First Telescope - Epilogue

Thank you everybody for your continued help. I went up to Oceanside
Photo and Telescope (OPT) today and bought a telescope. If anybody is
in the marked for a telescope, I highly recommend them. Very nice
people who do not try to sell you something you don't need.

Sorry Jon, but I ended up with the 9 1/4 SCT. I really liked the 10
inch Reflector but it simply wasn't going to fit into my car (well, at
least not and let me drive). As for accessories, they talked me out
of the dew heater system at first (I did get a nice Dew Shield), out
of the focal length reducer, out of the GN16 (GPS attachment), and
wouldn't let me buy any of the cases they had in house (but gave me
instructions on how to make a better one myself for a fraction of the
money). In all, they told me not to buy over $700 worth of things
that I would have without their advice.

Instead, he told me that what I really wanted was at least 1 good
eyepiece. My plan was to use the "accessory kit" eyepieces to decide
what I really needed but, after having them save me so much money, I
let myself be talked into a Teleview 8mm Radian. This looks to be a
very nice eyepiece with excellent eye relief.

I came home and spent the evening putting the telescope together in
the Garage. I considered taking it outside for a test but decided
that I'd wait until tomorrow when I've had a chance to align the
Finder Scope and the Telrad while it is still light out. Instead, I
took out my trusty binoculars and did a little gazing that way.

So, I have officially joined the telescope world and can now look
forward to starting a brand new series of "How do I" posts.