Started with a 60mm Refractor?

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...

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

On 06 Nov 2004 15:04:18 GMT, (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

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...

My first scope was a 60mm refractor. I don't specifically remember it being a
Tasco, but it was certainly along those lines. I was probably 8 or 9 when I got
it. It didn't hook me on astronomy, but I used it on and off for several years.
As a kid, I liked science of all kinds, but hadn't specialized yet g.

When I was around 12, somebody gave me a 6" Newt that had been in a fire. This
thing had an aluminum tube and an equatorial mount made of pipe. I cleaned it
all up, repainted the tube and got the mirror recoated. I replaced the mirror
cell with one from Edmund, and within a year had purchased an Edmund equatorial
mount with an AC clock drive. That was a great scope, and I used it for a number
of years. In the late 70s, when I was in college, I converted the mount to goto
and added a CCD imager and autoguider. There's a picture of that setup at
http://www.cloudbait.com/history.html .

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

My first scope, if you can call it that, was given to me when I lived down
in Ramona,Ca.

It was given to me by a guy who had not only worked on the Altas rocket
engines, but before then had been at white sands too. What he gave me is an
optical tracking device white in color, some kind of elec. contacts on the
base, has built in filters and target sighting screens ( for want of any
other term ). The way it's made I think it could make it through a nuke
blast. It's only about 6 or 7 power, but it got me viewing the sky. I still
have it.

First real scope was the orion DSE 12.5 f4.8 in Hawaii.
Had to sell it to help pay for move back to mainland ( from what I head, it
not sits unused in a school storage room )

I was given a Stargazer Steve 4.25 F9 Dob and everyone here knows about the
Babylon 8 project.

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond.


--


The Forgotten
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/forgotten.htm


SIAR
http://starlords.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
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...




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.779 / Virus Database: 526 - Release Date: 10/19/04

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
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...

my first scope was a home built 80mm refractor (about 20 years ago). lots of fun!
--
md

Subject: Started with a 60mm Refractor?
From: (Jon Isaacs)
Date: 11/6/2004 10:04 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



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...
*****************************
My first scope was a 40mmx40 refractor, then a Sears 60mm blue tube EQ
refractor... That was in 1976!

Chas P.

Jon Isaacs wrote:
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...

60mm? What luxury! My first telescope (and I use the term loosely now)
was a Tasco 30x30mm. I recieved this scope as a gift many years ago and
don't remember doing much with it at all. The views pretty rough by
anyone's standards, but it was OK for terrestrial viewing. I was very
much into space and astronomy as a kid, but it never really occured to
me to go out and actually try to *see* any of these distant things I'd
been reading about.

As if just over an inch of aperture wasn't small enough, it was stopped
down, too. I can't find it now to check, but I believe the objective was
at least some kind of glass, as opposed to plastic. There were no
eyepieces as such - just a small lens mounted in the end of a chromed
tube which you slid in and out to focus. IIRC, there was another lens at
the other end of this sliding tube, which resulted in an upright image.
The "mount" consisted of a foot-high tripod and some kind of plastic
clip which held the OTA in place.

But yes - this was the one that (re)sparked the interest for me, albeit
several years later. It sat in a box somewhere in my old room at my
parents' house, until they brought it over to my new place earlier this
year. Getting a decent telescope had been in the back of my mind for a
long time, but I'd never really had the space for one until recently.
Anyway, I saw this little red scope sitting there and thought I'd try it
out on the Moon. The mount is probably still at my folks' place, so I
fashioned something resembling an alt-az mount out of shelf brackets,
screws and Blu-tak! To be honest, I could see more detail on the Moon
with my unaided eye than with the scope, but I decided right then that I
*had* to get something bigger and better.

Not to do things by half, I went ahead and got myself an 8" SCT, which
is still opening up a whole new world for me. The last few months, I've
been making up for lost time in a big way. My only regret is that I
didn't do this a long, *long* time ago!

