Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Hey, everyone.
This is a list of some of the contractions & acronyms you'll encounter in many CN forums. It is by no means exhaustive; I'll be adding to it regularly.
If you come across a contraction that's not on the list (and that you just can't decipher), or you need a more specific definition, don't get frustrated - just PM me. If I don't have the answer, I'll find it for you, then add it to the list.
Contractions and acronyms most commonly used in CN forums:
"NetSpeak":
Admin - Administrator
AFAIK - As far as I know
BG - Big grin
BTW - By the way
CFO - Chief Financial Officer. Refers to the spouse or significant other who controls the household finances - the finances that you so desperately want to spend on a new scope, eyepiece, camera, etc. Groveling generally required. See also SWMBO, LOML.
CN - Cloudy Nights
CS - Clear Skies
FAQ - Frequenty Asked Questions. A list of answers to the most commonly asked questions. Required reading... 
Flame - To insult someone
Flame War - Exchanging insults with other forum members (generally not seen on CN)
FWIW - For what it's worth
HTH - Hope This Helps
IIRC - If I remember correctly
IMO - In my opinion
IMHO - In my honest (or humble) opinion
LOL - laughing out loud
LOML - Love of my life. See CFO.
Mod - Moderator
OMG - Oh, my God!
OTOH - On the other hand
PITA - Pain in the a-- (a difficult task or operation that probably could have been made easier with a little forethought or better design & engineering).
POS - Piece of s-- (poorly built or malfunctioning product)
ROFL - Rolling on floor, laughing
ROFLMAO - Rolling on floor, laughing my a-- off
RTFM - Read the f-- manual (generally not seen here, as we're nicer than that)
Sig or Sig Line - Individual's Signature section
SWMBO - She who must be obeyed. See CFO.
TIA - Thanks in Advance (usually after asking a question)
TOS - Terms of service.
Troll - Someone who joins just to start flame wars (generally not seen on CN)
TX or THX - Thanks
YMMV - Your mileage may vary
Hardware/Software/Imaging & Observing/General:
Achro - Achromatic Refractor, or Achromat
AFoV - Apparent Field of View. Refers to the visual size of the field seen through an eyepiece, not the actual angular sky coverage. See also TFoV.
AG - Autoguider
Alt - Altitude
Alt/Az - Altazimuth mount
APO - Apochromatic Refractor, or Apochromat
ATM - Amateur Telescope Making (or Maker)
Az - Azimuth
Cass - Cassegrain Reflector. See also Mak, RC, SCT.
Cat - Catadioptric Telescope. See also Mak, MN, SCT, SN.
COL - Computerized Object Locator.
CSC - Clear Sky Clock
CW - Counterweight
Dec - Declination
Dob - Dobsonian Telescope
DSC - Digital Setting Circles. Electronically display direction scope is pointed in RA/Dec coordinates.
DSO - Deep Space Object. Refers to most objects outside our solar system, including but not limited to galaxies, planetary nebula, globular clusters, etc.
DT - Dovetail plate
EP - Eyepiece
EQ - Equatorial Mount
FF - Field Flattener
FF/FR - Field Flattener/Focal length Reducer. See also FR.
FL - Focal Length
FR or f/ - Focal Ratio. FR also Focal length Reducer. See also FF/FR.
GEM - German Equatorial Mount. See also EQ
HC - Hand Controller
JD - John Dobson. Inventor of the Dobsonian. See also Dob.
LP - Light Pollution
Mak - Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope
MN - Maksutov-Newtonian Telescope
MOT - Mirror On Top. ATM term for mirror grinding, where the mirror is on top of the grinding tool. See also TOT.
NEAF - NorthEast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show.
NEAF Blem - New but blemished equipment sold by manufacturers at NEAF, having flaws that do not impact functionality. See also NEAF.
NELM - Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude
Newt - Newtonian Reflector
OAG - Off-axis Guider
OTA - Optical Tube Assembly
PE - Periodic Error (for Equatorial Drives). Tracking errors caused by the imperfections inherent in any worm gear system. These errors repeat every rotation of the worm, hence Periodic. See also PEC, PPEC.
PEC - Periodic Error Control or Correction. Records corrections made during RA tracking, either by hand or autoguider; when activated, PEC replays the corrections, reducing periodic error (PE). Mount does not retain the recording after powering down. See also PE, PPEC.
PPEC - Permanent Periodic Error Correction. Mount retains corrections in permanent memory. See also PE, PEC.
RA - Right Ascension
RACI - Right-Angle Correct-Image finder - flips image to correspond to what the eye sees unaided. Aids in locating objects when using charts (stars are oriented correctly - not flipped left-right and up-down as in regular finders).
