sct-user Mailing List Home Page! Welcome CAT fanciers!

WELCOME CAT FANCIERS!!

Catadioptric Fanciers, that is....

Your friendly moderator Rod Mollise with his favorite variety of telescope!

He's also often seen with this...

SCT-USER Mailing List Home Page

Rod's New Book on SCT's from Springer London and Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series!...click above for info and R...

Support for No-longer-produced CATS...

Click on Mr. Kitty for THE CAT PROJECT!

Rod at the 2001 Deep South Regional Star Gaze

(McComb, Mississippi)

Uncle Rod Teaching an SCT Workshop on the Field (What Elze?)

Photo Courtesy of Miss Dorothy

SCT-USER is a mailing list for fans and users of commercial Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes. Got a Meade? You're welcome! Doesn't even have to be an 'Advanced Product'--I still like those old 2080s! Celestron fanatic? Come on down! Doesn't matter if it's a brand new LX200R or CPC or just an Orange Tube warhorse, we know your scope and are anxious to talk about it with you! You like those CATs that are almost SCTs, the Mak-Cassegrains? Come and join us--and I mean you ETX freaks too!

To subscribe 'Manually,' just send the following :

sct-user-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For lots of good info (including LIST ARCHIVES) and list extras, go here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

In addition to the files area at Yahoo, we have space on an ftp server devoted to group files (programs, text files, images, etc.):

http://sct-user.brainiac.com

General List Guidelines for sct-user

I’m not big on rules, but I do have three suggestions to make which will, I think, ensure sct-user’s continued health.

1. Be Excellent to One Another. This is not a big problem as far as I’m concerned. Amateurs have a reputation for being polite and overlooking each-others’ foibles. Let’s save the flames for usenet. I know that some folks actually enjoy the fiery side of net life, but try to look on this list and other astro lists as a respite from that. I don’t worry too much in this regard. I spend a lot of time on the newsgroup sci.astro.amateur, and I really have to laugh when someone there comments on how ‘rough’ s.a.a. is—compared to other net venues, it’s about as rough as a convent!

One BIG RULE that I do enforce on sct-user? NO PERSONAL ATTACKS! Period. Personal attacks directed at any person, list memeber or not, will not be tolerated. Healthy debate is fine, but when it strays into this realm it's time to stop and THINK! Violating this rule is one thing that--for sure--will get you in dutch with old Rod!

2. Keep the ball rollin’. I really used to like the celestronuser mailing list. But traffic was so infrequent that the list went into decline and slowly faded away. If you see the traffic-flow ebb on sct-user, chime in with a comment or a question. It is VERY important that new subscribers see messages right away when they join!

3. Strive, as best you can, to keep on topic. The world of SCTs and CATs is a broad one, relatively speaking anyway. I consider ‘on topic’ any message which relates to CATs even in broad terms. ‘Observing experiences,’ ‘equipment talk,’ ‘photography,’ ‘good/bad dealers,’ etc. Are all on topic. What do I consider off topic and to be avoided? Those hoary old net trolls like, ‘Creationism is right, Science doesn’t know anything,’ ‘I have a new theory which disproves the big bang.’ What about that most dreaded of SCT threads, “Meade vs. Celestron?” I consider this one on topic, but I would hope that we all have enough sense to steer clear of this most of the time. If you’ve seen this thread come around on s.a.a. (as it has, countless times), you’ll know that it’s basically a waste of time. Nothing is ever resolved. I don’t say stay completely clear of this topic, since a reasoned outline of the differences between the two makers’ scopes can help beginners, and it is a question which will CERTAINLY be asked by them. “X type of telescope is better than SCTs.” Participate in threads like this if you choose, but it, like M vs. C, is never going to be settled and usually only leads to hurt feelings .

What kind of control will I exercise here? Very little. Ideally a mailing list should be self -supporting. I will step in when necessary to enforce rules of civil conduct to ensure the continuing health of the list, however. I further reserve the right to enforce penalties for misconduct up to and including permanent banning. I have never had to exercise that option, and, with your help, I hope I never will have to.

If you have a comment or question about the list, please feel free to email me directly at RMOLLISE@aol.com (or if you just wanna talk scopes and observing…I’m always happy to chat with fellow amateurs). OH, the posts you send to me will go directly to the list. I will NOT see nor review them beforehand…don’t believe in that.If you need information about the list, or would like to utilize some neat utilities, check out http://www.egroups.com. You may have to register and obtain a password. But this is not a big deal, and it is worth it. Archives, stats, web viewing of messages, and weblinks are a few of the facilities offered here (I haven’t used many of these tools yet, but I hope to put them to good use with your help). These niceties do indeed make it worth putting up with those darned little ads at the bottom of the posts, IMHO!

Me? I (Rod) know many of you from either star parties or from being online a lot. But if you’re curious about your host….

I’m 52 and a Test Engineer for Northrop Grumman. I also teach my local University’s (University of South Alabama) evening astronomy labs for the Physics Department. My dear wife, Dorothy ,is a full time math professor and Chair of the Department of Developmental Studies at USA. Dorothy and I share a big old Victorian house in Mobile, Alabama’s historic district with 5 cats (the four-footed kind) and 11 telescopes. In addition to our mutual interest in astronomy and science, Dorothy and I enjoy reading science fiction (the archives at Chaos Manor South hold just about everything done by Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke--especially the latter two, with Dorothy being a Heinlein fanatic and me a Clarke stalwart). We also enjoy traveling, and try to combine interests by attending as many star parties as possible, given our busy schedules.

I’ve been an SCT lover since that first orange tube C8 I bought in ’76. I’ve owned a succession of CATs over the years, but my principal scope is a 1995 Ultima C8 (I occasionally use a C14 when I can convince myself to set it up). My current prime scope is a Celestron Nexstar 14, and I also occasionally use a GEM mounted C8 of 1985 vintage.

Some of my other recent projects include a book on SCTs for Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series of books (due out from Springer-Verlag in May of 2001_. If you're interested in Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope, there's a link to the book's Amazon.com page on my homepage at http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm. I also did a lot of writing for the "Secrets of the Universe" cards series (notebook pages on astronomy/space subjects...it's like an astronomy encyclopedia by subscription). You may have noticed advertisements for "SOTU" in the junk mail pile or in the astronomy magazines. This series is basically aimed at novices/younger readers. My usual "beat" for SOTU is observatories/atmospheric phenomena/the Solar System/astronomy-space technology. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot by writing for SOTU. I also continue to write for a variety of astronomy publications, and present programs/speak at regional and national star parties.

I also edit a quarterly astronomy newsletter, Skywatch, serve as Secretaryt in my local astronomy club, and maintain a club web site. I also observe every chance I get, do astrophotography and CCD imaging. No, I NEVER sleep! :-)"

Your Assistant Moderator is Mr. Joe Hartley, who's as knowledgable about CATs as he is about computers...that is VERY knowledgable and a great resource in these days of techno-SCTs!

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