Re: I Guess I'm Being Insincere...Posted By Charles Peterson |
Gentlemen:
I appreciate your well-meaning suggestions regarding a major re-thinking for my next telescope, but I think they may be wasted on me.
To be honest, I don't know what the hell I want out of Amateur Astronomy anymore. When I moved up to the High Desert after retiring in 1998, I began to accumulate a succession of large-aperture scopes, but never found contentment with any of them.
Starting with 1998 and continuing to the present, I owned the following scopes in order: 10" Meade SCT (non go-to), 16" Meade dob, 17.5" Discovery dob, 20" Obsession truss dob,(which I grew to hate), 15" Discovery dob, and my present 12" Meade LX200GPS. I never really liked any of them, (after investing about $19,000) and it is doubtful if I will ever enjoy any future telescope!
If I go with a nice, small, easy-to-transport 5" to 8" SCT, I will lose the great apertures I've been used to.
Wheely bars are a great idea, but they won't help in transporting and setting up on the desert sand & gravel.
I don't do imaging and I wouldn't get into it if someone gave me the best ccd camera on the market!
As I analyze my astro-philosophy, I realize that all I've ever been interested in was looking AT my telescopes, rather than looking THROUGH them! After I joined my local astronomy club, I quickly became determined to get a bigger aperture than our President's Celestron C-14, which I did, with the four big dobs I mentioned.
After realizing my big-aperture goals, everything became a letdown, as Peggy Lee stated in her song: "Is that all there is?" I recently resigned my 6-year membership in the High Desert Astronomical Society (my wife is still the club secretary), and gave away 6 years worth of Sky & Telescope magazines, letting my subscription expire, too.
So my present telescope "Omega" (aptly named?) just stands silently in my game room, 120 pounds of optical and computerized excellence, with no place to go.
Is this the end of Astronomy for me? I just don't know.
Harold Pollner
*******************************
Your story sounds about the same as my story, after 27 years and over 150 scopes, i'm still going strong!
Guess i wont ever find that perfect scope to keep. But i darn sure enjoy playing with new scopes, and guess i will always keeping buying away!
Chas P.
I appreciate your well-meaning suggestions regarding a major re-thinking for my next telescope, but I think they may be wasted on me.
To be honest, I don't know what the hell I want out of Amateur Astronomy anymore. When I moved up to the High Desert after retiring in 1998, I began to accumulate a succession of large-aperture scopes, but never found contentment with any of them.
Starting with 1998 and continuing to the present, I owned the following scopes in order: 10" Meade SCT (non go-to), 16" Meade dob, 17.5" Discovery dob, 20" Obsession truss dob,(which I grew to hate), 15" Discovery dob, and my present 12" Meade LX200GPS. I never really liked any of them, (after investing about $19,000) and it is doubtful if I will ever enjoy any future telescope!
If I go with a nice, small, easy-to-transport 5" to 8" SCT, I will lose the great apertures I've been used to.
Wheely bars are a great idea, but they won't help in transporting and setting up on the desert sand & gravel.
I don't do imaging and I wouldn't get into it if someone gave me the best ccd camera on the market!
As I analyze my astro-philosophy, I realize that all I've ever been interested in was looking AT my telescopes, rather than looking THROUGH them! After I joined my local astronomy club, I quickly became determined to get a bigger aperture than our President's Celestron C-14, which I did, with the four big dobs I mentioned.
After realizing my big-aperture goals, everything became a letdown, as Peggy Lee stated in her song: "Is that all there is?" I recently resigned my 6-year membership in the High Desert Astronomical Society (my wife is still the club secretary), and gave away 6 years worth of Sky & Telescope magazines, letting my subscription expire, too.
So my present telescope "Omega" (aptly named?) just stands silently in my game room, 120 pounds of optical and computerized excellence, with no place to go.
Is this the end of Astronomy for me? I just don't know.
Harold Pollner
*******************************
Your story sounds about the same as my story, after 27 years and over 150 scopes, i'm still going strong!
Guess i wont ever find that perfect scope to keep. But i darn sure enjoy playing with new scopes, and guess i will always keeping buying away!
Chas P.