Schlatter Family Site

My Telescopes

Here is the history of my telescopes I own one now -- the Orion XT-12 Intelliscope.

•  Orion XT-12 Intelliscope.  12-inch reflector on a Dobsonian mount with handheld computerized controller.
  •  Purchased January 2006 from Orion
• Orion XT-8.  8-inch reflector on a Dobsonian mount.
  • Purchased January 2003 from Orion.
  • Destroyed, 29 August 2005 in Hurricane Katrina.
• Meade ETX-90EC/UHTC.  A Maksutov-Cassegrain scope, 90mm aperture, with computer control -- also known as a GOTO scope.
  • Purchased March 2003 from HandsOn Optics.
  • Destroyed, 29 August 2005 in Hurricane Katrina.
• Meade ETX-70.  A small 70mm aperture refractor scope, also computer controlled, GOTO. (I rarely use this little scope.)
  • Purchased February 2003 from Ritz Camera, Bristol TN.
  • Donated to a local high school in December 2004.

Click on the appropriate link to see the scopes and modifications to each.

UPDATE TO SCOPES

In January 2005 we moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where we were living in a apartment near the beach in Bay Saint Louis, MS, while we built a house in nearby Waveland, MS.  On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina wiped us out -- here is a link to our Katrina experience.

The XT-8 and ETX-90 were destroyed in the hurricane.

In January 2006 I purchased an Orion XT-12 -- a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount.  I purchased the Orion Intelliscope option with the XT-12.  I am very pleased with the XT-12 -- here is a link to articles about the XT-12.

Choosing a Telescope

I bought my first telescope in January 2003.  For the last six months of 2002, I read everything I could find on the web about telescopes.  I asked at the star parties and looked through every scope that astronomy club members brought.  I am not a telescope expert and will not attempt to describe to you all that goes into selecting a scope.  Check out these links and do your own web search:

• http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/starting_astro.htm
• http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/firstscope.htm
• http://physics.weber.edu/planet/telescope.html
• http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/twain/1206/id58.htm
• http://www.astrophotographer.com/article_buyingscope.html
• http://www.cloudynights.com/beginners/first%20telescope.htm
• http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~ipswich/Miscellaneous%20Articles/Choosing%20First%20Telescope/Choosing.htm

• Celestron web site, description of types of scopes.  Celestron is a major manufacturer.
• More than you ever wanted to know about types of scopes.
• Lots of good telescope information here.
• Another amateur astronomer and his description of telescopes.
• And another site of information for amateur astronomers.

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