I would also like to see a category for the TRUE marathoners - like me. Observe one Messier object each year at the Arizona City site for the next 110 years to get your plaque. :-). To be fair, this category should also have its own subcategory for people doing this ultra-marathon with a go-to scope. -----Original Message----- From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of jimmy_ray@xxxxxxx Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 9:37 AM To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: The Meade Mount The Goto issue was the "can of worms" that came to mind for me also. I have a "Goto" which I personally don't feel requires the same level of hunting skill that the guy who star hops has. I could see categories of competition but where to draw the lines? What if a person has no scope but naked eyes a dozen or better objects, which would be amazing wouldn't it? Uses binoculars of "x" power or less? In competitive free flight modeling we had many categories of competition, the goal was the same, "stay up for "x" amount of time but, because of performance, powerplant, and size, competition had to be broken down to specific categories. Where one runs into trouble with using eyesight is it is subjective. I wear glasses so I should be able to compete in the electronic assisted category, as I'm visually impaired, right? Well, I'm very far sighted, in fact my vision is actually 20/15, which means I could probably kick butt in the "naked eye category" but I wear glasses because my arm s are too short for me to read something I'm holding in front of me. So is it really a category for visually impaired or is it a category that all the e-photon guys compete in? I like the idea of been able to pick a category, sharpen my skills for it, and try my best against others using the same limitations, I also am a big fan of tradition. I think some "experimental' categories could help answer this question (it works for the Olympics). Jimmy Ray > > From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 2006/03/03 Fri AM 08:00:27 PST > To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: The Meade Mount > > Sounds like a good idea. > > While it makes sense it does complicate things and then opens the > door for still other categories. e,g., GOTO Scopes, Setting Circle > Scopes, Basic Alt/AZ Mode Scopes (DOBs and such). It is my > understanding that the event gets larger each years and if so may > warrant consideration of extending categories. Each has its own and > different challenges. > > Jeff > > At 08:11 -0700 3/3/06, Stan Gorodenski wrote: > >Stars wrote: > > > >>Jack I completely understand, and would give anything if I could see the > >>dark skys as good as most. I can't so I will just have to do the best I can > >>to see the sky's. That what I am out there to do. Maybe a separate reward > >>system for astrophotography, or using a video screen as long as you are > >>within say 25 ft of the telescope. > >> > > > >This sounds like a reasonable extension of the MM. Actually, a good > >idea. It would trail blaze the MM to more than what it currently is. > >Stan > > > >>That would be fair for us visually > >>handicapped people. > > -- > Jeff Hopkins > HPO SOFT > http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html > Hopkins Phoenix Observatory > 7812 West Clayton Drive > Phoenix, Arizona 85033-2439 U.S.A. > www.hposoft.com > -- > See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please > send personal replies to the author, not the list. > > -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.