Don Pensack: Hi! My name is Don Pensack. I am General Manager of Scope City Inc.

, a chain of retail, optical, and telescope stores in Southern California in Nevada. Today, we are going to be discussing how to select and use a telescope. And along the way we will stop at some particular points. Basic telescope uses, i.

e.

, to say land and sea versus using them for the night sky. Basic telescope types - what are the types of telescopes that you can select? How to choose a scope? What budget you should put into it? What type of accessories you should get with the telescope? Then we will talk about how to get started in using the telescope under the night sky. And we will talk about basic telescope usage when you are in the field. And then, finally, we will talk about what are the objects that you can see in the night sky. I have been doing this for about 45 years. And along the way, I have picked up a few tricks and I would like to share those with you today. So our first topic will be basic telescope usage.