Re: Started with a 60mm Refractor?

From: Hilton (no_email_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 11/06/04 

Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:00:45 GMT

"Jon Isaacs" <jonisaacs@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20041106100418.00480.00000172@mb-m17.aol.com...
> I wonder how many of you who post and lurk here started with a 60mm
refractor
> or something similar? I would like to see a show of hands, lurkers can
Email
> me privately...

    I did pass through a 60mm refractor but started with a 40mm fixed
eyepiece refractor that
    showed lunar craters and maria. The scope had a terrestrial view and
thus was not an
    astro scope. The next scope several years later was a 50mm 50x. It
showed a few
    bands on Jupiter and my first view of Saturn's rings. Actually, it could
show one
    ring at best. The 60mm came next along with an manual equatorial mount.
The 60,
    which used those stigmatized Kellers gave decent views of the major
wanderers
    including Mars and of course the moon. 

-- 
Hilton Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35.3"
Lat +42° 11' 06.7"
---------------------------------------------------------------
Webcam  Astroimaging
http://home.earthlink.net/~hiltonevans/astroimaging/astroimaging.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------
ChemPen Chemical Structure Software
http://www.chempensoftware.com
>
> Here's the story of my first scope....  ( a repost)
>
> My first telescope:
>
> There it was, a fine, fine refractor on a silky smooth mount with a
selection
> of finely crafted eyepieces.  The whole thing was a bit dusty and there
was
> even a bit of dirt on the objective but that was simply due to a bit of
neglect
> by the current owner.  I couldn't read the maker of this fine piece of
> equipment, but that didn't matter, I was going to have a
>
>           TELESCOPE!
>
> So, I reached into my pocket, extracted my wallet, my wad of cash just
itching
> to be spent, I looked at the owner square in the eye and said:
>
> "Would you take Five for it."
>
> The rapidity with which he said, "Yes" indicated he was done with this
fine
> optical jewel, but it was mine as soon as the $5 passed between our hands.
>
> Home I went, excited and enthusiastic, anxious for first light.
>
>  With great care I hosed off the objective and cleaned the sand off the
rest of
> the scope.  The eyepieces, well, they needed cleaning but at least they
were
> glass and brass and after a quick disassembly and some Windex they passed
> light...
>
> Now the mount, it was lacking a piece or two but nothing that could'nt be
> fabricated with a hacksaw and a hammer.....
>
>
> Fast forward to the Painted Rock Campground outside of Gila Bend, AZ,
early one
> fall morning.
>
> The moon was no where to be found and I had found Venus, bright and sharp
and I
> could actually see that it was not a star.  By this time, I had improved
the
> mount but the scope still would not stay still or stay in place...
>
> And then, there it was, was it a comet? that flash of light as I wobbled
past
> it, unable to steady the scope adequately.
>
> Just think, a comet near Venus....
>
> Of course it took me about 15 minutes to convince myself that I was only
seeing
> an errant reflection of Venus in the poor optics of this once new 60mm
nameless
> department store refractor.
>
> But by that time, I had happened upon something even more marvelous, I
wasn't
> sure what it was, it wasn't till sometime later that I was really sure.  A
tiny
> bit of white haze surrounding some bright stars...
>
> That morning, I had found for myself the Great Nebula in Orion and I was
> hooked.  That faint bit of nebulosity, that white haze, it was enough.
>
> I was a goner.
>
> Sometime later, that telescope was stolen by some fool from the second
story
> balcony of our duplex.
>
> And sometime after that, after another 60 mm refractor at another garage
sale,
> came my first serious scope, a C-8 and sometime after than came another
garage
> sale special, a Cometron Jr. 125mm ST Newt that was to put me over the
hump as
> an enthusiastic starhopper.
>
> And then came the first Dobsonian, a Pirate Instruments 8 incher with a
lead
> weight that doubled as the mirror cell and  counter balance...
>
> But that first cold morning in the dark skies of the Arizona desert I got
that
> glimpse of faint haze that has fueled my excitement ever since, sometimes
I
> think my quest is simply to repeat the exitement of that first moment with
new,
> fainter objects and bigger scopes and darker skies.
>
> Yes,
>
> Jon is getting a Telescope!!!
>
> jon isaacs

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