RC - Ritchey-Chretien Telescope
RDF - Red Dot Finder [Form of Unity or Unit-power (1x magnification) finder]
Sb - Surface brightness
SBS - Side-by-side saddle plate
SCT - Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
SN - Schmidt-Newtonian Telescope
Stack - An image created from several frames (sub-exposures), which have been aligned with image processing software.
Sub - Sub-exposure. See also Stack.
TFoV - True Field of View. The actual angular measurement of sky seen through an eyepiece. See also AFoV.
TOT - Tool On Top. ATM term for mirror grinding, where the grinding tool is on top of the mirror. See also MOT.
UTA - Upper Tube Assembly; seldom-used acronym for the secondary cage of a Dobsonian telescope. See also Dob.
Manufacturers/Vendors:
AM or AMart - AstroMart
AP - Astro-Physics (or Astrophotography, depending on context)
BO/TMB or TMB/BO - Burgess Optical/Thomas M. Back
C - Celestron
GS - Guan Sheng. See GSO
GSO - Guan Sheng Optical
IP - ImagesPlus
MI - Mountain Instruments
MSS - Mercury Systems Support
OGS - Optical Guidance Systems
PS - Adobe PhotoShop
PSP - Jasc (Corel) Paint Shop Pro
RCOS - RC Optical Systems
S&T - Sky & Telescope Magazine
SV - StellarVue
Tak - Takahashi
TMB - TMB (Thomas Back) Optical
TV - TeleVue
Number T number - TeleVue eyepiece reference, "T" refers to "Type"; "17T4" refers to a TV Nagler 17mm Type 4
UO - University Optics
WO - William Optics
I'll keep adding as I think of stuff. Hope this helps.
Clear Skies
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
Edited by Joe Cipriano (07/04/06 07:33 PM)
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Blair
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/07/03
Posts: 1163
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Man, didn't realize we had so many.
Thanks for posting.
Blair.
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Quote:
Man, didn't realize we had so many...
Yea - and it keeps getting longer. I just realised that I left one out from Betsy. Editing again...
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 17931
Loc: Oort Cloud 9
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Joe -
Wow. That's an impressive list.
Sb (surface brightness)
focal ratio and focal length : f/x (x being the ratio of the instrument) and f/l ...
LP - light pollution.
CSC - clear sky clock
Thanks and clear dark skies...
MikeG
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
☄ ⒼⒶⓁⒶⒸⓉⒾⒸ ⓈⓉⓄⓃⒺ ☞ www.galactic-stone.com
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Mike:
Thanks. Added.
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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ClownFish
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/26/05
Posts: 6254
Loc: Baghdad, Iraq
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Joe... FINALY!!!! Thanks for taking the time to compile this list. It should be a sticky on many forums.
WTG!!
CF
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Learn all about Polar Alignment and Manual Guiding on my website at www.PetesAstrophotography.com! Or visit my Foreign Service Blog!
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Peter:
Thanks much. I'm also rewriting the Glossary; this info will be included. Hopefully it will be "pinned" in all forums.
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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BillFerris
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/17/04
Posts: 3587
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I'll contribute the following observing-related acronyms and abbreviations:
Objects
DSO: Deep Sky Object (clusters, nebulae, galaxies...objects beyond the Solar System)
SSO: Shallow Sky Object (planets, asteroids...anything orbiting the Sun)
BN: Bright Nebula
DN: Dark Nebula
EN: Emission Nebula
GX: Galaxy
GC: Globular (Star) Cluster
OC: Open (Star) Cluster
PN: Planetary Nebula
Magnitude
Mag.: Magnitude
VMag: Visual Magnitude
BMag: Blue Magnitude
Vtip: Magnitude of the brightest star in a globular cluster
VHB: Magnitude of the horizontal branch stars in a globular cluster.
UBVRI: Ultraviolet, Blue, Visual, Red, Infrared (photometry)
SB: Surface Brightness
Galaxy Types
E: Elliptical (E0...E6: degrees of ellipticity)
S: Spiral (Sa...Sd: range of spiral strcuture; from tight and well-defined to loose and ill-defined)
SA: Ordinary Spiral
SB: Barred Spiral (SBa...SBd: See "S" above)
SAB: Mixed Spiral
I or Irr: Irregular
P or Pec: Peculiar
Note: The above is only a subset of the full list of galaxy type abbreviations.
Deep Sky Catalogs
M: Messier
H: William Herschel Catalog
h: John Herschel Catalog
GC: General Catalog
NGC: New General Catalog
IC: Index Catalog
CGCG: Catalogue of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies
MCG: Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
PGC: Principal Galaxies Catalog
PNG: Strasbourg-ESO catalog of planetary nebulae
UGC: Uppsala General Catalog (Galaxies)
B: Barnard catalog of dark nebulae
Cr: Collinder catalog of open star clusters
Sh2: Sharpless catalog of bright nebulae
Tr: Trumpler catalog of open star clusters
RC3: Third Reference Catalog of Bright Galaxies. This catalog, written by de Vaucouleurs, de Vaucouleurs and Corwin, et al, is a primary source of data on galaxy positions, sizes, brightnesses and types.
