Guest devil74 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi everyone. Just like to say this looks like a really cool place to start with astronomy. Reading the forums you all seem so helpful (which is good for me because i will need It). So was just wandering where the next meet was...I read that you have two dark skies locations you use. I would love to come and try stargazing before I venture into the unknown and actually buy a scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Welcome to EMS meetings are announced at short notice as we weather watch a lot. There is an imaging workshop at the wymeswold dark site on 23rd February. Check out the details by clicking the banner at the top of the page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi Damian, Welcome to EMS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Welcome to EMS! As has been mentioned, keep an eye on the forums for a session. They are normally arranged when we have clear skies, so can be arranged at very short notice. When you come along bring a quid and cup if you would like to partake in a hot drink and biscuits! (normally courtesy of Baz or JohnC) Check out the details by clicking the banner at the top of the page The shoutbox isn't visible to new members straight away. The thread is here: http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/topic/3501-imaging-workshop-at-wymeswold-2322013/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hello and welcome to EMS. To start with try out this free program called Stellarium, great bit of free software to get you learning the night sky. Can be found here..... http://www.stellarium.org/ Then like Felix has said, check the announcements section frequently. Welcome to the obsession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi Damian, a warm welcome to EMS. You would be very welcome to join us next time we are able to get out, keep an eye open on the announcements section. It's a great idea to get a feel for what scopes are out there, and what would suit you and your budget. I would advise that if you are planning buying a scope, just run it past folks on here, we wouldn't want you to get something that would disappoint you. In the meantime enjoy the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 At the moment there has been very few stargazing meets, this is down to the bad weather we are having and because of this the ground at both venues is rather muddy. It will improve and hopefully meets will be on a much more regular basis. You are more then welcome to come along and see if astronomy is for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Welcome to EMS Damian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi Damian and a warm welcome to EMS You'd be very welcome to join us for a session - no equipment needed - just turn up and you'll be able to look through plenty of different scopes to get a good feel for what's available and what you might fancy buying. Unfortunately the weather has held us back for a while - very few good nights since Xmas - but keep and eye on the "EMS Meets" board in info and announcements - they tend to get arranged sometimes at short notice but mostly at the weekends - so do look in - especially from Friday nights onwards. Look forward to meeting you - meantime enjoy the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi and welcome to EMS am just up the road from you in Heanor. Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Hello. Welcome to EMS. Enjoy the forums. Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 welcome from another near neighbour in Sandiacre. hopefully see you at the meet on the 23rd of feb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Hi Devil74, Warm welcome to EMS. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Hi welcome to the EMS Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Hi and welcome aboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 welcome from another near neighbour in Sandiacre. hopefully see you at the meet on the 23rd of feb Hi Rob, Thanks for the warm welcome. Good to see members from my neck of the woods. I was thinking of coming to the meet you mentioned this Saturday...is it still on and which site are you at? Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Hi there again from sunny heanor Are you hoping to be an imager or a visual astronomer. the meet on saturday may be a bit hard for you to follow as it is technical talks and practical problem solving for the imagers. You may be better to come to a normal meet where there are both visual and imaging folks there. Am unsure as you dont have a scope what you want to look at first Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hi there again from sunny heanor Are you hoping to be an imager or a visual astronomer. the meet on saturday may be a bit hard for you to follow as it is technical talks and practical problem solving for the imagers. You may be better to come to a normal meet where there are both visual and imaging folks there. Am unsure as you dont have a scope what you want to look at first Sheila Hi Sheila, I think in the long term I would like to take images but not on a serious basis...I think I will be more of a visual astronomer (plus the cost of serious imaging seems a lot). That said, maybe imaging will 'bite' seriously one day. Rob mentioned the meet In Wymeswold this Sat but if you think I am better waiting for a 'normal' meet then I will do that. Though I would like to meet some of you guys and gals. I haven't got a scope yet but I am saving - my budget will probably be between £300-500 so I am hoping to get a decent scope for that. I don't have the knowledge yet but have been looking at a Dobsonians (8 or 10") or some kind of motorised system...I like the idea of tracking objects but again until I try and see what they can do I wont be able to make my mind up. And I suppose you can guess that I want to look at deep sky objects too. Thanks for your help, any feedback is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hi there You would be very welcome at the meets At a normal meet there are many types of scopes to see and look through for visual. At this particular meet you cant look through any scopes as they all have cameras/computers attached If you are looking at a dob.....(which is a good choice for visual but not imaging) a normal meet will have loads as they are very popular and good to start with. 8 or 10 inch dobs are brilliant and there would be ones for you to look at and try. If you are considering a motorised one then again there will be a few there for you to try. Folks are very happy to let new people see before they buy so to speak. This is why i suggested that this meet was a little specialist for that sort of thing Hope to meet you when we arrange the next meet Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Great advice from Sheila there - an observing evening will be much more appropriate for a beginner without a scope. There will be plenty of folks to chat with about your future purchase and plenty of equipment to view and look through. You'll enjoy it a lot more I'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Morning everyone, Just to say thank you for all your advice and welcomes. I will keep an eye on the announcements section for next meets. Of late the weather is not playing at all is it, it seems to be clear early evening and then clouds over. Anyway I have been reading round the forum and the net regarding scopes. It seems most people to have two scopes (one for the planets generally and one for deep sky objects). My understanding is that for viewing deep sky you generally want a scope with a lower focal ratio, say 5ish, (8" Dobsonian for eg) and a scope with a ratio of say 8-10 for lunar and planets if you want to look at the detail (which I do). I just want to know if having two scopes is the route to go or is there some middle ground regarding ratios that would suit both situations? I understand there has to be some trade off between deep sky and detail? Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Depends, if you get a SCT for example at a ratio of F10, you can get a 6.3x reducer which will reduce the F ratio to F6.3. One scope, best of both worlds. My 200P on a dob base is F6, so slightly geared towards planetary viewing but still really good on globular and open clusters (my favorite), nebula are ok but as I am visual wont get loads of detail anyway. So the answer is not necessarily having 2 scopes, just depends on what type you get! Just a bit more for you to think about. Edited February 20, 2013 by Daz Type-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Also, the 8" dobs (Sky Watcher brand) mounted on a EQ mount (bought as a set from a shop), they will be a F5 (1000mm focal length) where as the dob based 8" brand will be a F6 (1200mm focal length). Not all 8" OTA's are the same focal ratio, a few people fall into that trap, all part of the learning curve. Edited February 20, 2013 by Daz Type-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hi Darren, Thanks for the advice. I won't buy one yet anyway until I have been to a few meets but I quite like the dobs on an eq mount. I am certainly learning here. I love this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) No probs, your not a million miles from me, with the state of the weather lately and lack of meets your more than welcome to pop round for a look at mine. (it's dob based though) Edited February 20, 2013 by Daz Type-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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