[AZ-Observing] The Scope That Came too Late

Observers all,
        About two years ago I bought the position of a friend who had ordered a 
Portaball 12.5" about a year earlier, with the manufacturer's consent, thinking 
I could cut the advertised wait time considerably.  The wait time was and is 
stated to be 8 to 10 months on the order forms.  I was told it was closer to a 
year or a year and a half.   Not.  The total wait time on my scope came to 35 
months. Truly exasperating.

        However, the situation became worse.  I kept the scope assembled for 
the month I owned it in a corner of my living room.  The problem became, each 
time I looked at it, I became irritated all over again, thinking of how long I 
had to wait for it and how little time I had to use it. So much and 
continuously so that I just sold the scope.  The sale was not prompted solely 
by the irritation however. 

        I have decided against purchasing the nice rental home in Moon Valley 
that I am living in and instead will pursue my dream of sailing if not the 
world, then to the South Pacific, transitioning to living aboard my sailboat in 
San Diego during the next four months or so.  I have much to get rid of. I 
would like to circumnavigate the world, but the Muslims are too irritated for 
that, so I will avoid the Middle East and start with the Pacific.  Maybe they 
will calm down later and I can do what I want. 

        The Portaball is too big to take, so rather than use it, I sold it as 
new for a premium, relative to what I paid. With part of the proceeds, I have 
now ordered the UTI 8" reflector with setting circles (including a program for 
the southern sky) made by Infinity Telescopes in Tucson which so intrigued 
David Levy.  The scope has a hard case for it and its stand that fits into an 
airline overhead bin and weighs just 22 pounds. As Dr. Levy points out, you can 
also put clothes in the upper and lower assemblies for even more compact 
travel. I will take that scope with me on my voyages.  

        I am also (should any reader be interested) selling my Meade 127 ED APO 
refractor with a JMI hard case (listed on Astromart), and my Celestron 9.25" 
XLT Carbon SC Adv Ser Go To scope and mount/tripod (soon to be listed on 
Astromart). Locals and friends will get preferred pricing.  It makes no sense 
to keep these set-ups and pay storage on them for the next five to ten years 
when someone else can be enjoying them. 

        In addition to the UTI 8", I will also take a 3036 collapsible tripod 
with me that I can use with my TV-85 on a Bogen 501 fluid head and with my 
Burgess 100x25 binocular on a UA short parallel mount, both of which I will 
also take. That array should keep me and south sea islanders well engaged and 
entertained. It also gives me two excellent terrestrial set-ups, as well. When 
cruising by sailboat, the time spent actually sailing is usually about one day 
out of eight or so.  There will be plenty of time for me to use this equipment 
and it is all light and compact enough to take with me.  However, it is a bit 
disconcerting that before I have even learned the northern sky well, I am to be 
confronted by a southern sky that is new to me and totally unfamiliar. I am 
sure my head will swim, . . . hopefully, only figuratively. I need to become 
much more sensitive to star brightness differences to mentally edit what I see 
better.

        I did give sitting still after (semi) retirement a good shake, but I 
simply want more adventure in my life.  I had a great deal of it growing up all 
over the world and now want to see things again and how they have changed.  I 
also plan to take a quality road bike with me as well to provide more mobility. 
 I am working hard on one now to get into better shape. Hemingway said the best 
way to travel and really see things was by bicycle and I agree.

        I hope to see many of you again before I leave, and I am sure I will, 
but my predeparture schedule is hectic and I have much to do, especially in 
regard to further outfitting of my boat and local west coast cruises to 
shakedown the new equipment and sort things out better.

Kimball Corson
Phoenix, Arizona

kcorson@xxxxxxxxx
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