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Wednesday, April 2, 2003
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A good pair of 7x50 binoculars is one of the best ways to get into astronomy - you can find some beautiful objects and get a sense of observing before sinking more serious money into a telescope.
Serious binocular work is another matter - good Fujinon 150s go for about $16,000 on a good sale . A reasonable mounting platform is this rather cool binocular chair.
Larger binoculars exist (I've seen a pair of 300mm reflectors at a star party twenty years ago that offered one of the best views of the sky I've ever had), but tend to be exotica featured in Sky and Telescope magaine.
5:24:10 AM 
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As an undergraduate I had access to a Questar 7 and was able to use it on several overnight trips to very dark locations at local peaks (8000 to 9000 feet).
This is an amazing telescope. Questars are very basic Maksutov telescopes that happen to be engineered and built as good as any telescope I've seen. The design is very fifties, but these work and are highly desirable just as a mid 50s Ferrari might be desirable.
Questar has reintroduced the Seven in Titanium. It starts at over $8k, but expect to pay over $10k for a normally optioned model.
5:23:48 AM
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If you've spent time around professional photographers who do serious still work (say - food for ads), you've probably seen Betterlight digital camera backs. I remember being hugely impressed by one a few years ago - it was capturing 120 MB images with three separate passes on a 4x5 view camera. I think it was about $30,000 at the time.
Technology has improved and some of the backs are really amazing. Photography with little in the way of compromise - other than the fact that the subject can't move. (although some amazing nature stills done with a Betterlite back in the mid 90s by Steve Johnson)
5:23:32 AM
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And finally - does your state have an anti-telemarketing law?
New Jersey has too many companies with vested interests. We'll have to wait for the federal law.
5:23:15 AM
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