Ann: Tell Craig we are sorry about his back. A lot of us know the pain of back problems. I have found that "full on reviews " of the larger Astro-Tech refractors have been very hard to find. The 130 was listed as a Sky and Telescope Best Product in 2007 but I doubt if there was a review written. There has been a great deal of talk and hype on Cloudy Nights dot com about these scopes but it is hard to get a review. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Cloudy Nights is owned and operated by Astronomics and they import the AT products. That is what I hear anyway. We have a local fellow who owns and uses a 106. His name is George and I am afraid I do not remember his last name. I am not sure if he is a member of a local club or even a member of the Utah Astronomy list. If all else fails get hold of Jay Eads as he is the fellow who introduced me to George one night at Lakeside. I saw the 106 that night but it had a camera hooked up to it so I never got to look in an eyepiece. I have seen several AT scopes and other products. Unfortunately I have never looked through one. So I can't help you or Craig there. Tell Craig that I think he is on the right path. Not only because I am a refractor "weenie" but I know how much lighter and easier to handle a 5" refractors with a good mid weight mount can be than a large CAT. One more thing. Yes, Ann I believe in Santa also. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Blanchard" <a. blanchard @ ugs . utah . edu > To: "Utah Astronomy" < utah -astronomy@mailman. xmission .com> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 8:30:55 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Opinions on Astro-Tech Refractor Craig has hurt his back lifting our 11" Celestron CPC and is looking at two Astro-Tech refractors as alternative possibilities for a while (looking at prices, he still believes in Santa too). Anyway, have any of you owned, used one of these or do you know of a web site that might trusted that reviews them? They are the AT106 106m f/6.5 or the AT130 10mm F/6 . He found them on page 65 of the Sky and Telescope. I really appreciate any advice on them you can give, thanks! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman. xmission .com http ://mailman. xmission .com/cgi-bin/mailman/ listinfo / utah -astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http :// www . slas .us/gallery2/main. php Visit the Wiki : http :// www . utahastronomy .com