[sac-forum] Announcement and the Moistons

For some time now I have wanted a second, smaller, telescope that is easy to 
setup and take down for backyard observing.  I want to spend time observing the 
moon, double stars and planets.  It will also be used for public star parties - 
something which I miss a lot.  Another activity that has been missing, that I 
want to dabble in a little, is piggyback astrophotography.  Finally, it would 
be a nice telescope to take out for short observing sessions or for those 
nights when the observing conditions degrade the performance of my 14.5" DOB.

So, now having the intro done, here is the short story.

Back in early November I took delivery of Orion's 10" f4.7 GoTo on a Atlas 
Mount.  Steve Coe came over to the house, we put it through a quick test and it 
performed beautifully.  Easy polar alignment, calibration and it went to 
everything we selected.  But there was a problem.  Did I ever misjudge the 
height of the focuser (6') and weight (117 pounds)!  Thanks goodness Orion has 
a generous return policy - I sent it back within 3 days!

Today I took remaining delivery of Orion's 8" SCT on a Sky View GoTo Mount.  
All together the assembled weight is a mere 53 pounds and a focuser 2' shorter. 
 Most of the setup was completed tonight and it slews in the correct directions 
for 3 star alignment and finding M42 and M31.  This is much more of what I was 
looking for.  I'm going to spend some time getting used to its controls and 
setup for first light in backyard; but not until next week.  Not sure when its 
first use away from home will be.

Now for the moistons!  I figure it this way.  It is a full two weeks before the 
next SAC Star Party and am hoping they forget this episode so we will have nice 
weather for our outing.  But then if we do have nice weather I'll, more than 
likely, bring the DOB.

So, there you have it.

Clear skies to all,
aj

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