Mike Smith's Astro Pages

I started my "astronomy career" in 1998 when I purchased a Meade 4.5 inch Newtonian on an equatorial mount - the $500 starter scope. Within a couple of weeks, I became frustrated and almost gave up. I could not deal with the mount / the different views through the finder and scope - although the views through the scope were certainly clear.

My research led me to the Cincinnati Astronomical Society. I went to a meeting and eventually made my first contact with Maury Childs - a well known local amateur astronomer. The next night I visited him in his backyard where he had set up 12 telescopes - between his two observatories.

I "upgraded" to a 10" Coulter Odyssey that night and enjoyed the scope for years. Maury was an avid observer with an uncanny knack for getting people out "viewing" as often as possible. He was always buying and selling astronomical equipment and was a great source of knowledge for me.

Several years ago, I "upgraded" again to an LX200 Classic (from Maury), just before the GPS units came on the scene. I have used it almost exclusively since.

My current inventory looks like this:

Scopes

Cameras

8" LX200 Classic with a Mettler wedge
10" Coulter Odyssey (complete with failing mirror coating)
80mm William Optics ED Fluorite refractor
80mm Orion Short Tube refractor
15x70 Oberwerks binoculars
8x60 Oberwerks binoculars

Meade DSI Pro
Meade DSI
Meade LPI
TouCam Pro webcam
SPC900NC webcam