The weather has become absolutely beautiful here in north-central
florida and so I finally tried out my Cosco ETX-60 AT last night. I
have to admit it was fun ... I find the AutoStar menus and actions
pretty obscure (how the heck do I stop an "easy" align once it starts
and I realize that I enterd the wrong date?) but its a kick to watch
this little scope whirr and grind its way around the sky. Not nearly as
scary as watching our 46cm scope do the same from a distance of 50km
over the internet.

It was full moon and I have not yet gotten a barlow or any added
eyepieces but the moon was sharp with almost no color fringes. Stars
looked good. The objects in the Tour (moon, Mars, M13, M31) all came up
in the center of the FOV and I am pretty happy. I was a bit disconcerted
when it pointed at a Quasar but the handset at least explained that I
wasn't actually expected to be able to see it. All in all, a reminder
of the fun I had 50 years ago when I first wandered the sky looking at
similar objects.
--
John Oliver
Astronomy Department
University of Florida
Associate Chairman
Undergraduate Coordinator
Graduate Coordinator

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