After being frustrated by bad weather forecasts that Saturday night (as late as Saturday afternoon, 4pm by the national weather service) "would be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of snow", and consequently making other plans for the evening, I hauled my scope out last night under decent albeit light polluted skies in my back yard in Lindon, and tried out the new digital setting circles for my dob. After over 30 years of observing, paying my dues star hopping and craning my neck with finderscopes, etc., I was finally treated to the experience of spending most of my time at the telescope actually observing instead of hunting. And in the space of about 90 minutes I was able to add 6 more objects to my Herschel 400 log (including eyepeice sketches), something that would have been nearly impossible if I had to star hop some of these faint babies in the wash of the parking lot lights of the church next door. My only regret is that I waited so long to obtain these things. To any "purists" out there that turn their noses up at such, all I can say is, you're missing out! Now I'll be the first to state that all of us should start out by learning our way around the night sky without ANY instrument other than our eyeballs, and start at the telescope by learning to star hop. But after you have mastered that all-too-often-frustrating art, you now have my blessing (for what it's worth!) to go and treat yourself to some digital assistance; life's too short, and these 45-year-old eyes aren't getting any sharper... Anyway, my 2 cent sermon, from a tired but happy suburbanite... Rich __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/