[SJAAboard] Low-end scopes

[Gary Mitchell]

leebizz at aol.com wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> ???? I think if a person has the curiousity and desire to look at the sky,
 > I cheap telescope is better than no telescope.? I (and probably many of
 > you) had our very first look at the sky and moon with a modest
 >  department store refractor.?

My first scope didn't work at all!  :(

I bought this homemade 4" Newtonian for $18.  Even one eyepiece was
homemade.  It didn't work.  I brought it back to the guy and we
pointed it at a telephone pole.  Hmmm... well, I guess it did work
after all.

I was determined to see stuff.  A short search turned up "Peterson's
Field Guide to the Stars and Planets."  The best feature was the
section showing small patches of sky and what objects were good to
see in each patch.

With the Guide in hand, and a red light made from a converted auto
tail light and a toy train set transformer, my first object was the
Ring Nebula...  Ooh, sure enough, it looked like a ring alright!
(San Jose was darker then.)  The rest, as they say, is history.  :)

Gary