[AZ-Observing] Why the Little Dob Too

Hi Steve (Coe),
I didn't adequately explain myself today about why the little Infinity UTI 8" 
dob is likely to retain a place in my telescopic arsenal of two, 
notwithstanding the arrival of the NP101.  The basic reason is I am lazy.  It 
is so much easier to view objects higher in the sky with a dob than it is to go 
thru the strained gyrations necessary to  view such objects with a refractor on 
a Gibraltar mount. In fact, I believe my usage pattern -- once I settle down -- 
will be to set up both and use the refractor for the lower half of the sky and 
the little dob for objects above that.  I just won't stand on my head to look 
at stuff and my star chair --  which I cannot take on board my sailboat -- only 
goes so low anyway.  Without that, I would be squatting or bending far too 
much, and so the need for the dob for the higher reaches.How's that for lazy, 
but realistic. Such was a part of my thinking in coupling those two scopes for 
travel.  I just upgraded the TV-85 to the NP101 when I figured out there is 
only 6" difference in length, three or so pounds, in weight, and, like the 
TV-85, Televue makes a compact soft carry case for the NP101.

But as we agreed, time will tell.  So far, I am very found of both scopes, in 
part because they are little and light and have decent optics.  In fact, as I 
mentioned, I did not expect such an improvement in the center sharpness of the 
NP101 over the TV-85.  It was noticeable without a side by side comparison.  
The Denk II binoviewer and the 24mm Panoptics and 7mm Naglers, on the other 
hand, are a renewed experiment for me which I may or may not abandon.  In light 
of the experiences of some others, I need to give binoviewing a better shake 
than I did with the TV binoviewer.  However, out of the box I did not like the 
TV unit nearly as much as the Denk II.  We'll see there.   I may, like you, 
revert to being a cyclops. Again, time will tell.  

What is nice about buying good used equipment at a decent price is you can play 
with it, and if it is not for you, then sell it at about the same price if you 
have taken good care of it.  It's like a bunch of kids trading their toys.

Kimball
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