Telescope Reviews: Absolute Astronomy

Hey everyone!

I'm a part-time astronomy communicator; part-time equipment consultant; full time Olympic-grade CN lurker. I've been following this site for a long, long time!

In the UK, where I'm based, the astro-equipment reviews situation is pretty dire. We have a few magazines, which sometimes publish misleading information, or whose writers simply lack the experience of a wide range of gear. And we have that 'other' forum, which well... 'nuff said!

I remember reading the addicting, oftentimes very personal reviews published on CN and in S&T (the American magazines really do things right, and who could forget ATT?) Many of my favourite equipment gurus are veterans of CN, and, inspired by their work, I've long wanted to get a blog up and running whereby I give a relatively concise opinion on equipment as I come across it. October 2012 was the month I finally got round to it!

So here it is: Absolute Astronomy - http://www.absoluteastronomy.co.uk/

It's very new, with only 4 reviews at time of this post, but I'll be updating it for as long as I can find time, and perhaps with a sufficient readerbase it will fund itself for a day each week, so I can make it properly regular.

My review philosophy is to never give opinions on anything I haven't personally spent time with, and used in the field. I have the benefit of being a part-time consultant, and in this capacity I work with an independent retailer with easily the largest range in the UK. It's nice to spend so much time trying so much equipment, but I do not endorse vendors/places to buy on this blog. In fact I don't even include prices, because they're subject to change. I think the reader/potential customer can research this on their own. I simply want to give my views about the gear itself, because frankly I love using it and talking about it.

In time I will also add some guides to selecting accessories, proper care and maintenance, and a lengthy glossary of terms. I hope this can evolve into a valuable resource for the astronomy community, and I'd love to hear your feedback!

Clear skies!