[Chaos-l] Time for a club loaner scope?

[Jon]

Hi all.  Several times over the last month i've heard people ask if  
CHAOS has a loaner scope people could check out.  I know it's been  
discussed in the past as well.  The biggest reason i've heard raised  
against it was logistics: who'd be in charge of it, where would it  
live when it wasn't in use, and so on.  If we got a reasonably  
compact scope, i'd be willing to host it.  Or, hosting it could  
become one of the duties of the Vice-President or Secretary. Or  
again, it could be come a volunteer position like Newsletter Editor  
or Webmaster.

I was thinking of something like the Orion 4.5" dob ($230)  with a  
Telrad ($40), a copy of Turn Left at Orion ($17), and Bright Star  
2000 or similar ($10).  The whole package would come to about $300  
plus shipping.  If all of the 60-some members of CHAOS kicked in $5,  
it could be paid for without dipping into the club's treasury.

General questions to list members:

    o If we had such a scope, would you use it?

    o If you're not currently a CHAOS member, and the loaner scope was
       available only to members (fairly standard practice in clubs with
       loaner scopes), would it be an incentive to join?

    o Do anyone have a similar scope they'd want to donate?  CHAOS _is_
       a 501(c)3 corporation, and i think it'd be tax deductible.

Any thoughts on the proposal?

J.
-- 
Jon Stewart-Taylor: jcst at tripod.net
Chapel Hill Astronomy: http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos/

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