Tag: Ranger

Downsizing to the Perfect Small Scope and Mount

Barry Kawa’s “big toys” archive photos from his years in Ohio. On the left is his 6″, f/10 achromatic refractor with equatorial mount on a tall, roll-out mount (looks like you can sleep on the tray!). The light bucket on the right (also on wheels) is a Coulter 17.5″ Dobsonian, nicknamed “The Other Woman.” Image © Barry Kawa with all rights reserved.
Barry Kawa,  a U.S. journalist now living in Japan, wrote a prior blog for us (Does it spark joy?) about the joy of collecting scopes and the task of paring down the collection to what gives him joy. You can read this post as a “part 2” for the phase of life when it’s time to go with just one scope and mount.

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Does it spark joy?

Barry’s Tele Vue collection with Tele Vue eyepieces and mounts (L-to-R): Brass Ranger with 10.5mm Plössl on Executive Mount, Pronto with 21m Plössl on Telepod mount, Oracle with 19mm Wide Field eyepiece on Panoramic mount, Tele Vue-85 with 20mm Plössl on non-Tele Vue equatorial mount, and Brass Renaissance with 55mm Plössl on a Gibraltar Mount. Image © Barry Kawa with all rights reserved.

Tidying means taking each item in your hand, asking yourself whether it sparks joy, and deciding on this basis whether or not to keep it. Marie Kondō, Japanese organising consultant and author

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