I thought while we wait for clear skies for some of our first outings, why not discuss telescopes? Those of you who have your own telescopes, feel free to mention what you own and any other interesting bits of observing kit in the replies. I'll get us started off with a rundown of my gear.

-Celestron CB 80 refractor - 80mm diameter/910mm focal length

This scope was my first serious telescope. I puttered around with a Kmart Focal telescope that my parents bought me for X-mas back in the late 70s, early 80s. When I showed enough interest and aptitude, they spent the big bucks to buy me a REAL refractor with excellent optics, versus the Kmart toy with terrible optics. The CB 80 has a classic heavy wood tripod and comes with a simplistic manually controlled Alt/Azimuth mount.

-Meade ETX 90 EC

The Meade ETX is the newest scope I've purchased. I bought it used off of Craigslist from a guy who knew so little about how to actually use the scope that he never really used it at all. From what I learned, he essentially just played with it a couple times, was unable to figure it out, and thus packed it away. It is one of the more recent models of "GoTo" telescopes that have a computer controlled Alt/Azimuth mount that can be programmed to move directly to any celestial object provided you have the information programmed into the hand-held controller unit. The Meade ETX is telescope of the Maksutov Cassegrain design utilizing a combination of lens and reflecting mirrors to pack a decent amount of light gathering into a small package.

-10.1" Coulter Odyssey Compact

This scope I purchased from off of Craigslist as well. It was another case of an owner who was daunted by the intricacies of operating the scope and thus used it less and less, until it sat in storage for years, decades even. The Coulter is a large reflecting telescope utilizing a 10.1" primary mirror in what is called a fast focal length, with an f-stop rating of f-4.5. This means the Coulter gathers a tremendous amount of light and is designed to excel in revealing numerous faint, wide field deep sky objects. The Coulter Odyssey Compact is a reflector built on the design principles pioneered by the original "Sidewalk Astronomer" John Dobs. John Dobs came up with a simplistic design that allowed for the construction of a simple telescope that could be easily guided by hand for primarily visual observing. Guided observing can be accomplished but necessitates construction of a complex motor driven platform. Telescopes that follow John Dobs' design and construction principles are referred to as Dobsonians. Originally intended to be a built-it-yourself design, various companies jumped on the bandwagon and began producing commercial versions of telescopes utilizing the Dobsonian construction. The Coulter scopes were one of the earliest of these types and were the first introduction of many amateur astronomers to large diameter telescopes.

Anyway, that's a brief rundown of my scopes. Go ahead and chime in with your entries. If you don't own a scope, or astronomical binoculars, no problem. This group is intended to promote the idea of using a bicycle to go to and from observing sessions and possibly hauling one's own telescope and observing gear if possible. Those of you looking to buy a first scope can certainly learn from the rest of us, especially as we try to figure out what works best in this novel approach to the time honored hobby of amateur astronomy.