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Amateur astronomy is one of those hobbies in which I participated avidly for about
five years while in the U.S. Air Force and for a couple years after separating. During
that time I observed as often as time and atmospheric conditions permitted. While at
Robins AFB, in Warner Robins, Georgia, I belonged to the Macon Amateur Astronomy club
and spent quite a few Friday evenings operating the museum's/club's 8", 10" and 14" Celestron
telescopes both for private observation and for assisting the public after the planetarium
show. The club took a couple trips to the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta and got to look through their
32" reflector, which at the time (circa 1980) was
the largest reflecting telescope in the southeast.
Today, of course, private 30" Dobsonians are as affordable as motorcycles. A picture
of me and my 8" Newtonian reflector is given below. I ended up selling it after getting
married to help pay the mortgage (sold all the R/C stuff, too).
Only naked-eye (no longer anywhere near my former 20/15 vision)
and my trusty binoculars remain for observing over the past 20 years. Recently, have
I begun reacquiring some of my "toys" from yesteryear. I have not purchased another telescope
yet, but the good thing is that now the state of the art is orders of magnitude better
than where I left off.
Advanced Telescope Systems
| 877-967-2673 | Anaheim, CA Portable & permanent telescope piers.
Astro-Physics
| 815-282-1513 | Machesney Park, IL Develops telescopes and accessories for the advanced
amateur.
Celestron, LLC
| 310-328-9560 | Torrance, CA Designer, manufacturer and importer of high-quality
optical products including computerized and non-computerized telescopes and related accessories,
binoculars, spotting scopes and microscopes.
Company Seven
| 301-604-2500 | Montpelier, MD A resource for the international astronomical community
and a registered U.S. Department of Defense contractor.
DayStar Filters LLC
| 660-747-2100 | Warrensburg, MO Filtergrams, hydrogen alpha filters, calcium filters,
energy rejection filters.
Imaginova
| 212-703-5800 | New York, NY An integrated multimedia content & commerce company
capturing people's fascination with space, science and technological innovation across
consumer, education and professional markets.
Le Sueur Manufacturing
Company | 205-822-0720 | Birmingham, AL Heavy-duty, permanent, telescope-mounting
piers.
LOMO America
| 888-446-7842 | Prospect Heights, IL Microscopes, endoscopes, night vision devices
and spotting scopes/telescopes.
Meade Instruments Corp
| Irvine, CA Designs and manufactures telescopes and accessories for amateur astronomers.
Nu-Tek
| 410-273-7070 | Aberdeen, MD Specializes in the design & manufacture of custom
and prototype precision optical components and systems including on- and off-axis telescopes
and laser beam expanders for the UV, Visible and Infrared spectra, massive optics to
60", and more.
Observa-Dome
| 601-982-3333 | Jackson, MS Manufacturer of observatory domes, missile tracking,
and laser ranging shelters.
Obsession Telescopes
| 920-648-2328 | Lake Mills, WI Producer of portable deep sky telescopes.
Orion Telescopes &
Binoculars | 800-447-1001 | Santa Cruz, CA Largest multi-channel brand
of quality optics for amateur astronomers and outdoor enthusiasts in North America.
Parallax Instruments
| 919-570-3140 | Youngsville, NC Specializing in large aperture Ritchey-Chretien,
Newtonian, and Classical Cassegrain telescopes and German equatorial mountings.
Pier Components
| 888-965-3762 | Middleburg, PA Playground telescopes.
ProtoStar
| 866-227-6240 | Worthington, OH Newtonian secondary mounts & mirrors, tubes &
accessories.
Rigel Systems
| 310-375-4149 | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Manufacturer of innovative astronomy accessories.
RobinCasady.com
| Carmel, CA Astro accessories.
Santa Barbara Instrument Group
(SBIG) | 805-571-7244 | Santa Barbara, CA CCD autoguiders, cameras, spectrographs,
filters, and software - CCDOPS, Planet Master, CCDSharp, CCDSoftV5, EquinoX, CCDAutoPilot.
Sky Spot |
800-363-9540 | Bountiful, UT Publishers of the "Finder Charts" for Telrad Users.
Software Bisque
| 800-843-7599 | Golden, CO Paramount ME robotic and Bisque TCS telescope control
systems, software - TheSky6, TPoint, CCDSoft, Orchestrate, AutomaDome, Pocket Edition,
PrecisionPEC, Grand Tour, and BOSS.
Space Toys
| 859-225-7986 | Lexington, KY Astronomy books, telescopes, space toys, calendars,
posters, prints, etc.
Starmaster™
Telescope | 620-638-4743 | Arcadia, KS Manufacturer of 11" and 12.5"
ELT Scopes, and 14.5" through 24" conventional Truss Scopes.
Takahashi America
| 713-529-3551 | Houston, TX Manufactures refractors, Newtonian reflectors, Cassegrain/Newtonians,
classical Cassegrains, hyperbolic astrographs, corrected Baker RC astrographs, mounts
and oculars.
Teleport Telescopes
| 972-442-5232 | TX Telescope designer & manufacturer.
Tele Vue Optics | 845-469-4551
| Chester, NY Telescopes, eyepieces, filters, mounts & accessories, photo accessories.
Unitron
| 631-589-6666 | Bohemia, NY Refractor telescopes and ImageTrac™, an automatic celestial
navigation system.
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