HI Jack,

I also have an At102ED (it's my only scope) and have really enjoyed it's quality. Also, I too had to do some re-work on the FT focuser, as there was a flaw in the inside of the casting that the focuser was rubbing against. A little work with a Dremel tool and I polished it out, reassembled and adjusted and now it is smooth as silk.

As for the AT reticule sight, yep, it's a bright sucker even at lowest power setting. My suggestion is to go to a garage sale (or the local 7-11) and get a pair of cheap, lightly-tinted sunglasses that have plastic lenses. Then, remove one of the plastic lenses and trim it to fit the backside of the sight window.

Now, that said I have to tell you that I have only tried this to test the theory but have not gone as far as customizing a sunglass lens to cover the area. It actually works pretty good though when I just hold the sunglass lens up to the back of the sight window and then view through it.

I also made a mount that allowed me to mount the reticule sight up on the front scope ring, so that way I wouldn't risk a trip to the chiropractor when trying to sight in on a target.

To be honest I have adapted a mount so that I could mount my Orion 9x50 RACI, which is my finderscope of choice. I do think that will dim the light enough to make it usable, however, and not cost an arm and a leg in re-engineering the whole thing.

Awesome scope in this rookies opinion, and all I'll ever need in a 102mm refractor.

Hope this is of some help.

Mike