June 20, 2008

Well, nothing new to report. Still no scope. They haven't shipped it back yet. I'll have to remember to give them a call sometime today and see what's up. When I called on Monday, I was told no later than Thursday, and I should receive an email stating it has shipped and a tracking number. :(

On another note, I thought I share a couple of other things with you.
The other day I did finally receive my Meade hat, along with a very nice personal note from Susie. Thank you Susie!!

A couple of weeks ago I did order (from The Meade Outlet Store) a 6 Piece Outdoor Set. I think they called it the Explorer. Here's my review:

1) Multi Use Tool: Not bad. I think they're all the same, and this is like the 4th one I own now.

2) Pedometer: My wife wants this, and well so do I. So we may fight over it. I just want to see how far a really walk when I have to cut the grass. :)

3) Compass: Now, this is nice, and I may have just bought it by itself.
I do have another compass I use (to help align my tripod), but it's a WWII German compass that my Opa (grandfather) gave me, and I really would just like to keep that in a drawer so I don't misplace it. But this Meade Compass I must admit, is better. More staple, and points North quickly without having to wait for the dial to stop going back and forth.
So this will replace the WWII compass.

4) Flashlight: I can see some use for this. Most likely designed for a child, but it has a clip, and I can clip it to the brim of my hat (see ablove). My intention is to add some red filter. Once clipped to the hat, I now have 2 hands to pick out eyepieces, swap them out, etc. So this is definitely a handy item to have in your bag.

5) Speaking of bag: Well, what can I say. The bag holds all you see in the picture above.

6) Binoculars: Now this is the real reason I purchased this kit. I have been wanting a pair for sometime and $27 seemed pretty reasonable. Well, I'll tell you, for $27 you couldn't get a better pair of binoculars. These provide a very crisp and clear view!! I really like them!! And have used them while I wait for my scope to return.

Oh, which brings me back to my scope..........it's HERE!!! In the midst of writing this post, UPS delivered the scope. Funny, I know it takes a week to shipped from Irvine, CA......why didn't Meade know it had shipped. Well, doesn't matter, it's here now. Unfortunately, the weather doesn't appear to be very favorable for the next few days, but we'll see.

Update (since I wrote the above at work, and I am now at home):
So I opened the box and................it's not my scope. ;) In fact, it's a later model.
An ETX 125 PE vs ETX 125 AT. This one has a Smartfinder Scope and LNT (Level North Technology). The LNT is suppose to help with alignments and targeting.

So I'm at a dilema, do I hold on to it, or call and ship it back and wait a few more weeks. I'll have to ponder this for a bit. But I may just set it up and see just how much better it is over the other one.

Gee, why couldn't they have shipped me an LX200!!!!!