Agreed with Nick. I would like to see our renewals deposited before serious discussion of ANY additional spending including shirts, hats, scopes, etc. Our balance is very low at this time. I've long-considered our budget for new spending to be any money above $1000 in checking. Our current balance after open commitments may not even be sufficient to cover insurance and league dues which we pay in early summer. That said, we have deposits coming in and are working to sell some stuff. I have a partial inventory completed with photos for the swap meet. We should not bank on selling the 14" quickly although this is the season when we could get that done. So although I advise financial caution, we do not need to consider car washes and bake sales. Back on subject of the library scope project, the little Vixen scope we had donated a year ago (without a tripod) might be fine if we add a simple home-built Dob base for it. Here is a link, it is complete and in good working order with two eye pieces. http://www.vixenoptics.com/reflectors/r130Sf.htm I"m going to hold the Vixen out of the swap meet inventory and see if I have skills with plywood sufficient to make a stable, compact base. We could have this library-ready for spare change and a six pack in less than a month. By the way, The Vixen came with a 5.5 inch Celestron NexStar Goto base (without tripod) which we should try to sell, worth $50 to $125. Moving off topic,I have a scope ready for Paul to cut in half with the laser. I think we should NOT cut the old YAA scope because it is big and heavy, rather use a little donated Celestron 4" because it is a smaller, lighter, and will be easier to use for the school demonstrations while still supporting a 1.25" eye piece with sufficient optics. We have another 6" reflector (without base with .96' eye piece) which I think we might be able to use to get the old YAA scope back in order (in some form) although I need to check the focal length to be sure. Alternatively we might try to sell this one at the swap meet. The scope I want to cut is pictured on the right in the attached. The cannibal target for restoring the YAA scope is in the middle. John On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 10:34 AM, Nick Monkman <nmonkman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > This is awesome...I would love to see our club involved in something > similar. $325 per scope (modifications included) adds up quickly, > especially given our current commitments. I wonder how these other clubs > funded their initial scope purchases... > > On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 9:41 AM, <cave8@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> here is some info about the program I was talking about. >> I am contact with Cathy Bakken she has worked with the library for many >> years, I wanted to see what she thinks. >> >> https://www.astroleague.org/content/library-telescope-program >> http://nhastro.com/ltp.php >> >> http://www.cornerstonesofscience.org/what-we-do/programs-supports-and-services/library-telescope-program/ >> http://www.slasonline.org/librarytelescope.html >> http://www.kasonline.org/libscope.html >> >> >> Debbie >> >> Outreach, Event Coordinator & >> Secretary of >> The Spokane Astronomical Society >> cave8@xxxxxxxxxxx >> 509-991-2518 >> >> >
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