197 replies to this topic

[deSitter]

I've never had more than 2 telescopes at one time, though I've owned 32.

But don't ask about the almost 400 eyepieces I've owned.

In the '90s, I had over 100 at one time!  And eyepieces went into and out of the set like water.

[Hi! I'm Don, and I'm an ocularholic.]

Now, thanks to having to wear glasses at the eyepiece, I'm down to just 12.

But getting rid of any of them will be like Sophie's Choice.

 

Ah me, thank the telescope gods I never contracted ocularitis. I found good ones and quit (However, a set of volcano-top Orthos would test my resolve..)

 

-drl

[NinePlanets]

...they answer "What do you count as a telescope?"...
 

Exactly! I'm not sure how to count all this stuff.

 

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount?

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube?

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled?

 

EDIT: And does a "finder scope" count as a "telescope"? I have finders larger than some regular scopes.

Edited by NinePlanets, 21 June 2025 - 08:25 AM.

[mondo1948]

Having too many items in any hobby is kind of a function of our inherent nature.  We originally were hunters and gatherers, so hunting and collecting telescopes, for example, makes sense.  In model railroading, one of my other hobbies, I started with one engine, a few freight cars, and a caboose.  A couple of years later, I had 40 engines and about 300 freight cars and 9 or 10 cabooses.  When I flew radio-controlled airplanes, I started with one and eventually had 15 warbirds.  What can I say, it's difficult to resist that urge to hunt and gather.

 

 

Mondo

[GGK]

Having too many items in any hobby is kind of a function of our inherent nature.  We originally were hunters and gatherers, so hunting and collecting telescopes, for example, makes sense.  In model railroading, one of my other hobbies, I started with one engine, a few freight cars, and a caboose.  A couple of years later, I had 40 engines and about 300 freight cars and 9 or 10 cabooses.  When I flew radio-controlled airplanes, I started with one and eventually had 15 warbirds.  What can I say, it's difficult to resist that urge to hunt and gather.

 

 

Mondo

Mondo,

 

With 40 engines, everyone can tell that you need more cabooses. And definitely more cars. 
 

Gary

[edwincjones]

Looking back over the years,

doing what I say, not what I do

 

one needs two telescopes

-a smaller grab and go for convenience

-a larger one for more serious work

plus

-a pair of binoculars 

 

edj

[JOEinCO]

Exactly! I'm not sure how to count all this stuff.

 

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount?

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube?

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled?

 

No. No. And No. 

 

 

[mondo1948]

Mondo,

 

With 40 engines, everyone can tell that you need more cabooses. And definitely more cars. 
 

Gary

Hi Gary,

Actually, at one time, I had almost 100 engines and 400 freight cars.  But you are correct, I never had the right ratio of cabeese to cars.

 

Mondo

[Kefka1138]

What is happening in here lol.

[AnthonyII]

I own 2 scopes see, because I can see Yeahhhhh. happy clear skies Y'all !!!

[vintageair]

Maybe is a personality disorder. I have five cars and three airplanes. I just got into this astronomy kick a couple of months ago and I've already got two 10 inch Newtonians and three pair of binoculars. I have this plan that if I ever sell my house I'm just going to sheetrock over the attic ladder but I think there's a 24 pin dot-matrix printer up there if anyone is interested.

[galexand]

haha most of the replies here were just as i imagined.

 

i am slightly more focused in it...  i keep chasing the dream of something "just a little" smaller / easier to set up

 

i got a 6" f/5 dob, which i love and think is basically perfect for everything...except it's kind of a pain to drag it out the door and pick a good spot to set it up, especially given that probably the transparency and seeing are not great anyways.  and i can't really throw it in my backpack to go questing for a slightly darker sky a few miles out of town.  so i bought a 4" reflector to see if it would be easier to take out.  it is, but not so much so that it matters.  i got 10x50 binocs, but my hands shake.  so i got 7x50, hoping they would be more forgiving...they were, but then my shakiness progressed.  can't sell off either pair though because there was a couple years where i could only find one at a time so i figure i need two so i can always find one.

 

i still dream about maybe getting like an 80mm apo refractor "grab n go" sort of scope.  or maybe a combination recliner / mount for the binocs.  but my next purchase will probably be an eyepiece   the other thing i'm chasing is wide views, and for the moment i'm pretty pleased with my 32mm plossl in the 6" f/5 (2.2 deg tfov), but someday maybe i'll spend real money on an eyepiece

[WillR]

Exactly! I'm not sure how to count all this stuff.

 

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount?

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube?

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled?

 

EDIT: And does a "finder scope" count as a "telescope"? I have finders larger than some regular scopes.

JOEinCO said no, no, no. After some reflection, I am going to say yes, no, no. In fact maybe even yes, yes, yes.

 

First one. A spyglass has no mount. Is it not a telescope? How about a monocular? And there is one one the projects in Dave Berry's book on telescope making which is a rich field telescope meant to be held in the lap. So by this definition a telescope is an optical tube that magnifies distant objects. Mount not required.

 

Number 2 is a bit iffy. But it could be considered a telescope. Is it not a telescope unless there is an eyepiece in it?

 

Number 3. Hmmm, what about those Galileo telescope kits? You are buying an unassembled telescope. Not a working telescope yet, but the purchaser certainly thinks they are buying a telescope.

[Rusty35]

Exactly! I'm not sure how to count all this stuff.

 

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount?

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube?

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled?

