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[jeremy]

Hi Everyone,

Am a new member of the site as of a few minutes ago. I've secretly been reading it though for the last several weeks. I live downtown, I am fortunate and that I have a nice deck to view the North, East, and Southern sky's without much obstruction. My view to the West is a bit more obstructed (unless I climb onto my roof), offering a view down to about 23 degrees.

I've always been a fan of all things space. I grew up outside of Washington DC so I was spoiled by the Air and Space museum. Recently my wife and I went to the Big Island and I got to go up Mauna Kea, did one of the tours first. I love every second. That was the first time I saw a planet through a scope (it was Jupiter). I had to go back so a couple of nights later we went back and did our own thing directly at the ranger station with the volunteers. Great program if anyone is ever in that area, they setup some great scopes for you to use, and there were plenty to go around. The ISS was flying by, so we got a clear view of that. Also I saw several deep space objects which just had my jaw on the ground.

After that trip I realized it really sparked up a life-long interest in learning about the sky, but had not been acted on yet. Once the weather turned warm this year, after reading a lot online, I jumped into purchasing a pair of binoculars. I purchased a Celestron Skymaster 9x63. I love these things. Every clear night now I am up on my deck watching what I can. Most recently I've been keeping myself entertained by watching for satellites, observing the moon, any planets I can see, as well as learning to star hop.

I now take these with me everywhere I travel. This week I've found myself with the clearest and cleanest skies yet down in Southern Virginia on the Chesapeake. I was finally able to pick out a couple of deep space objects that I couldn't see in Chicago!

I am nearing my phase of purchasing my first telescope, so I figured it was time to introduce myself as I can see this appears not to be just a passing hobby. I'm looking forward to coming out to a star viewing gathering to meet everyone!

[tomlee]

Hello! Welcome Jeremy. Everyone is going to ask you which telescope you gonna buy.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Welcome to the Chicago Astronomer Jeremy.

You'll discover hanging with the crew, that Deep Space Object are not just the prize for the rural astronomer, but it's all here under light polluted skies for the taking. Binoculars are a great way to explore and learn the skies.

Look for our next star party session, (don't know when yet, but soon), and join us...peeking through our scopes and you'll get an idea on what type of telescope you would like.

I recommend a Dobsonian telescope to start out with and several of our members use them great results.

[jeremy]

Thanks all! You must be reading my mind Joe, as this will be my first scope I am leaning towards a Dobs based on my research, possibly an XT or XTi. However honestly i'm not set on the Orion brand, I've read that some members bring those to star viewings, so hearing their feedback and seeing one would be great! On paper it seems to have a good mix of portability, ease of use, ability to capture low light objects, and is generally priced well. I do like to take steps in my endeavors, and this direction seems a great starting step that will offer many years of enjoyment.

I had reached out to Paul yesterday as I saw his post on the Indiana viewings next week to see if it was possible if I could attend. He was very nice and indicated I was welcome, so maybe I will get to meet some of you there? He also encouraged me to introduce myself to the group, thus my post! I can tell by all the postings people here are very welcoming, I am really looking forward to meeting you all.

Again, thanks for the welcome!

[-=CROMAN=-]

Hey Jeremy... Welcome to the CA.

I am having great success with my 10" Zhumell Dob. If your mind is set on a Dob I would suggest checking out the Zhumell line. If you have any questions or I want to kick the tires let me know. I would be more than happy to let you try it out.

Keep in mind that the dobs are completely manual and while you can use degree circles and a laptop like i do to find DSO's, there will be some envy when you look at the GOTO crowd. ;D

Orion has a line of Intelliscope dobs which allow you to PUSHTO using the handheld computer. It is pretty sweet and worth the extra cash IMO. I'm considering purchasing one of the 14" Orions or the 16" Meade myself sometime this year. The 10" is a great Light bucket but I find myself wanting something bigger with truss rods!

If you are interested I did a quick write up on my degree circle setup that you should take a look at. elenin.paranomalo.us/how-tos-and-tools/pushto-degree-circles/

Hope to see you at the next soiree

[patrickm]

Hi and welcome. Take advantage and look through as many scopes as you can and ask a million questions. I haven't met a crabby Chicago Astronomer yet. Good info in the equipment section here, and the beginner section over at Cloudy Nights. Friendly there too. Positives and negatives to every type of scope, so really depends upon your priorities about which to get. Binocs are a great start though. Mine travel with me as well, at least until my travel scope turns up.

Hope to see you out sometime.
Patrick

[Paulie pchris00]

I suppose this is my formal welcome, although Jeremy and I have been emailing over the past couple of days. He is planning on joining us in Indiana next week, so hopefully he'll have a chance to see a few scopes in action and make comparisons.

[-=CROMAN=-]

What date is the group planning on going to Conway?

[Paulie pchris00]

Jul 21, 2011 7:39:52 GMT -6 -=CROMAN=- said:

What date is the group planning on going to Conway?

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