PK: Perek-Kohoutek (catalog of planetary nebulae)
Note: As with the preceding section, the above is only a subset of published catalogs but should cover most discussions on this forum.
Stellar Catalogs
HD: Henry Draper catalog (stars)
SAO: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Harvard) catalog (stars)
GSC: (Hubble) Guide Star Catalog
T: Tycho catalog (stars)
ADS: Aitken Double Star (Catalogue)
WDS: Washington (Visual) Double Star (Catalog)
Note: The above represent a subset of published stellar catalogs but should cover many discussions.
Anybody care to post the abbreviations for all 88 constellations?
Bill in Flagstaff
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Grand Canyon Adventure
Lowering the Threshold
18" Obsession
4.5" Meade 4500
10x50 Swift Audubon
Cosmic Voyage
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Bill:
Thank you! I hadn't gotten that far yet. Unfortunately, you've reminded me of how much more work I have to do - like all the imaging stuff (Ha, LRGB, etc...).
I'm updating the glossary - all 88 constellations will be represented.
Question: Does the Hipparcos catalog get listed seperately with a contraction, or is that usually folded in with Tycho-1?
Again - thanks!
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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BillFerris
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/17/04
Posts: 3587
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Hi Joe,
You might find the following of interest: USNO's Summary of Star Catalogs. That site probably does a better job of clarifying the history and status of a large number of star catalogs.
With respect to Hipparcos and Tycho, it might be enough to mention that the Tycho-2 catalog is about 99% complete to magnitude 11.0 and roughly 95% complete to 11.5. It is the most accurate astrometric catalog in wide use for relatively bright stars. There are several megacatalogs in the works that would be similarly complete to very faint thresholds...well beyond visual observing limits. However, these are incredibly large--many tens to hundreds of Gbytes--and are not practical (as yet) to distribute with commercial computer star atlases and planetarium programs. As a result the GSC 1.2 catalog is still, for all its weaknesses, very commonly packaged with those products.
Hope that answers you question - Bill in Flagstaff
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Grand Canyon Adventure
Lowering the Threshold
18" Obsession
4.5" Meade 4500
10x50 Swift Audubon
Cosmic Voyage
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stevecoe
"Astronomical Tourist"
Reged: 04/24/04
Posts: 3766
Loc: Arizona, USA
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The double star observers have many shortened names, here is the list from the SAC double star database. Unfortunately, the wrap feature will make them a poor display. I don't have admin rights so I can change the font, someone else will have to do that.
Steve Coe
A Aitken R.G. GLP Glasenapp S. PAN Pannuzzio R.
AC Clark Alvan GRB Groombridge S. PLQ Paloque E.
AG AG catalog GYL Goyal A.N. POL Pollock J.A.
AGC Clark A.G. H Herschel W. POP Popovic G.
ALD Alden H.L. HDO Harvard Obs. POU Pourteau A.
ALI Ali A. HEI Heintz W.D. PRO Perth Obs.
ARA Aravamudan S. HJ Herschel J. PTT Pettitt E.
ARG Argelander F. HLD Holden E.S. PZ Piazzi G.
B Bos W.H. van den HLM Holmes E. R Russell H.C.
BAL Baillaud R. HO Hough G.W. RMK Rumker C.
BAR Barnard E.E. HRG Hargrave L. ROE Roe E.D.
BET Bertin B. HTG Hastings C.S. RST Rossiter R.A.
BHA Bhaskaran T.P. HU Hussey W.L. S South J.
BRD Bird F. HWE Howe H.A. SCJ Schjellerup H.
BRT Barton S.G. I Innes R.T.A. SE Secchi A.
BSO Brisbane Obs. J Jonckheere R. SEE See T.J.
BU Burnham S.W. JC Jacob W.S. SEI Scheiner J.
COO Cordoba Obs. JSP Jessup M.K. SHJ South & Herschel
COU Couteau P. KNT Knott G. SKI Skinner A.N.
CPO Cape Observatory KU Kustner F. SLR Sellors R.P.
D Dembowski E. KUI Kuiper G.P. STF Struve F.G.W.
DA Dawes W.R. L Lewis T. STG Struve G.
DAW Dawson B.H. LAL Lalande F. de STI Stein J.
DON Donner H.F. LAM Lamont J. von STN Stone O.
DOO Doolittle E. LDS Luyten p.m. STT Struve O.
DOR Dorpat Obs. LEO Leonard F.C. THE The P.S.
DUN Dunlop J. LPO La Plata Obs. UPT
ES Espin T.E. LV Leavenworth F. VOU Voute J.G.
