Guide Book Meade ETX/Autostar

--- In ETXASTRO@y..., Bob Ryan <ryanr@o...> wrote:

> Although I haven't seen this guy's "CD manual",
> I'll bet a good portion of it came from the various
> ETX sites that have been around for
> years. He's stealing information and selling it.

Although i'm not altogether pleased by the implied
endorsement of his site that his "Dick Seymour's Stuff"
column may create, he -did- request my permission to
copy things. When i'm asked, i usually grant such.
I merely asked attribution, and that he not edit the material.
However i did not (silly me) request prior approval
of what he posted. I have no active participation in
the content of his site, nor do i plan any.

I also -have- read his CD ... and it's not a compendium
of stolen pages. It's an honest, original composition.
Sure, almost all of it has appeared elsewhere, but the CD
is not just a copy. He's done his homework, and wrote from
his own experiences. He describes Clay's Kochab's Clock
polar alignment technique, (i don't know if Clay created that
term... i do know that i was using the method long before
i read about it on Mike's site). Although it would have
been easy for him to have stolen Clay's images from Mike's
site, he didn't.
He created his own versions, with added items (a mid-way
dipper) to help explain how to deal with intermediate
dates and times. Although the -information- is similar
to Clay's, the description is quite differently worded.

I was only made aware of his site a few days ago (when he
asked permission), and had no prior knowledge of his eBay
activites (i don't play eBay). To my eyes, it's another
enthusiast trying to convey his appreciation of the ETX
series. That he makes and sells inexpensive, possibly
handy items i find mildly interesting.
Where would the hobby be without the small designers/vendors?
Duller, if nothing else.

have fun
--dick

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