Who is this Super Light Cup?

Who is this Super Light Cup?

In 2004, my busy lifestyle was taking a toll on me and I was depressed despite the fact that my 8-inch Discovery
Dob was giving me a very fine view of Jupiter during the 2004 apparition. I missed them simple days when there
was only one telescope to choose, the Light Cup . And trying to choose between two scopes for the
night often caused me to put out both my TV-102 Light Cup and my 8-inch Dob .

Thus began my search for the "panacea" telescope. My search took me to choices such as upgrading my Dob
to premium Royce mirror and secondary and MoonLite dual-speed focuser, to getting an 8-inch Starbucket,
to a 7" Intes M715 MCT, and C9.25 SCT. While these choices would have given me great view, I knew I
would miss having a refractor around which could be used in a moment's notice (the lifestyle variable), but I
wasn't willing to go back to the 2-scopes model again.  And I also want something small enough and light
enough so it can be used on my Vixen Super Polaris GEM.  Restarting the search all over again, the choices
converged upon a 5-inch class APO refractor. 6-inch would have been nice but it's way too large and heavy!
Having been TMB's customer already on the TMB SuperMonocentric eyepiece, I decided to purchase a 5.1" (130mm) TMB130LW in a new light weight tube that weighs approx. 15-16 lbs.

In June of 2005, I had an uncontroller urge to acquire the 5" (127mm) Tele Vue NP127 and placed an order for one. It is the world lightest 5-inch APO refractor on the market at the time!

We shall see if this truly is the "panacea" telescope for me that will turn into a life-long teacher and companion .