I know the almighty list counts a few amateur
astronomers among our ranks, so I'm seeking any advice
you can offer.

My wife and Westy traveling partner has recently
gotten the astronomy bug, and is interested in a good
quality telescope suitable for viewing, and perhaps
eventually photographing, planets and other heavenly
bodies.

We'd like something relatively compact enough to fit
in the Westy for weekends spent camping and stargazing
in the north woods, so she's presently leaning toward
a Schmitt-Cassegrain design, probably in the 8-inch
range, but we are open to other suggestions.

� Other telescope designs or brands to consider?
� Is one design significantly more durable and
therefore better suited to backwoods travel than the
others?
� Is one design better for astrophotography than
another?
� Do most telescope celestial navigation computers
have a manual-override function to enable manual
navigation?

Any advice would be appreciated, and if this subject
is considered too oblique for the Vanagon List, please
pmail with any responses.

Thanks!

Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
http://www.vanthology.com/

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