FIL Filipov M.L. MA Madler J.H. WAK Walker R.L.
FIN Finsen W.S. MA Mason A.H. WEI Weisse M.
FOX Fox P. MLB Milburn W. WG Wrigley R.W.
GAL Gallo J. MLF Muller F. WHC Wilson H.C.
GAN Anderson G. MLL Mitchell S.A. WNC Winnecke A.
GAU Gauchet P.L. MLO Melbourne Obs. WNO Washington Obs.
GCB Giacobini M. MLR Muller P. WOR Worley C.E.
GLE Gale W.F. NZO New Zealand Obs. WRH Wilson R.H.
GLI Gilliss J.M. OL Olivier C.P.
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16" f/4.5 Newtonian on Alt-Az mount by Tectron
Author "Touching the Universe" iUniverse
Author "Deep Sky Observing" Springer
Author "Nebulae and How to Observe Them" Springer
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MikeRatcliff
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/12/04
Posts: 1706
Loc: Redlands, CA
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Way off topic, but one time I saw my 12 year old son madly typing "POS POS POS" over and over on the computer while on a chat room. I thought why the strong language?
Turns out it also means "Parent over shoulder". 
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14" f/4.5 dob. 6" f/8 dob.
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Mike:
Not to be paranoid (or cause you to be the same), but I'd be real worried about what he was chatting about (and who with) before the "POS" was typed in...
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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MikeRatcliff
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/12/04
Posts: 1706
Loc: Redlands, CA
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That time was OK, it was a game, and he was talking with his cousin. But as he gets older and more grown up ... We have warned him that there are lots of predators out there pretending to be a teenager. Point well taken.
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14" f/4.5 dob. 6" f/8 dob.
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Everyone:
I've set up a temporary home for the CA list and "Under Construction" Glossary on my site; Here's the link. This will enable me to update regularly, without having to keep track of multiple lists or bug moderators to insert the edits.
This is "work in progress" (as is my site - there ain't much there, yet...), and will be added to as I have time. When finished, I'll submit it to The Powers That Be at CN for a final edit/proofread/approval, and a permanent home - I don't really have enough bandwidth to host it permanently.
Please continue contributing; I'll add the info as I'm able. Sincere thanks to Bill Ferris, Steve Coe(you've got a PM...), and everyone else who contributed. I'm hoping to make this one of the better astronomy references available - we'll see how close it gets.
Heck - I'll be happy if all the links work and I haven't misspelled too many words... 
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Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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wrather1
AstroBear
Reged: 10/25/05
Posts: 4489
Loc: Dallas, Texas
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Joe:
THANKS!! Great list!!
DW
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"And there, within the black inviting vacuum, shine the beacon jewels and diamond dusts of future passed." - D. L. Lundelius
Meade RCX400-12 "Ursa Major"
TMB 130SS + EQ6-PRO "Ursus Polaris"
Orion ED80 "Ursa Minor", WO ZS66ED "grab-'n'-go"
Canon EOS 60Da, Philips ToUcam Pro, Orion StarShoot Autoguider
North Texas Clear Sky Chart
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vegasmo
member
Reged: 07/20/06
Posts: 65
Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada
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I agree this should be a sticky... ROFL
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12" Meade Lightbridge
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grbrown
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/09/05
Posts: 645
Loc: Ampthill, UK, 52:02N 0:30W
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Having been a member over a year I have only just discovered this! 
Now I should be able to make better sense of some of those posts I have puzzled over... 
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Graham
"one eye good, two eyes better...the more I look, the more I see"
BT100-45 degrees, plus 35,24,17,13,9mm Sieberts
15x80, 7x50 Steiners
12x50, 10x42, 8x20 Leica Trinovids
7x35 Minolta
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Olivier Biot
Amused
Reged: 04/25/05
Posts: 24589
Loc: 51°N (Belgium)
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Shouldn't we add SRF to this list?
Cheers
Olivier
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I think you're worth a double serving of happiness!
Tal-200K (#199) with JMI NGF-Mini2M focuser on GEM3 • Astro-Tech AT80ED • Orion Sirius EQ-G with wireless EQDIRECT • Astro-Tech Voyager • Celestron Regal LX 10x42 • Helios 15x70
ATM projects: 14" f/5 truss Dobson: first light Jul 1, 2011  - currently in 'tweak & widget' mode 
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Joe Cipriano
Entropy Personified
Reged: 09/03/05
Posts: 8087
Loc: Uh... anyone have a GPS?
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Yea - if I've got the correct definition ("Serious Refractor Fanatic")...
--------------------
Scottsdale, AZ (Haven't found anything to make a snide remark about... yet.)
Purveyor of fine snark since 1962.
"You always a wiseass?"
"No. Sometimes I'm asleep." Harry Dresden
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham
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