I just moved out to the country and can really see the sky clearly for the first time.  I've been teaching myself some of the constellations and planets over the past few months, and now I'm looking for my first scope.  Just thought I'd say hi and see if there was anyone else from the area on here and if they have any pointers for me.  Thanks.

hi, from a newb, and from someone who just went through the scope buying process.

A lot of recommendations would have you start out with a good pair of binoculars, to help you learn the sky without having to worry about all the complexities of a telescope. and you can actually see a good bit with some good binoculars.

something you'll need to consider is price. decent telescopes start at about $150 for the smaller, no frills, respectable-company scopes, and go up from there.

next, what type of scope? refractor, reflector, mak, or scg. plenty of info on the various types, and by more knowledgeable people than me. i went with reflector as those get your the largest aperature for dollar. all of them have their own strengths and weaknesses.

after that comes the mount. there's the alt-azimuth, the equitorial (eq). you'll also hear/read about dobs, which are newtonian reflectors mounted on an alt-azimuth mount. (so, all dobs are alt-azimuth, but not all alt-azimuth are dobs). alt-azimuth are easier to use, where as the eq mounts are more precise for long-period motorized tracking of objects (for use in astrophotography)

now that i could have completely overwhelmed you, it wasn't my intention! good luck with your choice, and enjoy your dark skies :D