Hawt Cool Camping Trip Idea

ifrfCYx.jpg
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: APRIL
How hard is it to learn to aim a telescope? With our backyard, it would be neat to have one.
Depends on the scope and the object you're looking for. I've got a 10" Dobsonian telescope.
doXU8yn.jpg


The base sits on level ground. Then I turn the base to the general azimuth of object that I am looking for (say Saturn for instance). I line up Saturn in the RACI finder (the small scope at the top), then if everything is well collimated, it should show up in the eyepiece. I start with a low power eyepiece and swap eyepieces to higher until I get the view that I am after, assuming seeing and transparency is good. I can usually find objects within 10 or 20 seconds. Takes me about 5 minutes to get everything setup. If you get a motorized telescope it can take upwards of 20 minutes. Gotta do polar alignment, then 2-3 star alignments. A pain in the ass, but necessary every single time you setup the scope. But once a motorized (also called GoTo) scope is setup, you can select the object from a keypad and the scope will turn to the object and stay on the object, all night if you want it to. There's ways to wirelessly control the telescope too. My friend has a bluetooth adapter and he can control his telescope from his Samsung Note fablet.

My scope wasn't too expensive, got it used on Craigslist for $450.00. I spent another $450 in eyepieces (same eyepieces went on sale a month later for $50 off msrp :mad: ). Also have a good observing chair and folding table to put my eyepiece case on (a cheap harbor freight aluminum pluck foam case).
 
Last edited: