any advice appreciated !

[ralfy]

. . . I'm not long into meteorite territory and am still reading that excellent slab of knowledge called 'Rocks From Space', ... so just a 'grommit' (surfing term) when it comes to things meteorological.
With the waelth of experience in the Forum, any useful and practical advice on furthering interest, buying specimens and looking after pieces would be much appreciated. I can see how easy it would be to get duped with fakes or overcharged concerning supposed obscurity, and as a savvy inexperienced person knows, you can't beat experience, so any helpful advice willingly accepted.

Thanks guys.

[Matt Smith]

Hi ralfy. Rocks from Space is a great place to start, there is buying meteorites page in the "About Meteorites" section of the main BIMS site, although it is rather brief: http://bimsociety.org/meteorites.shtml

Just get to know the subject and if in doubt feel free to ask, we're generally a friendly bunch around here

[ralfy]

. . . thanks Matt, this Forum was recommended to me by Rob Elliot whom I contacted for advice at the very beginning ! The stories and statistics of this field of interest vary from eccentric to mind-boggling, and never boring. I took my hefty chunk of Campo Del Cielo along to an astronomy presentation recently and it caused a flurry of interest as people realised this blotchy blob of iron-nickel was the nearest they would ever get to the stars.

[msg-meteorites]

Hi and welcome,

Rocks from space is a good place to start and is one book that you will dip into time and time again, its so good in fact that i have 2 copies and have re-read it numerous times!

Regards buying your first few pieces all i would say is read as much as you can and look at as many dealers sites as possible to get an idea on prices being asked, you will find a fair bit of discrepancy but it will give you some ball park figures. Also its very easy to get carried away so try and work out at some point exactly where your interests lie, lunar/martian meteorites, historical specimens with great stories, to collect by location i.e. UK meteorites etc. Asssuming you have a budget and are not a multi millionaire without some sort of collecting strategy you will find your budget eaten up quickly with random purchases and you will miss out on specimens you really want later. saying that dont be afraid of getting your first few pieces as although reading is great, nothing beats holding these amazing rocks from space in your hand

As Matt says, we are aall ready and willing to answer any questions here so dont be shy and ask away!

Cheers

Martin

[ralfy]

.... thanks guys !