It was a good phase & I learned a lot.
I learned that astronomy is done when it's very cold & while everyone else is asleep.
And that a star is still just a white dot at any magnification.
And that you can't focus with gloves on because your hands are too clunky.
And you can't focus with gloves off because your hands are too cold.
And that once you have a good telescope, you need a better mount; which you generally can't afford.
And that there is no limit to the GAS that attacks you - and the numbers get very bad very quickly.
And that it's really, really hard to get any decent telescope stuff in South Africa at vaguely respectable prices.
But but but ... I can report that actually seeing the rings of saturn yourself is a religious experience.
It always seems to come with the rather odd outburst of "hey - it's actually got rings!"
Very odd that everyone says that. Since we all know it has rings. But we all say that anyway. Very odd.
I initially bought a Stellarvue AT1010 refractor which got a lot of use.
Then I broke the budget and spent $2,000 on a 7 year old second hand refractor from a serious astronomer in the US.
It was a Televue TV101.
And the actual telescope had been used to photograph all the Messier objects.
I even got a copy of the book with the telescope.
Astonishing telescope.
Here's a link to the actual telescope I bought. And the book. And the chap I bought it from.
Note: I didn't buy the mount in the picture - it's worth much more than the telescope ?
http://www.company7.com/books/products/thenextstep.html
But ... it was too good - it was a bit too precious & I was too scared to use it often.
After which I read one of the most profound bits of knowledge:
"The best telescope is the one you actually use".
Which has become a general principle I now apply to all hobbies.
Only buy stuff you're actually going to use often.
I have vowed to never again to buy any equipment for any hobby that I regard as too precious to use.
I sold the Televue for my purchase price.
To an incredibly excited chap who couldn't believe such a telescope was lurking in South Africa.
So it all ended very well. ?
