I haven't found any ads for my model yet. I've only had it since last Friday and haven't had much time to research it's particular history. I know that Unitron sold one, very similar to mine, as did Tasco and a few other telescope importers of the day. Here is a link to a 1958 Tasco catalog, with a picture and description of their model. More than twice the money of my modest example. http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/classics/unitron/Unitron_1958Catalog.pdf Page 33, $75 I know that many people made their own, and I think the domestically produced examples were less money than the Japanese imports such as Tasco, Unitron, etc. Sputnik was launched in October of 1957, if memory serves, and I believe this program was launched as part of the IGY and only lasted into the mid-sixties, by which time government satellite-tracking facilities had been established. On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 10:23 AM, Richard Tenney via Utah-Astronomy < utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Also, have you been able to establish the date of your little scope? Any idea of how it was marketed (if it was marketed) -- are there ads in S&T, etc. for such things back in the 50's? /R.