anyone know of a good internet site which will give me an accurate
lat/longtitude reading?

Duane Reilly

"I aim AT the stars, not FOR them...."
Werner Von Braun. Pioneer of German &
US Rocket Science.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 12:49 PM
Subject: RE: [M]: First Impressions


> I stand corrected! When I made that statement I hesitated for a moment
but was sure at
> least part of those two countries were south of the equator. Oops! I
should have
> checked a map before I opened my mouth (or actually tapped my fingers).
BTW, where did
> you get the ratio of northerners to southerners? Either way I'm sure
those 1.7 billion
> people are thrilled that the switch was on 'S'. Actually, I enjoyed
reading your
> detailed first impressions and I'm glad all is well so far. Just yanking
your chain on
> the switch :)
>
> John
>
> > John,
> >
> > You need to check a map. All of China (which touches Korea), all of
India,
> > and most of Africa are above the equator. 4.5 Billions out of 6.2
Billions
> > live north of the equator.
> >
> > --Rick
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > John Teel
> > Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 7:13 PM
> > Subject: Re: [M]: First Impressions
> >
> >
> > The solution to the N/S switch dilema is to...flip the switch:=) It's
heavy
> > and a pain
> > to do but one good push should do it. A crowbar may be necessary.
Sorry
> > couldn't
> > resist. I thought it was funny that you even listed that. Boy you are
> > particular. Haha
> > Actually, I would almost bet there are more people in the southern
> > hemisphere (don't
> > forget China and India) but probably more people in the north that could
> > ever afford a
> > luxury such as this.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> > > Just recieved my new 12" and thought I would share my impressions and
> > > thoughts from ordering to looking everything over when it came in.
> > Haven't
> > > had first light yet as it is currently sitting in the computer
training
> > room
> > > here at work, but soon I hope! I have used my trusty 8"LX200 for
almost 6
> > > years now, so It will be interesting to compare! Some of the notes
are
> > > major thoughts, others are just nit-picky details that I noticed and
other
> > > probably would also.
> > >
> > > '+' indicates a positive comment, '-' a negative one
> > >
> > >
> > > + Astronomics was a pleasure to deal with when ordering the scope, and
> > when
> > > checking up on status. Very friendly folks and knowledgeable about
the
> > > product.
> > >
> > > + Was told 2-4 weeks to ship, scope came in 2 weeks. Very nice not to
> > have
> > > to wait 2 months+ like back in '95 for the 8"
> > >
> > > +Scope was physically intact when it arrived. The tripod box was a
bit
> > > crunched at one end but it was only box cosmetics. Scope box and
> > > accessories box were pristine. Meade recently began using a new
trucking
> > > carrier, 'Con-Way', and they did a nice job. Trucker even helped me
> > unpack
> > > the tripod from its damaged box to see if it was OK. They also called
> > > earlier in the day to verify the shipping address. Very professional.
> > >
> > > +/-? WOW its big! Knew that coming into this and it will be on a
> > permanent
> > > setup soon, but its big!
> > >
> > > + Scope was packaged very nicely. RA and DEC locks were unlocked and
> > scope
> > > was bagged and tagged properly.
> > >
> > > - RA index mark sticker on crooked
> > >
> > > - DEC cable has nice long molded connectors. Sounds good, and much
better
> > > than the crimped on ends on my 8" dec cord, but now the end on the
front
> > > panel sticks up high enough to catch on the fork as it turn on azimuth
> > > rotation. Have already ordered 7'ers from Digikey to replace anyway,
but
> > > even a casual glance can see this would cause a problem.
> > >
> > > + Sparkling clean optics (visually). Looking in the business end is
like
> > > looking down a well.
> > >
> > > - Its a grey well. When will they factory flock tubes instead of that
> > nice
> > > shiny 'matte' black finish?
> > >
> > > - N/S switch in the 'S' position (an America-centric view of the world
I
> > > know, but I would think that because of the layout of the world, the
> > > majority of users are in the Northern Hemisphere)
> > >
> > > - DEC cord socket on the fork is labeled upside-down - must be part of
> > that
> > > Southern Hemisphere thing :-)
> > >
> > > + OTA rotation in DEC is very smooth and frictionless. Of course,
being a
> > > 12" I can not rotate it coompletely to see how many rev's a single
push
> > > willdo, but it feels nice. I will remove the dec circle cover and see
if
> > > the 12"ers are coming with the metal bearing like the 10's do.
> > >
> > > + Keypad has a new look and feel (for me anyway). The button surfaces
are
> > > raised slightly so you can really feel them with eyes closed (its not
dark
> > > yet) - a nice feature. Nice tight firm 'click' to each button also.
> > >
> > > + Booted up properly - no DEC runaway! Seems to be operating fine.
Will
> > > test further at first light.
> > >
> > > Overall I am pleased. The few negative comments I had are all just
> > > superficial stuff and nothing that keeps the scope from working
properly.
> > > Still, they would all be easy fixes and probably should have been
taken
> > care
> > > of. The rest of the comments I am welcome to share as things looked
good
> > > and worked well. We always hear so many horror stories here (because
the
> > > list is for solving problems), that I sometimes forget that things do
> > > occasionally work the way they are supposed to!
> > >
> > > Will post any more comments as I get more time in on the beast.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Anthony J. Kroes
> > > Green Bay, WI
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
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>
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