Welcome Emalee, Here are some helpful tips while "shopping around" and "trying out" other peoples scopes at star parties. Feel free to walk up to a telescope that interests you and try picking it up to see if you can handle it. If it's sitting on a tripod, go ahead and kick the tripod to see how sturdy it is. Something else you can do, is while looking throught the eyepiece, reach out and slap the scope a few times and then start counting from zero to ten to see how long it takes for the stabilized image to return. If it's a good scope the image should clean up by the time you reach 2. If it doesn't, walk away. If it's a Dobson mount you are looking at, try reaching into the scope from the front end to make sure you can reach the mirror, you'll want to keep that part clean and shiny. If it's a big enough scope, see if you can't squeeze part way in if you have to to reach the mirror. Swing the scope around on it's axis to get the feel of how easy it points. Go ahead, pick the scope up off the saddle and place it back down and see if the stars don't stay sharp, bright and clear. Take out your flashlight and examine the whole thing from end to end. Step back and flood it with light. Not only should it work good in the dark, you want it to look good in the dark as well. By this time you will probably be very popular with all the people staring and pointing at you. Some may even ask you about your childhood and families background, remember to smile and wave back, this is a friendly group and we welcome you aboard... ;) Obviously I am kidding except for the 'friendly group' and 'welcome aboard' stuff. That part is true... ;) Quoting Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com>:
Sound advice, but do "shop around" by trying out other people's scopes at a star-party first, as others have suggested. Optical and mechanical considerations aside, be sure you get a scope that you can handle physically, and won't be discouraged from transporting or setting-up due to size or complexities of assembly. The best telescope is the one that gets used most often.
A friend of mine once purchased a 16" telescope, thinking only of the brighter views and increased resolution when compared to the 10" he had been using. After he got it, he quickly realized that it was physically just too much telescope for him to handle, and it was soon sold. Of course by then he'd sold the 10" as well, to help fund the 16", and ended up with nothing but a monetary loss of several hundred dollars. The lesson is to do the research first, and make some new friends in the process.
--- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:
It's hard for a beginner to go wrong with a Dob.
____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com