Darren27 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi, Been lurking for a while and thought it was about time I said hello. Got into all this quite some time ago in my teens, and spent many a cold night out in the back garden. But then life sort of got in the way (beer, women, job, kids, in that order!) But now I find myself living in the Peak District with (weather permitting) amazingly clear dark skies and the inquisitive mind of my 7 year old son making me look back up at the night sky with a renewed sense of wonder. I have dug out my old telescope, a 60mm refractor bought from Argos for about 40 quid back in the mid 80's. While very limited in capability it's just added fuel to the fire of my resurgent enthusiasm. I'd like to upgrade to a better more modern scope soon and share the experience with my son's and hopefully get involved with any local groups to share knowledge and hopefully a.skyfull of sociable banter. Cheers all Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Darren and a warm welcome to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Welcome to ems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi welcome aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hello and welcome to EMS. Hope you enjoy the forum and I bet you get wonderful clear skies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tibbz2 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Darren, a warm welcome to EMS. That 60mm should be able to show you the four moons and maybe some of the bigger belts on Jupiter. This is fairly high in the south east around seven - eightish, and the brightest object up there other than the moon. I still have my 60mm, in the attic, I found the finder scope possibly pointless, as they don't hold what you set them to. I found just looking along the tube more productive. But I can't knock it, it's done the same to you and fired you back up again. I would suggest giving us an idea of the budget you may have, and what sort of things you would be aiming for, ie. Planets and Lunar, Galaxies, nebula's and other assorted faint fuzzies, or astro imaging. If it's the latter abandon hope now, and get deeper pockets! We have a dark site at Belper, where you would be very welcome to join us, say hi and have a look through a few scopes. You might find one that might suit you and your son. In the meantime enjoy the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hello and welcome. Jd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 hi and welcome to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Darren. Warm welcome to EMS. A couple of things that my help are a copy of 'Turn left at Orion' and download a planetarium program, try Stellarium its great and free. It can be found here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/ .These will help guide you round the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren27 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hi all and thanks for the warm welcome. Love to meet up a Belper one evening, how often do you all meet up? As to interests and budget for a new scope, always been fascinated by nebulars and galaxies, although I always try to enjoy what is in the nigh sky. Budget wise I'm looking to spend £350 -400 ish. I know that to get the best view of nebulars etc that I'm going to need the biggest aperture I can get, so a dob mounted reflector would be best, however I have very limited space to store a scope and anything bigger than something like 130 heritage flex tube just would not fit into my storage space. Equally a EQ mount would also be difficult to fit. Can't decide if I would be better off looking at a decent 4 ~ 5 inch compact refractor or SCT on either a simple alt AZ mount or maybe a goto if it won't compromise to optics too much. In the mean time I'll carry on with my old wobbly 60mm and drive the wife mad by constantly changing my mind on what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hello from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Harper. Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi Darren, welcome to EMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest foundaplanet Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fondofchips Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi Darren & welcome to EMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi Darren, welcome to EMS. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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