|
If you don’t currently own a telescope,
you might want to wait before you decide to buy. You might
not, however, want to wait as long as I did after joining
the OCA: 2 years and 9 months.
Well, I didn’t want
to rush into a decision. I was busy. I didn’t want to make
the wrong choice and commit to something I might eventually
come to dislike. Cost was another factor. And, finally, there
was the fact that I could always borrow one. The club has
some fine telescopes for members to borrow, such as the first
one I used, a 10-inch Coulter Dobsonian. So, I took matters
slowly: I learned my way around the sky with my binoculars
and the Dobsonian. I also learned how to use the 10-inch Meade
LX-200 SCT at the Anza Observatory, with it’s object library
and GOTO capabilities. Nice.
But, I have neither
a "GOTO" nor an "ATM" personality. I could
neither persuade myself to invest in an instrument that would
do all the thinking for me, nor did I want to make one. Rock
bottom, I just wanted a traditional telescope.
 What
to buy? Well, I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t run out
to buy a grocery-store telescope! (I actually saw a posting
to the sci.astro.amateur newsgroup that read: "What are
the best brands? Who sells absolutely the cheapest? I was
looking at a telescope at Wal-Mart recently…") I believe
that the best way to check out telescopes is to borrow one
from the club or a friend, to go to star parties and spend
some time with other club members, who are very willing to
answer any questions one might have, to get involved with
the use and maintenance of the club’s telescopes. In addition,
one should read everything one can find in print or on the
internet. There is an excellent website called "The Telescope
FAQ" (url: http://www.qnet.com/~starlord/TELSCOPE.FAQ),
which is only one of many. Sky and Telescope’s pamphlet
"Choosing Your First Telescope" is available from
the club and from their website. In addition, many OEMs and
resellers provide general information on telescopes for the
potential buyer.
As it turns out, I
was looking at ads on the internet and in magazines for about
2 weeks prior to my attending RTMC. I must have made a subconscious
decision, because once I arrived at Big Bear, I had to buy
a telescope. I could think of nothing else. This was only
my second RTMC; at my first one, my big purchase was a set
of books by Brent Watson, the "Finder Charts of the Messier
Objects", designed for Telrad users. Thinking about my
pocketbook, I was led (or misled) first to the used telescope
vendors. I almost bought a 4-inch Meade refractor, when Don
Lynn showed up and talked me out of it. I walked over to the
Meade booth and stopped by Al Nagler’s booth as well. Nothing
really excited me, though. Later, in the women’s dorm, I spoke
to someone whose boyfriend sells scopes, and I went and looked
at it and walked away (quickly) because it was dinnertime.
At dinner, I expressed my desire to buy a telescope contingent
upon my failing to win one at the door prize drawing. I enlisted
Don Lynn and John Sanford and felt confident that I could
arrive at the right decision with the two of them along.
 The
following morning, we took off after breakfast, and arrived
at a vendor of telescope-making kits. Uh-uh. The next booth
belonged to Discovery Telescopes. I had never heard of them,
but we stopped to look. The company is located in Oceanside,
and they are a supplier of mirrors and telescopes to several
big-name telescope companies. I grew increasingly interested,
because the price range for their Newtonian reflectors was
just right for me. (The company sells direct to the public.)
Moreover, the telescopes on display (several Newtonian reflectors
and a Dobsonian) were attractive, with a glossy black finish
and mounted on aluminum tripods. There were 4.25-, 6- and
8-inch Newtonians on display. I was drawn to the 6-inch f/5
for its cost ($499), and asked John and Don to look at it.
The glass parabolic
primary mirror showed crisp images, but I’m not an expert.
My friends were impressed with the optics, and the mount appeared
stable enough. Then, John reminded me of something Doug Millar
had mentioned at breakfast: "Don’t buy anything less
than an 8-inch!" He pointed out that the 8-inch f/5 also
included a DC motor drive (the RTMC special) for free, and
the extra 2 inches of aperture would make a great difference.
Aperture rules, right? Right! I made a deal for the telescope,
which comes with a 25-mm Plossl, 2- and 1.25-inch rack-and-pinion
focuser, mount and tripod (same as Orion’s SkyView Deluxe
EQ), the free DC drive and a 10-mm Plossl for less than $600,
and I still haven’t stopped smiling!
 My
telescope (named Lucille) is beautiful and very portable.
I can setup and break down in under 20 minutes. I’ve hauled
it to the Silverado star party, the Anza star party, to the
Discovery museum in Santa Ana, and to Jim Benet’s house. I’ve
viewed the Dumbbell nebula, Albireo in Cygnus, Mizar in Ursa
Major and M13, just to name a few objects. They are truly
stunning and clear right out to the edge of the field. I’m
never disappointed by the images, and no wonder: Discovery
boasts these mirrors are accurate to 1/10 wave. Aaron Imaoka
tried out his TeleVue zoom eyepiece (8 to 24 mm) on my scope,
and now, I am really hooked. That must be what happens: you
buy the scope, then you just spend, spend, spend to enhance
it even more. Eventually, I want to try my hand at piggyback
photography, but right now, I’m just content to learn my way
round the sky, just like I wanted.
Check out Discovery
Telescope’s website at: http://www.discovery-telescopes.com,
or call them at: 760-967-6598. The company’s founders, Terry
Ostahowski and Bill Larsen, are friendly and patient, and
they also provide excellent technical support.
|
