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Hi from Pennsylvania

Celestron Advanced VX Introductions
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Mike Kline avatar
Mike Kline avatar
My name is Mike and I'm from PA. I was always interested in looking up but didn't have a scope until Halleys Comet came around. The scope I had was a 50 mm with a spindly tripod that could barely support a SLR. I did get some quick views of Saturn and Jupiter but that was it. About 12 years ago I bought a Meade 114EQ and that was a much better viewng experience. Fast forward to 2013 and I wanted to start imaging. I started by getting a Celestron AVX mount and used my Canon 5D and 100-400mm lens. Now 4 scopes and a CCD camera later I'm hooked and there is no hope for me. I also have a new Astro-Tech 115mm scope coming soon smile .

Mike
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rhedden avatar
rhedden avatar
I'm originally from the Scranton area, and after also living in State College (twice), I ended up moving to Texas.  Good to see another Pennsylvanian on this site!
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Mike Kline avatar
Mike Kline avatar
Hello! Nice to meet you smile .
Adam Jaffe avatar
Adam Jaffe avatar
From Scranton, PA here.  Welcome to the board.
Mike Kline avatar
Mike Kline avatar
Hi Adam,
I guess I didn't put where in PA I'm from. I'm from Lewisburg, 1/2 mile south of Bucknell University.
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rhedden avatar
rhedden avatar
I have some friends on the faculty at Bucknell, now that you mention it.  Nice campus, and Lewisburg is a nice area too.  I would not mind living there.  It's not far from some very dark skies.  Texas and NM are supposed to have such great skies, but I don't think the weather & seeing are any better here than central PA, to be honest.  There is a lot of dust & dirt in the air in west Texas that PA does not have, so transparency suffers.  The wind blows like a ^$(^$*&^$ from February until May.   From May 15-July 15, we get afternoon thunderstorms and clouds until 3 AM almost every single day, and there are droves of mosquitoes that carry West Nile and other awful stuff.  In NM, the skies are cleaner, but seeing is not as good as advertised.  I have imaged there three times in the summers and got three nights of poor seeing (one virtually unusable).  It rains in the mountains of NM virtually every afternoon from during summer monsoon patterns.   I can image in the winter in Texas relatively painlessly thanks to warmer temps., but there are not  many clear nights with good seeing, it turns out.
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Francois Theriault avatar
Francois Theriault avatar
Welcome to Astrobin. You will find that most of the amateurs on this site started out more or less the same as you.

For myself, I re-discovered the hobby about 8 years ago. My astroimaging started with an Orion Starshoot Pro, a Celestron  AS-GT mount and a 1000mm Newtonian.
After a while, I became sick and tired of hauling all the gear in and out of the house every imaging session, so I built a roll-off roof observatory in my back yard.

You will find it very challenging, but also very rewarding. Don't hesitate to ask questions, you will always find people very willing to help out.

Clear Skies (from Canada)
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