting as I have a similar situation. Some of our members came up with a unique (and non destructive) solution. A can, with a white LED, placed over the sensor on the top of the street light. The light thinks it is daytime and turns off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Alison and welcome to EMS. : That's a pretty good scope for starting out. There are loads of imagers on this forum so ask any questions and I'm sure you'll get an answer. Light pollution is an evil problem, I can sympathise with the problems of close street lighting as I have a similar situation. Some of our members came up with a unique (and non destructive) solution. A can, with a white LED, placed over the sensor on the top of the street light. The light thinks it is daytime and turns off! What's light pollution please ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Alison and welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Alison and welcome aboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 What's light pollution please ?? Me now parked outside your house with full headlights on. You are a lucky ****** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Welcome to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest telesto Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hi Alison, a warm welcome from me to Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antares_Paul Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Welcome Alison. Enjoy the forum. Plenty of help/advice to be had here. BTW, I have fond memories of Hinckley. I went through military training at Gamecock barracks Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Webcams are great for imaging planets because you get a rapid series of short exposure shots - some of which will have caught those odd moments of stability in the Earth's atmosphere to give a good image of the planet in view. You'll require a tracking mount to capture planets and it can be of the equatorial or alt/az type. The worst of the images can be thrown away and the best ones can be aligned together using "Registax" (free to download software) to create a single mutli frame image. This can then be processed in photo processing software like "Photoshop" to tweak the finishing touches. There are plenty of free photo processing packages e.g. "Gimp" - which is quite popular. You can use the software that comes with your webcam or free capture software like WxAstroCapture and others. The current popular webcams in general use is the Philips SPC900NC and the SPC880 (which has the same chip sensor and can be flashed to emulate the 900). Webcams can also be upgraded or modified to enable deep sky object photography (e.g. clusters, galaxies, nebulae) which require long exposure photography, and, very accurately polar aligned equatorial mounts. These can be "guided" with a parallel scope and camera to achieve exposures of over 10 mins at a time. But by then you'll probably be looking into DSLR photography of which there are plenty of examples in the imaging section. Have a read of this website for a full introduction to the different camera options and imaging techniques. Also a good book to invest in is "Making Every Photon Count": http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/ http://www.nightskyi...hoton_count.htm Both great placs to make a start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Me now parked outside your house with full headlights on. You are a lucky ****** The reason its so dark here is because there is nothing here ! Very boring but very dark... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Welcome to EMS Alison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hi Ali welcome to the EMS Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now