Hello Friend,

     Many years ago, when I was a teenager and had to fix my own car, I was able to do it
right in my own driveway.

    My parents were not really fond of the idea, because I was always working on something.

Spilling oil, transmission fluid, etc.....

I remember changing the transmission, and installing a refurbished one on my Mercury
Marquis.

      Today, because cars are so complicated, teenagers don't really get to experience the same
thing.

There is a lot to be said for learning some mechanical skills.

Sure it is great to use computers, but sitting in front of them playing electronic games is
not quite the same thing, in my opinion.

I believe the same philosophy applies to telescopes.

     Years ago, we had to learn how to manually point a telescope to polaris, use manual setting
circles,  figure out right ascension and declination.

I know several amateur astronomers that can actually find night sky objects faster with a manual
telescope, than a computerized one.

    Here is another new telescope from Meade Instruments, that is pretty cool.

The LX70 6 inch Maksutov telescope.

http://khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=5774

     The optical quality and high contrast of the maksutov design makes this instrument a real
winner.

It is also a manual equatorial mount (can be motorized with dual axis motor drives,
but is not a "go-to" mount.

     So if you want to have some fun with a high quality, yet portable instrument, then
this is a great choice.

Clear Skies,

Ray Khan

PS It is nice to reminisce about the good old days, but one day, today will be the "good old days",