[SJAAboard] Loaner program discussion (was: Agenda for board meeting)

[Rob Hawley (SJAA)]

>And speaking of skymaps, my choice of a map to loan to new budding
>astronomers would be the Orion Deepmap 600.    Hands down for new

That is the chart I am going to recommend we buy.

> I will say, for my part, that I have found that while "Dobs for
>beginners" is not "wrong" it at least is not the whole story.   
I can relate to what Phil said since my own beginner days were not so long ago.
Just throwing someone in the deep end is not an effective method of teaching.
Neither is just loaning a scope and hoping for the best. We are trying to do
things differently from when I learned and from the experience Phil related.  I
am trying to tie the loaner program, the beginner classes, and the new workshop
closely together.  Time will tell if this works.

We have added two scopes with electronics in the last six months.  I believe
there is a place for at least one more.

Rob Hawley