--
Steve Maddison
Den Haag, The Netherlands
http://www.cosam.org/

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
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...

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

My first scope was a 60mm f/15 achromatic refractor, and I LOVED that
scope!!! I was stunned the first time I was actually able to SEE the
rings of Saturn. But the views were not that great with the supplied
..965" eyepieces and Barlow, so quickly, a hybrid diagonal and a bunch of
1.25" Orthoscopics, and a decent 1.25" Barlow replaced them. I also
modified the rather shaky mount & tripod so that, without it getting any
bulkier, it was surprisingly steady.

Of course, aperture fever set in after about five years or so (probably
would have set in earlier, but I had a pretty pristine dark sky site at my
in-laws' ranch some distance west of Phoenix (and light pollution wasn't
much of a problem in Phoenix then, anyway).

But I sold the 60mm to a friend at work (who loved it too!!!) after I
bought an equatorial 8" f/6 and 13" f/4.5 Dobsonian in the early 1980's.
But I missed that little scope so much that I actually bought another,
higher quality, 60mm f/15 OTA, and, using Richard Berry's Build Your Own
Telescope book, I built a Dobsonian mount similar to the one he built for
his big 6" f/15. I built that tripod so sturdy (the legs were made from
2"X2" 's), that I could probably have balanced my TRUCK on top of that
thing... In fact, I still have those tripod legs (AND the OTA), but the
mount has since been replaced with an Orion equatorial mount, which now
sits on a big-wheeled JMI Wheeley Bar, for the ULTIMATE in grab and go.
Roll it out, do your thing, roll it back in.

I don't use it very often any more, because over time, the aperture fever
took me way on up the scale (and with increasing back problems, back down
the scale part of the way), so about as small as I ever go anymore is my
94mm Brandon APO, which I will never part with, either. But once in a
while, I pull that 60mm out and down memory lane we go (strange thing, but
I was just fiddling with that 60mm OTA this morning, and came in here, and
lo and behold, here is this SAA thread about 60mm scopes!). The memory
lane tours usually go straight to the Double Cluster, if it's well
positioned, or the moon and/or planets, depending on if THEY are in
season... The Double Cluster became one of my favorite objects in the old
days with the 60mm, and it has remained so with ALL my scopes... Some
things never change... But many of them DO get better with aperture... A
60mm scope is often a launch pad to bigger and better things...

Still, NEVER sell a 60mm short. There are a LOT of things you can't see w
ith one, but they are GREAT for a starter scope for a young beginner. Not
too much for a young, inexperienced observer to knock out of alignment,
pinpoint stars, rings of Saturn, some detail on Jupiter, as well as the
dance of the Jovian moons, and even a lot of DSO's are visible; just not
to the degree that I soon began to crave... And, on the right mount, they
can also be a great grab and go scope, though not as good overall for this
purpose as an ST80, perhaps...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272

On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 10:30:18 -0700, Jan Owen wrote:

But once in a
while, I pull that 60mm out and down memory lane we go


The older I get, the more interesting that lane becomes and the saunters
down it more rewarding. It contains a beauty and serenity that youth can
only wait to know.



Martin

Jon Isaacs wrote:

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...
[snip]

I've already mentioned it in the other thread, but let me add one little
tidbit. If you haven't had the chance to testdrive a 60mm Tasco scope
from *really* dark skies, you are missing some interesting things.

Last time I took it to Antiparos, which has average 6.0 skies, it really
surprized me. The Andromeda galaxy showed its main dark lane and the
Pleiades, showed hints of nebulosity around Merope. And no, it wasn't my
imagination.

Having a really good finder aligned with it, showed many M objects that
otherwise would be impossible to find, with its crappy stopped down
finder. With a couple of decent EP's and a good finder, one can have
lots of fun under dark skies.

jon isaacs
--
I. N. G. --- http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/jgal/

It started with an interest. The interest increased after reading a
few books. The 60 or 65mm cardboard-tubed, plastic-lensed refractor
came later.

Sketcher
To sketch is to see.