Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums
Privacy Policy |
Please read our Terms
of Service | Signup and
Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User
Mr. Bill
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/09/05
Posts: 2791
Loc: Just passing through.....
|
|
Two completely different activities, any way you slice it. Not really concerned about the label "amateur astronomer" and who "deserves" it. Just let's not blur the distinction between them.
What the two have in common is the set of objects being scrutinized.
--------------------
10x50 Fujinon FMT-SX binos
15x70 AP binos + Paragon p-mount
Oberwerk 100BT 45 degree + Hercules fork mount
120mm f/5 Orion achromat + Moonlite focuser
140mm f/5.7 Vixen NeoAchro Petzvel refractor
150mm f/6.5 Antares achromat
150mm f/8 homemade achromat....EE Barnard MW Sweeper
8 inch newt with f/5 Swayze mirror
10 inch f/4.7 Orion newt + Paracorr
15 inch f/5 Discovery split tube
35mm Pan, 26mm Nagler, 17mm Nagler, 13mm Ethos, 8mm Ethos
Member IDA
|
Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Woodland Hils
Reged: 06/12/02
Posts: 2995
|
|
Well,
It sounds like one man is content and the other is not. Some observers simply end up knowing more than they need to know too soon and never observe, in fact I know a man who went through this exact same thing. I spent about 2 months helping him and we stopped talking. About a year later he called me to ask if I knew any body who would like to buy all his gear. I was laughing at myself having waisted so much time with him.
As for me, I absolutely can not stand paying thousands upon thousands of dollars for optics which I expect better from. If you're paying for something that's supposed to be great, then that's what one should be able to expect. Unfortunatley that's not the case. If an observer is content with their little 90mm, then all the power to them. For me it's all relative. I want to see images at the cutting edge and from where we normally observe from, you can see the real differences and yes, it does matter.
Go into the forums and look at which catagories recieve more hits and it's always equipment related. We all love it, we all want it and if we didn't, this forum wouldn't be here. How many observers have actually taken the time to appreciate the incredible dedication that Carlos Hernandez, Carol or Sol Robbins and others bring to the table with their sketches? Pain staking hours of heart poured onto a draft with little response from others.
I LOVE Saturn. I love the texture of its rings and I'm after the ultimate visual experience to create it and if that means spending endless hours learning to do it, I will. If I never prove it to myself in the field, then call me a fool. 
--------------------
|
Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
|
|
I think we all have both types inside us. I have observed for
several years with a 114mm Newtonian, until its limits became
too narrowing to me. The C8 was the next scope, and I felt
this to be a great scope, even if one night somebody said to me,
after a short glance through my scope:
"What do we have here? Oh, a C8, and not even a good one...",
which I found very unpolite, but I continued to observe as
before, this, again, for years. Since two years I have been
riding on the "equipment wave", and I have resolved these
problems by getting the stuff I am convinced to be the very
best. And now: Enough about scopes, for years, or for ever.
I can not even imagine better scopes. Now the observing
experience becomes most important again.
After reading your very thought-provoking text, Allister,
I think many of us, myself included, feel attracted to the
"Alfred way of Astronomy". But I also do think that quality
highly matters. During my very last observation session
I have compared my cheap 11 cm achromat to my Takahashi
apo on the Moon. What a huge difference, which seems like
seeing "something a little bit blurred" versus a "high
contrast, most sharp" view. Some features were simply not
to be discovered in the achromat.
So I wish all Alfreds, after their enthusiastic beginning,
would come to the point not to collect scopes, but to get
a real high end one.
Enjoyment guaranteed.
Amalia
--------------------
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
Quote:
Well,
It sounds like one man is content and the other is not.
.
.
.
That's the point I was trying to make
It's not what you do or how you do it, is all about the way you look at it.
You can use basic equipment and never want anything else or you can have the very best you can afford.
You can stick to one telescope and a few eyepieces or you might have a room in your house used to store your equipment.
You can have three eyepieces and never want anything else or you can have hundred and fifty of them and know which one of them is best for an occasion.
You can have a pile of equipment and have a purpose for it or you can have just because you simply wanted to try it and see what it can do.
You can have the best equipment in a world an never actually use it or you can be taking it out every clear night.
You can use every opportunity to observe, even if it's just a 15 minutes break in clouds or you can observe just twice a year, when conditions are really good.
You can read books and never look at the sky or you can be a dedicated observer who plans his life around observing sessions.
You can have best photo setup in a world and never take a single picture or you might be using it and regularly posting pictures which look better than Habble ones.
You can have a complex automatic setup and spend all time fine tuning it or your can actually use under the night sky.
You can spend all observing time star testing your toys or you can actually be looking at things.
You can just enjoy the beauty of the night sky or you might be "doing something more serious"
All this is completely irrelevant and does not a matter a tiny bit.
If you like what you doing than just keep doing it no matter what others might say or think Why compare yourself to anyone else and to try follow their rules or standards?. It is your hobby so no rules is the only rule Somebody does not believe that you are an astronomer? Who cares
Dennis
|
davidpitre
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/10/05
Posts: 1427
Loc: Central Texas
|
|
Thanks Dennis you echo my thoughts.
Brilliant!
--------------------
David
|
Dave Chadsey
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/27/04
Posts: 503
Loc: Southern California
|
|
Quote:
The point I attempted to make with these "hobby" posts is;
My friend Lenny who reads bodybuilding magazines, takes and posts about cutting edge supplement but doesn't lift weights - is he a bodybuilder?
I who collect and test boxing gear and post about it - am I a boxer?
