Guest Starred_4_Life Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi everyone, I've finally signed up after discovering your site one evening looking for advice on buying a scope. In the end I've opted for a Newtonian reflector and purchased a Skywatcher Explorer 150 PL on the EQ3-2 mount. Which brings a smile to my face every time I walk past it. Still waiting for a clear night to take it on its maiden voyage so fingers crossed for clear skies/schedule soon. Literally have no back ground in astronomy other than pinching my brothers tiny toy shop refractor (which he never used), and being perched in the window bottom behind my bedroom curtain staring up at the moon lol. So its a start from the ground up for me, a lot of reading and research to do, but expecting to make more mistakes than not at the start, but extremely excited about my new purchase and all that it has to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) Hi Sarah welcome to EMS. Good starter scope you opted for there, should let you see plenty (sky permitting). Feel free to ask any question that pops into your head in the relevent section and somebody will be along to answer it shortly. If you havn't all ready got it, download Stellarium,a free cracking bit of software that shows you the night sky, link here..... http://www.stellarium.org/ The scope you have is a cracking good scope for the moon and planets (with it's focal ratio of F8), you may struggle with some of the dimmer DSO's (deep space objects) but you should see some of the brighter ones. Hope you enjoy the forum. Regards, Daz. Edited March 4, 2013 by Daz Type-R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eddy Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Welcome to EMS Sarah, good starter scope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Welcome to EMS Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah and a warm welcome to EMS Congrats - very nice starter scope you have there - my first scope was a 150P on EQ3-2 and it served me well for 2yrs before I traded up. You have the "PL" with the longer focal length which'll be great for planets and moon (though perfectly adept with dos's too). If you need any help then don't hesitate to start a thread in the Beginners Section - someone will answer soon - and if you need any one to one advice you'd be welcome to join us at a dark site session sometime. Meantime enjoy the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah, welcome to EMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starred_4_Life Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Thanks guys. Darren: I've already downloaded the Stellarium, it's a cracking little programme which has come in really handy of late as it was the only way I could view/track the DA14 asteroid last month as it was over cast , well that and a live feed from Spain . I was hoping to install it on my laptop so I could use it outside to guide me around the sky, but for the life of me I can't get it to run on there!! So might have to pinch my partners I Phone for the time being Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Thanks guys. Darren: I've already downloaded the Stellarium, it's a cracking little programme which has come in really handy of late as it was the only way I could view/track the DA14 asteroid last month as it was over cast , well that and a live feed from Spain . I was hoping to install it on my laptop so I could use it outside to guide me around the sky, but for the life of me I can't get it to run on there!! So might have to pinch my partners I Phone for the time being There are some clever computer chaps on here, start a new thread in the beginners section regarding your Stelarium issues and somebody should be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah, welcome to EMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah welcome to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Sarah. Welcome to EMS. Enjoy the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Welcome Sarah. You are starting out just like I did, with absolutely no experience. You never stop learning and there is a wealth of experience here. As Daz says, feel free to ask anything... there's no such thing as a silly question (just silly answers!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Welcome to ems Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Hi Sarah, a warm welcome to EMS. That's a cracking scope to be going on with, and should show you all the Messier objects, there is 110, so a few to go at. This should whet your appetite. http://www.jastrow.net/messier/ I would suggest the "Sky and Telescope Pocket Star Atlas" for being out with the scope. This is a very good Atlas, and most folk don't take the laptop out now, they use this. http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781931559317?redirected=true&gclid=CPXMw-yN5rUCFXDKtAodqxsAYA Enjoy the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Yo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Hi and welcome aboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Hi Sarah, Warm welcome to EMS, enjoy your stay. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi Sarah welcome to the EMS Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bagman Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Welcome, not very active on forum, other than learning but did have an explorer 150P on an eq3-2 and just a short step down the A61 Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Ha.ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest markelse Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hi, im from chesterfield, newbold in fact. I have a Explorer 150pl with Eq3-2 Good scope. I did have the 200p with Eq5 but I had to keep collimating it as the mirrors kept going out of line via vibrations when traveling. Had a good night last night though, Jupiter was amazing and the Orion's Nebula was great to. Still can't manage to find Comet Panstarr though. Hope all goes well and enjoy the night sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hi Sarah and welcome to EMS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hi Mark and a warm welcome to EMS. If you like to start a new post in the Welcome Section and copy/paste your introduction into it, you'll get much higher visibility and all the folks will drop by and welcome you. If you have any probs doing that - just shout up here and I'll give you a hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wraith01mg Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Hi Sarah and welcome, my set up is very similar to yours, and I'm very new to all this too, In fact, I remember aged 10 doing exactly the same thing with my cheap refractor. A good scope and good mount too you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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