 

EDIT: And does a "finder scope" count as a "telescope"? I have finders larger than some regular scopes.

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount? Yes, it is a mistreated telescope with no mount

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube? Yes is it a mistreated telescope with out a focuser

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled? Yes it is a mistreated telescope that is unassembled and abandoned in a box.

[deSitter]

haha most of the replies here were just as i imagined.

 

i am slightly more focused in it...  i keep chasing the dream of something "just a little" smaller / easier to set up

 

i got a 6" f/5 dob, which i love and think is basically perfect for everything...except it's kind of a pain to drag it out the door and pick a good spot to set it up, especially given that probably the transparency and seeing are not great anyways.  and i can't really throw it in my backpack to go questing for a slightly darker sky a few miles out of town.  so i bought a 4" reflector to see if it would be easier to take out.  it is, but not so much so that it matters.  i got 10x50 binocs, but my hands shake.  so i got 7x50, hoping they would be more forgiving...they were, but then my shakiness progressed.  can't sell off either pair though because there was a couple years where i could only find one at a time so i figure i need two so i can always find one.

 

i still dream about maybe getting like an 80mm apo refractor "grab n go" sort of scope.  or maybe a combination recliner / mount for the binocs.  but my next purchase will probably be an eyepiece   the other thing i'm chasing is wide views, and for the moment i'm pretty pleased with my 32mm plossl in the 6" f/5 (2.2 deg tfov), but someday maybe i'll spend real money on an eyepiece

 

Vixen 80M f/11 achromats show up regularly - also in their Celestron Firstscope incarnation (same exact scope with different branding). These are fantastic quick-look scopes with instant setup. At f/11 you can get a very low power view with a 40mm 1.25" Plossl. That results in a nearly maxed out 4mm exit pupil.

 

-drl

[Jon Isaacs]

Vixen 80M f/11 achromats show up regularly - also in their Celestron Firstscope incarnation (same exact scope with different branding). These are fantastic quick-look scopes with instant setup. At f/11 you can get a very low power view with a 40mm 1.25" Plossl. That results in a nearly maxed out 4mm exit pupil.

 

-drl

 

 

These scopes have the standard 90 mm Diameter tube and can be fitted with an aftermarket GSO focuser just like an AT-80.

 

With a eyepiece like the 38 mm Q-70 or 41 mm Panoptic, it can provide a 2.9° field. At F/11, the 38mm Q-70 would do a nice imitation of the 41 mm Panoptic. This is a Meade 310 which is very similar.

 

 

Jon

[scout]

I've always been a collector (baseball cards, autographs, vintage toys) except with telescopes. For more than 30 years, I never had more than two telescopes. Like Yoda said about the Sith, "Always two there are, a master and an apprentice."

 

Then a couple of years ago, I was given two older refractors by two different people, so now I have four telescopes. Sometimes I think of giving away those two to keep things simple, but I like using all four telescopes. The loud little robot ETX-60 is fun to use with my two little nieces, the 65-year-old Asahi-Pentax is a gem and my two modern apos are so nice. They all give different views.

 

Sometimes I want to get a 10" dob like the one I used to have before moving across the ocean three years ago. I gave it to my friend and miss it sometimes, so I've been getting my faint fuzzy fix by looking through fellow club members' dobs. Variety is nice in this hobby.

[Tony Flanders]

Is it a telescope if it currently fits no mount? Yes, it is a mistreated telescope with no mount

Is it a telescope if the focuser is currently on a different tube? Yes is it a mistreated telescope with out a focuser

Is it a telescope if it's a collection of parts in a box, unassembled? Yes it is a mistreated telescope that is unassembled and abandoned in a box.

By this reasoning, a piece of glass and a box of grit is a mistreated telescope that hasn't been built yet. In fact the entire world is an infinite number of mistreated telescopes that haven't been conceived yet.

 

If you have a box with three objectives and two focusers, do you have six mistreated telescopes?

[Jon Isaacs]

By this reasoning, a piece of glass and a box of grit is a mistreated telescope that hasn't been built yet. In fact the entire world is an infinite number of mistreated telescopes that haven't been conceived yet.

 

If you have a box with three objectives and two focusers, do you have six mistreated telescopes?

 

It's whatever you think it is.. who's to know?

 

I have a number of telescopes that are fully operational that I don't count just because ... These include a 4.5 inch Starblast and an 80 mm F/15 Towa refractor. They're decent telescopes but don't fit into my observing plans and hopefully somewhere down the road I'll find someone who wants them.

 

Jon

[csrlice12]

The Big Bang started from a box of objective lenses and focusers.

[Shorty Barlow]

The Big Bang started from a box of objective lenses and focusers.

 

It's logical.

[Rusty35]

By this reasoning, a piece of glass and a box of grit is a mistreated telescope that hasn't been built yet. In fact the entire world is an infinite number of mistreated telescopes that haven't been conceived yet.

 

If you have a box with three objectives and two focusers, do you have six mistreated telescopes?

If its an unassembled telescope in a box, its a telescope.

[Pluto 134340]

I have scopes and binos that I bought new, but I keep dragging home used stuff that I can get cheap. I like to fix them and expirement to see what works best. I also give some to people who seem interested.

[Peter Besenbruch]

By this reasoning, a piece of glass and a box of grit is a mistreated telescope that hasn't been built yet. In fact the entire world is an infinite number of mistreated telescopes that haven't been conceived yet.

I think you might be on to something!