hi all my name is Darren and i'm a biker; no i don't bite or scare old ladies/young children (well i try not too
). Other than having a lifelong passion for astronomy i also share another hobby with a few other BAS members i.e Amateur Radio, of which i've known Ross for 28 years or so.The other passion of mine is my quirky little car; it's a Reliant Kitten (4-wheeled version of the Robin) and i've owned it since i purchased it from Stondon Motor Museum with only 17,000 original miles on it (now on 21K) a few years ago. It gets loads of attention/questions and people stopping to take photo's of it and constant stares of bewilderment at traffic lights (most seem confused as to why it has 4 wheels instead of 3). I can just about get my 10" Meade LX200 in it
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members that have given me such a nice warm welcome at the 2 meetings i've attended so far. I would also like to thank Brian (sorry i don't remember your last name) for the "wedge" that he kindly gave me to allow me to use my telescope in Polar-mode; i now look forward to doing longer than 30 second exposures
Darren.
and also thanks for the heads up r.e. focal length + exposure times; i'm now a wiser chappie...the scope was a recent birthday present and quite a shock. It's been some years since i was last "hands on" and therefore i need to do a bit more research on certain aspects of the hobby that have (for me) progressed quite substantially. I love diving in at the deep end and seldom give in...try, try and try harder is a fav motto of mine