[pmrid (Peter)]

I was camped at a place near Clermont called Theresa Creek Dam. The manager of the site had a fairly bedraggled National Geographic newtonian (supposedly 130mm dia except that was the OTA diameter not the mirror) for sale for $25. I hadn't taken a scope with me on this trip so I grabbed it, did a quick strip and clean of the old EQ3 mount and as good as I could do by eye for a collimation. That night, Mars and Jupter were in good positions just west of the meridian and I was having a nice leisurely look when the manager came over to see if I'd managed to get the scope working OK. He had a young teen lad with him of about 13 and I was able to show them both their first view of Saturn's rings.

The young fellow was absolutely blown away with it and couldn't be dragged away from the scope until his mother yelled something about food.

As he and his dad were walking away, I heard the boy say to him "Dad, that's what I want to be - a star man."

What a buzz!

Peter