Who, What, Why?

Who

My name is Richard Sutherland, I live in Los Angeles and work in Visual Effects.  I am also an amateur astronomer.  I’ve started observing from in L.A. as a kid when my dad bought me a used 4.5” reflector.  Looking back it was not a great scope, but it was good enough to spark a lasting interest in the night sky.  I had that telescope for many years, using it under the light pollution of Los Angeles to view the moon and planets, then the much better skies of Napa Valley where it saw a lot of use and I remember really getting hooked on deep sky observing.  My work took me to Sacramento where I was back under a light dome and the scope saw very little use.  When I moved to San Francisco, into a tiny apartment, I sold just about everything I had, including that telescope.

Several years ago I moved back to Los Angeles and I decided to pick up my hobby again.  I bought an XT8 from Orion and started observing again.  At the time I lived near the coast and could do some deep sky observing from my apartment patio if I got up early in the morning, the weather was just right and the object I wanted to observe passed through the small sliver of sky I could see.  Recently, I moved closer to downtown and the sky is nothing by glow and I don't have a patio anyway.  Being interested in the night sky and living in the heart of light polluted Los Angeles is not the best combination, but there are ways to make it work.....  You travel some distance to darker skies as often as you can.  This is never as often as you would like.


What

This blog is about a plan I hatched a few months ago.  It’s not really a new or unique plan, I’m pretty sure every owner of a telescope has come up with a similar plan.   More Aperture!  This won’t help me find more observing time, but the time I do find will be more fun, productive, interesting... awesome.

One of those observing times is the annual Golden State Star Party (GSSP) a wonderful dark sky event that I try to attend any year I possibly can.  I just got back from the 2012 GSSP, I’m going to go next year, and I’ve decided I’m going to have a better scope.  A simple plan, get a better telescope by July of 2013.  One year, one scope.  

To get a better scope, I’ll have to spend some amount of money.  At the very least I’ll have to save some up to buy a pre-made commercial scope.  After looking around at some options, it seems that building a telescope will get me more bang for my buck.  My time is not free, obviously, and if I include it in the cost it will probably be a losing proposition... but I’m pretty sure I will enjoy researching, building and finishing my own telescope, so I’m willing to put the time in.  

Ultimately, I doubt I’ll really save that much money, there is a fair chance I’ll spend more than I would have if I just bought a commercial scope, but I hope I’ll end up with just the telescope I want and I’ll learn some things and have some fun along the way.... Saving one penny at the cost of two.

Why

Starting a blog seemed like a good way to record some of my research, keep track of ideas, and share some things that might help other people who choose to do the same thing.  I’ll be posting stuff about my design choices, parts I find, and the actual build progress.  There will probably also be some observing reports, info about nearby dark sky sites I visit and maybe some particular astronomy related events of note.

There are lots of astronomy related blogs, a few of my favorites are linked over there to the right, but I think there is room for one more.  Heck, I already follow a bunch of astro-blogs, and I’d like to read one more.  So here it is.