Aperture Is Nigh: Taking Delivery of an 18" Telescope

Since September 27, 2000, when I placed my order for a 16" Starmaster Telescope, I have eagerly anticipated its arrival. Two things changed during the six month long wait after I ordered the telescope, however. First, I was informed that the scope would not be ready for delivery at the appointed date, and second, I decided to go even bigger and changed my order to the 18" model (if I had to wait even longer anyway, why not really put an end to aperture fever?).

The second half of the wait was much, much harder than the first, chiefly because I had no inkling when the scope would be ready. Astronomically speaking, the wait wasn't wasted; I have since whiled away many an evening with other telescopes, some of which I've long since sold, an assortment of binoculars, and a wide variety of eyepieces (no pun intended, for you astronerds reading this).

An interesting footnote to this story is that I was not alone. I'm not talking about the hundreds of others waiting to take delivery from any of the big three or four telescope makers as infamous for their waiting lists as they are they are famous for their telescopes. Nor am I referring to the dozens waiting for the exact same brand as I had ordered. No, none other than my uncle Tom Jaskunas, whom you will recognize from adventures cataloged elsewhere in these pages, was waiting for a 16" telescope from Starmaster equipped identically to mine. Unbeknownst to one another, we had ordered matching telescopes from Starmaster within one month of one another, he in August and I in September.

Only when my Aunt Tess mentioned to me five months into the wait that Tom might be taking a trip to Kansas to pick up his telescope in April did we discover the coincidence. We were in Colorado when Tom took delivery of his scope in June, and how my heart did pine when I saw it. "About eight weeks more" was the prediction given me by the maker of the telescope, and eight weeks later, the scope was on its way.

Between the ever-extending deadline for the telescope's completion and the ever-declining stock market (in which the funds for its purchase were invested), the wait was trying at times. Just look at how it dominates the living room, though (not for long, I've been informed). Was it worth it? We shall see when evening comes. Or rather, when evening and a vehicle capable of hauling it around come.