At 9:21 PM -0600 10/27/01, aimcompute wrote: >What kind of telescope do you have Steve? Astronomy is a hobby of mine on a >par with photography, except I don't have the hardware. I live in a primo >dark-sky location, virtually no neighbors, about 4500' elevation, have a >flat spot on the edge of a drop-off about 50 yards from the house and would >love to set up an observatory, dome and all, sometime.
I have four telescopes. :^) The one I use the most is a 10" Meade Starfinder newtonian that I bought two years ago. For planets and astrophotography I have a Celestron 5 (one of the old orange ones). My home made 8" newtonian serves only as a back up now, and I keep the 50mm Tasco refractor that my parents bought me thirty years ago out of sentimentality. To be honest you don't need much equipment to enjoy astronomy. A good pair of binoculars would be sufficient. My (East German vintage) Zeiss 7X50s probably see more use than my telescopes! I live about five miles outside of a small town on the Maine coast. It's on a hillside in a small subdivision (ten houses now). When the neighbours turn their door lights off it is very dark. I have pondered an observatory for many years. They are expensive, though. This summer I built the next best thing: a 6' high wooden board fence enclosing a 10' square section of my property. I hinged the top 3' of each side so I could fold them down and see the sky down to the horizon when needed. Now, I can observe in privacy, sheltered from the wind and the local lights. It's probably the best astronomical investment I have ever made. Astronomy is my primary hobby...photography would be #2. -- Steve [EMAIL PROTECTED] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
