Chuck: Glad to hear you're thinking about another binocular night, last one was fun. My son has picked up a pair of Canon IS binoc's and it would be fun to compare them against mounts and bigger optics. Lakeside isn't as dusty early in the year, seems like if we looked around on the hillside we could find some place up out of the lake bottom dust. Last year we went to Strawberry during early July, no dust and good skies. I wonder if the folks at the visitor center would consider turning off the lights and leaving the bathrooms open all night, can't hurt to ask. Bill B. Chuck Hards wrote:
Hi Bill, good to see you post. You wrote:
I'm not sure if it was your comments about _Astronomy_ that upset the fellow or someone making a derogatory comment about his goto scope.
I didn't pick up on that. GoTo scopes are marvelous inventions; it's just too bad that most of the on-board database is invisible to small scopes (and just a 'smudge' in larger instruments). As an aside I think that folks who go this route are cheating themselves of half the fun of astronomy- learning the skies in detail. Potato, potahto.
I saw a webpage somewhere that discussed the stages of a mailing list growing through a friendly group with a common interest then dissent like this, then denigrating newcomers with messages like "Look in the FAQ line xxx" in response to simple questions and then the list dies. I may have misstated or forgotten some steps, if so I'm sorry. Email is a different communication media; it's hard to not offend someone sometimes. The lack of visual and tonal clues can make it easy to misinterpret an email.
Excellent summation. Fortunately for us, we don't seem to have any FAQ pointers in this group. In fact, there are usually at least several thoughtful replies to most beginner questions, almost every time.
Just a few random thoughts; I've always appreciated your contributions to this list and to SLAS. Any plans for another binopalooza this spring?
Aw, gosh, thanks. My wife doensn't listen to me, I'm glad some of you folks do! ;)
Yes, I am planning another Binopalooza this year, though it will probably be June or later due to a packed work schedule. I'm also taking suggestions for a new site. Lakeside has darkness and proximity going for it, but it is darned dusty. Also, what about an all-nighter?
Chuck
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