History
It seems like I have always been keen on looking at the sky. I recall vividly being fanatical about astronomy in the mid 1960's, and once I began work in 1970 I seemed to always be dreaming of the Questar Maksutov or Unitron refractor, mainly due to their exposure on the adverts of Sky & Telescope. Unfortunately the Questars and Unitrons did not eventuate, and anything I owned I invarialbly made myself, such is life in the out of the way country.
I am a helicopter pilot by occupation, and am blessed with a very understanding family. I am also fortunate to live in a rural location in the upper part of the North Island of New Zealand. The southern sky is a veritable treasure trove, and one I never tire of. I often stand for ages staring at the Milky Way overhead.
I have owned a proliferation of different telescopes, and accessories. I am seriously infatuated with Zeiss astronomical gear, such that I currently own three Zeiss refractors, and a 6' Zeiss Cassegrain. Of course such an infatuation is not complete without the obligatory accessories, and these range from the Huygens and orthoscopic eyepieces, through filters and extension tubes, to rare items like a micrometer eyepiece set. Typical Zeiss is weird, and ungainly to use, and it is love or hate. Unfortuantely for my bank account it is love for me.
I have the utmost respect for the Maksutov derivations, and have owned an ETX, an MK67 Maksutov Cassegrain, and an MN66 Maksutov Newton. For dark sky, deep sky objects I built up a 10' f5 dobsonion, and have just started using a bino viewer in this dob, as well as the Maks.
Photography has been a profession as well as a hobby for me for as long as astronomy, and really the two go hand in hand anyway. I have taken a variety of images of the sky, night and day. None of them have been up there with some of the well published stuff, but there is a certain satisfaction in seeing your own astro pictures come together. Some of it is related to the amount you spend, and some of it is related to the amount of effort you expend. I try to keep the amount of money expended to a minimum.
A while back I embarked on the digital age, with a Leica Digilux 4.3 digital point and shoot, and a Philips ToUcam webcam. From this humble beginning I have evolved to a Starlight Xpress CCD and a DMK has supplemented the ToUcam Mars was especially promising and to an extent Jupiter and Saturn.Where to from here? If I can keep doing what I do most clear nights, (and the odd cloudy one as well), I will be happy. Good gear, good observing friends, and a proliferation of astro minded e mail contacts from all around the globe. Perfect.