Over the past few months one of my neighbors has been showing up more frequently than others when I am out observing. His name is Scott and, not like some, he is content to take a peek at whatever I am viewing. The thirty year old seems to be just as moved by anonymous faint fuzzies (galaxies and nebulae) as he is by the celestial showpieces and I must say it's not the least bit inconvenient or distracting to have him present.
Seeing his interest in the night sky, a well-intentioned Scott's wife gave him an abomination of a telescope for Christmas. This potentially amateur-astronomy-interest-killing weapon bore the name Meade and should serve as an insult to anybody working there or owning stock in the company. I don't know what model number it is but here's a brief description of the #%&*!!: ALL plastic construction from the approximately 15 to 18 inch long tube to the tabletop tripod with maybe 9 inch long legs; the objective appears to be somewhat shy of 50mm in diameter; equipped with a finderscope (I don't recall it having crosshairs) which is not much bigger than your middle finger; the OTA as I recall is gray.
He brought the scope over about a week ago and, at my suggestion, placed it on the hood of my car for "firstlight;" a glimpse of the moon. Calling me over to take a look, he seemed quite excited. I was too when I gazed through the thing but probably not for the same reasons that he was. There were three "split" images present. The scope was completely unusable. Something had to be done.
Waking up yesterday morning, I had a cup of coffee and immediately went into labor. The storage shed which is adjacent to my home seems to serve as a halfway house between the observatory which is my driveway and the coffin that is the garbage dumpster for my unused astro equipment. I went out, took the lock off the hasp, entered and looked around. In one corner I spied an old, red Tasco 60mm refractor OTA from the days when Tasco wasn't a name to be ashamed of. I don't know just how old it is since it was a gift bought on Ebay, but it's my guess that it dates from the middle of the 1960's. A few feet away was located an old wooden tripod which originally held a Jason 60mm that I now employ on a better tripod and equatorial mount. With these two components in hand, the project took shape. After cleaning the OTA inside and out and replacing missing and necessary hardware on the scope and tripod from a bin of screws, nuts, bolts, and etc., I put my eye to the eyepiece and discovered the Heinz 57 performed just fine. I went back into the house and with very little effort, located two more .965 inch eyepieces (they gather up like dust bunnies) and quickly finished putting together a completely usable telescope. Soon after, I walked next door and gave it to him.
Nightfall could not have come quickly enough. There I was with my 12.5 inch dob and next to me was Scott with his new companion. Saturn and the moon, two of the best "recruiters" this hobby has to offer, were nearing the meridian. Scott was transfixed on both. Not once did he want to look through Seymour. It was approximately 05:00 UT when I realized it. . .I had just given birth to an amateur astronomer.
This is my main telescope. His name is "Seymour."
