But I was told to stop by here and mention the fact that I have started YA (yet another) site dedicated towards astronomy and astrophotography.

It has many of the functions of other sites, but it does have the addition of a classifieds (for sale/looking) feature.
It does not cost anything to join and currently we run no ads on the site (it's supported out of my pocket as a labor of love).

The site is in NO way targeted towards a competition with this site, as its target audience encompasses those that haven't even discovered yet the beauty of automation.
We are just getting started, and like me, the site is a new process in motion. We are VERY light on content as currently I'm the only one generating it, and as a newbie to the field I'm more into questions than answers.


The site is Astro What? and all are welcome. Please feel free to stop by, and i interested, joining our community. I would REALLY like to see the site take off, as I have some goals to eventually get some local school science teachers involved and eventually hosting to school star parties.

We've added a few resources to the site...
A link directory (yes, even consisting of "competing" forums as our ideal goal is a wider uptake of astronomy by society) as well as links to vendors, manufacturers and IDS certified and low Bortle listed State and national parks.
A classifieds section for listing items for sale to others.
A resource directory that is primarily targeted towards software and observatory plans as well as written guides.
A medial gallery for users to have their own albums (or post in generic areas) that also has links to YouTube video guides that have been found to be beneficial to new (and experienced) users. Individual users uploads are watermarked with their username, the year and the forum site to prevent others from easily stealing your images (based upon user selection on whether to watermark or not).
An articles system for end users to write articles of interest to others that would not be laid out well in forum posts.
And then finally we have a ShowCase listing where you can show your hardware, modifications or customizations that others can get ideas from.

We are a totally add-free site (other than some simple Amazon links) and there is no cost to join. The only "targeted" person are those that are interested in astronomy and astrophotography in general and want to join somewhere that is targeting a "family" feel for the site.

The forum is a labor of love as I want to be able to give back to others in an area that I've grown a strong love of and our doors are open to all.
Astro What? forum .