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Did you ever notice how so many things start with a small idea, then just kind of snowball into something much, much bigger? This web site started out a few years ago as a single page and a single subject. That's all I thought I would ever need! Let me explain..... I belong to a forum group from Astronomy Magazine at Astronomy.com. I had built a simple base to raise my dobsonian telescope up so I would not have to bend over so much while observing the night skies. Some of the other members at Astronomy.com were interested to see what I had built, and wanted instructions on how to build one for themselves. I thought the easiest way to show them would be to post a few photos on a web page along with some simple instructions. A few weeks later I thought it would be cool to post a second page with photos of my equipment...... and then it started to snowball. So here I am at 70 plus content pages later, and another 110 plus individual photos that open on their own page, and I'm thinking to myself "Hmm... what can I add next?" (Any ideas can be e-mailed to me, if you would be so kind.) I live in Western Michigan, in the suburbs
outside of a big city where light pollution is fairly heavy. My favorite
things at this phase of my life are my family, my friends, the great
outdoors, woodworking and amateur astronomy, in that order. (Except at
night when you can switch the last two around!) My main tools of the
astronomy trade are an Orion SkyQuest XT8 dobsonian telescope, an Orion
SkyView Pro 100mm ED APO refractor, a pair of Denkmeier binoviewers, and a pair of Oberwerk 11x70
binoculars. You won't find any GoTo electronics here as I prefer to find
things the old fashioned way.... by looking at my star charts, then
finding my target by star hoping. I don't hold anything against the GoTo
technology used by many people today. It does help you to find a lot of
objects fast, even some that are very hard to find on your own. I just
think that it's more rewarding finding them on your own, and you learn
the sky better if you find objects instead of having the GoTo computer
do the work. I am continuing to add information for the beginning amateur astronomer as this web site keeps growing. This web site features my Orion XT8 and Orion 100ED telescopes. It also features a couple plans for do-it-yourself projects to get more enjoyment out of these, and other telescopes. Also you'll find an observing section, some information on what to look for when buying a telescope, some maintenance tips, a few equipment mini reviews of products that I have used, some free astronomy related downloads, a photo gallery that I will continue to update along with the rest of the site, and much more. I have also changed news services. You will now see the Space.com news service which is constantly updated, unlike the news service I was using that only updated every few days. You will also find links to some of my favorite astronomy and woodworking web sites, along with a few Astronomy.com and IceInSpace.com forum members web sites, which are definitely worth checking out! This site is a work in progress, so check
back occasionally please. If you have ANY questions, suggestions,
criticism, etc. PLEASE let me know at the e-mail address listed in the
menu below. Thank you!
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Copyright©2006
home.comcast.net/~astrohammer/. Content and Images may not be
republished without written permission.
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