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[headdunce]

I met Joe who handed me a card at the Adler After Dark last week which lead me here.



I got a telescope at a garage sale for $10 a couple months ago. I've got some books and done some reading, now I'm looking to upgrade to the big boy telescopes

[RobbW]

Hey there, welcome to the party! Tell us a bit about yourself. What kind of scope did you get at the garage sale? What have you been reading up on lately? Where you from? You know, all that kind of stuff.

I started off with a Meade DS2033 off of Craigslist, and then I found the Chicago Astronomers. They've been great and always happy to help. Heading out to the star parties is the best way to learn more about our dark skies and the equipment we use.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hi Jim,

Do tell us a bit about your interest in urban astronomy.

And I invite you to our next Chicago Astronomer star party, which should be soon.

Keep an eye for the announcement.

[headdunce]

The telescope is some piece of junk, the lenses were so crusted up when I got it you couldn't even see light through them - ha. Fun for looking at the moon at my camper way up in Wisconsin though

Right now I'm reading "Night watch" by Terence Dickinson. I drive a Jeep Commander so I'm not too worried about size of the scope I want next. I'm leaning toward something with the goto thing though, just because I'm usually not too sober in the middle of the night by a campfire and I have no idea what I'm doing at this point

[headdunce]

Ummm... don't mean to sound like a jerk, new guy and all, but is there any way to suppress some of the stuff at the top of the forum pages? This laptop screen and goofy laptop mouse make it hard to browse here.

[Paulie pchris00]

Welcome to the forum.

Please don't think I'm judging, because I love sitting around a campfire drinking beer with family and friends. but smoke and alcohol aren't a good idea around expensive telescopes. To each his own though, and if that makes you happy, have it.

I haven't read "Night Watch" yet, but my at my club observatory there are copies of it. They have been sitting on the rack with our public handouts, not on our library check-out shelf. I'm awfully tempted to swipe a copy.

[headdunce]

Aug 23, 2011 8:04:51 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Please don't think I'm judging, because I love sitting around a campfire drinking beer with family and friends. but smoke and alcohol aren't a good idea around expensive telescopes. To each his own though, and if that makes you happy, have it.

Not to mention the dusty gravel road that runs by my camper too. I guess I'll need something that's easy to clean, I'm a dirty guy

[Paulie pchris00]

Hadn't thought about dust from a gravel road. That must be why my primary mirror is dirty. It couldn't possibly be from me smoking...

[Paulie pchris00]

Just noticed that Proboards doesn't allow tw to be followed by at, regardless of context. I find that quite amusing. ;D

[headdunce]

Aug 23, 2011 9:04:53 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Hadn't thought about dust from a gravel road. That must be why my primary mirror is dirty. It couldn't possibly be from me smoking...

Pass what you're smoking over to this tw@

[RobbW]

Aug 22, 2011 21:12:01 GMT -6 headdunce said:

Right now I'm reading "Night watch" by Terence Dickinson.

My wife was downtown the other day and stopped in at the Borders that is going out of business. She surprised me by picking up the 3rd edition of "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" for dirt cheap. I just cracked it open last night as we were settling in for bed. I own and have read "Nighthingych", and it was really good.