By way of introducing myself to forum members, here is a bit of my history. Born in 1946 makes me 74 years "young". But my health is better than many much younger ones. Still there has been some decline in capabilities, both mental and physical. Having been into amateur astronomy since the age of 16, I'm finding that the "affliction", though incurable, is still quite enjoyable.

My early years in the hobby involved the usual make your own 6- and 8-inch mirrors. For sure the hourly wage for doing so was quite low. But still the satisfaction in making some of my optics was worth it. While I started off as a strictly visual observer, I did delve into astrophotography, both film based and digital. Now I have gone back mostly to visual observing, sometimes with EAA (). For a few years I contributed variable star observations via photoelectric photometry using a photon-counting system.

Save for two, I still have every telescope ever owned. My 6-inch reflector was given to a friend, and my C-5 was sold to finance a C-8. Now I have a C-11, a 10-inch Dob reflector, AstroTech AT115EDT triplet APO and a 210 year old Dollond spyglass - see??Recently I found another old spyglass with 45mm objective, this one likely made around 1920. ?Inscriber on the eyepiece is "Made by E.Vion, Paris, France". For just 20 bucks at a consignment store, I couldn't resist saving that old optic and adding another to my collection.

After over 40 years of star atlas and finder-scope use, I am thoroughly enjoying the go-to capabilities of my Losmandy G-11/Gemini-1. After 12 years of using that, the electronics have been sent off to Michael Herman for repairs and up grades. While waiting for that to be accomplished I still have digital setting circles on my Hardin Optic (GSO) 10-inch reflector.?

Thanks for letting me tell my story. I look forward to enjoying this wonderful user's group.

Best Regards,
Russ