"Danger, Will Robinson, Doctor Smith is a pedophile!" --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:

Danger, Will Robinson!

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LOL! Yes, indeed, I have had much along those lines on my mind for a long time. Patrick's recent comment, along with yours below, makes me realize that my attitude toward GoTo is misunderstood. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with GoTo, and I even have some future projects in mind that will definitely make use of it. It's not the GoTo technology that is the problem, it is the attitude of some users that it is a substitute for learning to navigate the sky using the eyes and brain. When that is the reason for employing GoTo, the user is cheating him/her self. Like using a handicapped parking space when you're not entited. Surfers call them a "hodaddy", I believe. Late last night, as I was putting the 80mm ED away, I dropped the 50mm finder & dovetail bracket assembly. It dinged the accessory tray on the way down and landed on the ground; undamaged, but I was cursing a blue streak. Fortunately I had elected to set-up on the grass instead of the pavement! The incident helped illustrate that my future observatory is going to be a must-nothing to have to put away. As I age, I tend to drop things with increasing frequency (anybody else notice this tendency? PLEASE!!!) Also, automation will certainly help, as my physical abilities diminish. Any permanently-mounted telescope in my future will definitely have GoTo capability...already knowing how to locate objects the "old-fashioned" way, I think I can keep a straight face. But (for example) a 30-year-old of average intelligence who uses GoTo and has been in the hobby for ten, twelve years, and still doesn't know how to locate objects in the sky? It's just another video game for him. Lazy punk. --- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:

Hey Chuck, As much as you complain about goto, it's easy to see you've been thinking about robotic telescopes for a long time...

...

I added a photo to my Gallery, page 4:

http://www.utahastronomy.com/view_album.php?page=4

A blast from the past!

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Thanks for thinking that I needed some. Have you been talking to my wife/daughter/boss? ;o) --- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:

...

Patrick's recent comment, along with yours below, makes me realize that my attitude toward GoTo is misunderstood.

Naah Chuck. Just saw a good opening to give you some grief ;-)

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