Radio I was also very interested in electronics and radio, and shortly after leaving school I took my amature radio licence exam and obtained a class B licence. From that point, I turned more to radio than anything else, having always been interested in HF, I eventually moved to VHF/UHF and began to use the amature satellites.

Remote Imaging Not quite the same as astronomy and a sideline to radio, I took up remote imaging from weather satellites, firstly the Low Earth Orbiters (LEO) satellites using a VHF receiver and then later progressing to the latest digital geostationary satellites. The later required me to obtain a met-offices licence in order to decode the imagery. The licence also allows me to publish the images I obtain as log as I give credit to EUMETSAT.

Back to Astronomy Well, eventually, radio was overtaken by the internet and I had equipment gathering dust. My 6 year old son had mentioned something about Jupiter and Saturn, so I thought what better way to get back into astronomy than to by a small telescope for my son. So, I started small with a 76mm 300mm FL reflector. After a few months, I managed to convince my wife that I needed a more manly scope, nothing too big, so I purchased a 120mm 1000mm FL refractor on a German Equatorial mount.

1 Year On I still have the 120mm refractor, and although tempted many times to upgrade, I have managed to keep my feet on the ground (Thanks wifey!), and stick with what I have got. There is plenty of life left in this scope and only recently have colimated it and got a whole new lease of life. I have however added a few things, a CG-5 Advanced Series GOTO mount, a Baader Hyperion Zoom eyepiece, illuminted eyepiece for aligning, Tal 2x Barlow and a home made dew heater. I have also dabbled into astro imaging and got myself a Canon 450D which most (if not all) of the images on my site have been taken with.

Forums Before I bought my son's 76mm scope, I found a UK based astronomy forum, Stargazers Lounge, where the people were friendly and helpful and shared some good advice. Later I joined the newly formed East Midlands Stargazers, closer to home, full of extremely friendly, knowlegable and helpful people, with access to 2 local (sort of) dark sites.