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Re: (IAAC) FWD: What should I buy? (rich field scopes)
Luis,
I am sorry if I scared you with my comments about the Tasco 4.5"; I had
no intention of doing so. I was merely comparing the quality of the
scope to that which I use today, and if it wasn't for my Tasco, I
certainly wouldn't have become as hooked on astronomy as I am now.
There is an awful lot that you can do with the scope. The only problem
that I had with it was the actual finding of objects and the stability
of the scope. This can be overcome by suspending a counterweight such
as a bucket of sand between the legs of the tripod, and by trying to use
the scope in as sheltered an area as possible. It also just takes
practice to use the scope smoothly. With regard to finding objects, I
usually found that the star-hopping method works best, since the finder
scope was not particularly good. But you may be able to just point the
scope and sweep the skies with the 50x eyepiece slotted in: this, I
remember, is how I found my first galaxy - M31 - and , as Penny and Lew
hint, the first galaxy is always tens of time harder to find than the
others!!
Keep going with the 4.5": it brought me some of my first and most
memorable views.
Best wishes and clear skies,
Paul.
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