finally found Perceptor

I knew where it was... We had passed it a couple of weekends back. I pointed out the Brownsville Junction Plaza in Schomberg. But I would need some help for the last few steps...

As I listened to the traffic reports and heard that Highway 400 was a mess around 88 and 89, I chose one of the alternates. I took 7 west to 50. It seemed awfully far west at the time (but I didn't clue in). The route northbound didn't seem right (but again not really paying attention).

When I got to 9 though, I knew something was very wrong. I suspected I was too far west. But with no maps, for some reason, in the car, I was a little out of sorts. Ah. The netbook computer. It had MS Streets and Trips on it (from last summer)! For just this purpose! On the fly route planning... I found that I had overshot Schomberg, as I had suspected, by about 15 klicks. But since I wasn't on the clock, I decided to turn east.

I turned right on Hwy 27 and parked in front of the hardware store in the plaza. Scanned the signage. Didn't see anything so I walked through the courtyard to the back of the facility and swung around to the south. Huh. Nothing.

After a pit stop to Tim's, I phoned Phil. He supplied the all important clues: the location and the colour of the door. Ironically, I had walked right past it.

Met Jerry. Had a little chit chat. Nice guy. No pressure. And I started listing off things needed.

He had no cases that would suit the Celestron 8" tube, sadly. OK, tried for the tripod.

The Orion padded case for a large reflector or refractor is a little bit of overkill for carrying my tripod but I think it will work well. I should be able to fit other things in it...

Item: Bag Of Tripod. Orion Padded Telescope Case #15164. 47" x 11" x 14". Padded divider. One year warranty. Shoulder straps with Velcroed handle. Double zipper with pulls. Polyester.

He didn't have 7 or 8 by 50 finder scopes but he did have an Orion 9x50 with right-angle, correct-image presentation. And a dove tail. Nice. Never thought about that but being able to dismount the finder will help make the SCT 8" that much more portable.

Item: Scope of Finding. (OK. I know I'm wearing out that joke...) 9x magnifying power, 50mm-diamter objective lenses, and 5-degree field of view. Fully coated, achromatic glass. The built-in Amici prism does the image correction. Internal baffling. Weighs 18.6 oz. Uses 2 thumbscrews and one tensioner.

And he had lots of eyepieces. The Tele Vue Nagler 9mm Type 6 looks like it will offer a good working range for planetary and double star work. Looking forward to having over 200 power without having to use a doubler. Really looking forward to a wide field.

Item: Ocular. Tele Vue Model #EN6-09.0. Barrel size: 1¼". Apparent Field of View (AFOV): 82°. Eye relief: 12 mm. Weight: 6.7 oz. Field stop: 12.4 mm. 7-element, Nagler Type 6 design.

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Made a note to update my "ways out of Dodge" map...