Steve who collects and tests astronomy equipment - is he an astronomer?
Allister
That's what I saw in your excellent article Allister. Collecting equipment can be fun but is not the real goal of an astronomer. Looking at the night sky is the goal. I sometimes worry that a newcomer gazing at our reports, opinions (which is all we can really talk about), and prejudices (another word for preferences) will get the impression that he can't enjoy astronomy unless he has very expensive equipment. That just isn't true and I thank you for pointing it out for us.
Dave
--------------------
...and deliver us from ego.
66mm Stellarvue ED
4" achro
8" Nexstar
10" Orion Dob
16" Meade Dob (split tube)
Many binos
|
RogerRZ
Whatta you lookin' at?
Reged: 01/09/06
Posts: 2284
Loc: West Collette, NB, Canada
|
|
I tell young budding astronomers that they can see more with a 300$ 8" dob that comes with decent eyepieces, than I can with a 3500$ (used) 4" apo/goto mount.
When they pick their jaw up off the ground, the next question is almost always without fail:
"Why the heck did you spend all that money on that itty bitty scope, then?"
After humming and hahhing for a while, I'll usually answer:
"Quit bugging me!"  
--------------------
-Roger Pitre-
1 X 7 binocular
Scopes change too often to list...
EQ6 Pro mount (spiffed up with ADM stuff)
Canon Rebel XT (AKA 350D)
Starshoot autoguider
Tolerant Spousal Unit (AKA The Lovely Mrs. RogerRZ)
"He's got shoulders on him like a smelt..."--Anonymous
----------AJP Observatory----------
|
jaxter
member
Reged: 09/01/05
Posts: 88
|
|
Well...here's an analogy. How many people own or claim to play a guitar? Having met owners of quite expensive music gear(that can't play a lick) that can recall every subtle nuance of a device they own but clearly can't operate reminds me of telescoping. Rep ipso luquitor.
--------------------
8"LX90LNT-UHTC/wedge (main scope, 'easily' carried)
APO66 w/Losmandy tail on LX90
Homemade Cass scope (20" or therabouts...)
LPI/DSI/Nikon D50/binocs/lenses, barlows, reducers, filters (o3, Ha, etc)
Slow-spinning 3m mercury mirror on order.
12" LightBridge dlux/replaced secondary (bad coatings!)
Seeking an 18-22" f/5-6 mirror. Wish me luck.
|
jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22762
Loc: NE Ohio
|
|
If anyone's having trouble with that one I believe he intended to say "res ipsa loquitur", meaning "the thing speaks for itself".
--------------------
John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
TMB/LOMO 80mm F/7.5 APO
Tak FSQ-106N F/5 APO
Meade 152ED F/9 "APO"
Meade 178ED F/9 "APO"
Meade ETX-125AT
Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
Teeter 20" F/3.8 truss Newt w/ServoCat
LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
|
Canadian
Vendor
Reged: 01/11/05
Posts: 625
Loc: Calgary, AB, Canada
|
|
I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I laughed and smiled and frowned. I saw myself as Alfred, turning into a Steve, becoming a Dave, afraid of becoming a Max, then slowly turning back into an Alfred.
For me it explored just two types of participation in this hobby we call astronomy. There are so many roads each individual can go down;
Another path, spending most of your time turning your scope into such a highbred that the original manufacturer wouldn't recognize it. That 100mm scope has had so much time and/or money spent on it, tested out so many different features, gone through 3 paint jobs, 4 optic upgrades, 6 type of mount clamp setups, really just to many modifications to list them all, and the owner always desribes it as a work in progress as he goes back to his cell phone since he might have finally found these hollowed out titanium screws that he has to have for adjusting the colimation.
Having that goto EQ mount holding a 66mm Petzval piggybacked on a 132mm APO, 6 eyepieces and a modest camera, but enough computer equipment to bring down the space shuttle by remote control. When all the equipment is powered up, it makes the 3000 watt generator give out a sound that it might stall. Temperature and wind monitoring, sky conditions, mount vibrations, motor drive speed sensors, backlash compensators, 10 speed focusing and more, all controlled by a 4 foot tall desktop that is linked to 2 keyboards, 5 monitors, 2 laptops and a satellite internet connection, but the owner says it's a work in progress as he goes back to trying to figure out why the goto only directly centres on any star when programmed into the system, (he's using a 3mm reticle eyepiece for these tests) only 99.8% of the time.
I don't believe that Steve had to be unhappy.
I don't believe that what seperates the two has to be money.
I know that you can get seriously involved in any side road of any hobby.
I believe that when doing so, you have chosen the path that lets you enjoy the hobby.
Whether you actually look like you are enjoying yourself is just a matter of enterpretation.
I believe that we can have what we like, but liking what we have can become difficult, especially after seeing the new one.
I believe this story could become a book of about 10 to 15 different hobbyists.
I believe I was fortunate to stumble across this story on a day when I needed to smile.
--------------------
Just my thoughts, subject to change at any time.
Garry
C11
CR150HD
FLT110 TMB Triplet
ZS80FD Anniversary Edition
ZS66ED Petsval
ZS66SD Doublet
ZS66ED Triplet
GT-ONE HD
GT-ONE
CG5GT
EZ Touch
RASC Calgary
|
|
2 registered and 2 anonymous users are browsing this forum.
Moderator: spaceydee
Print Thread
|
Forum Permissions
You cannot start new topics
You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled
UBBCode is enabled
|
Thread views: 5828
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
[Re: 
Edit
Reply
Quote
