USING WEASNER'S MIGHTY ETX SITE Last updated: 24 October 2007

This Site has been online for over 11 years now and has grown tremendously in that time. But the basic concept is still the same: provide a resource of information, tips, product reviews, actual ETX-based astrophotography, and more to ETX and DS and Autostar users worldwide.

New users may feel overwhelmed at the amount of information on this site and that is understandable given that there is currently over 600MB of information in over 3000 HTML, graphics, and software files on this Site. So, while the Site is organized in a fairly obvious way, this Site Guide provides some explanations on how to use the Site effectively for the new ETX and DS owners who have just found us. I say "us" because this is YOUR Site. Contributions of information, tips, modifications, and photos are welcome.

The Site Home Page is organized into several areas. I'll touch on each of these in this Site Guide.

The large image at the top of the page shows the title of the Site and tries to convey that our little ETX telescopes are actually very Mighty telescopes, given their size. The Site Title also has another meaning: this Site is also a Mighty Site, with TONS of valuable information for visitors.

Below the Title image there is some introductory text, describing why I created this Site. To the right are links to this Site Guide, a "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions) page, and Email Etiquette page. The FAQ page has several questions and answers to the most frequently asked questions. If you check the FAQ first before emailing your question, you may find the answer there and save yourself some time. The Email Etiquette page describes some things about reply-to addresses, subjects, image file attachments, and message text, and site announcements that all site visitors should read. For those visitors who want to get Site updates via RSS newsfeeds, click on the "RSS Newsfeed" link.

You can search the site using Google. If you don't find your answer in the FAQ, try the Search page. Enter one of more keywords or phrase (i.e., Autostar longitude) and then click 'Google Search' button to start the search. A new window will open with the search results. If your entry is found you will see a list of pages; click the page link and then use your browser's Find command to search for the same word(s). If no pages were found try different or fewer words. Sometimes, partial words may work best, depending upon what information you are searching for (i.e., use photograph instead of astrophotography).

Next is the "Last updated" date. This shows the date (California time) that the Site was last updated. Use this information along with the or flags and dates by the topical links in the middle of the page.

The middle portion of the ETX Site Home Page is currently divided up into ten major topics:

I'll discuss each of these in turn.

Feedback
The Feedback topic includes several pages of general and specific items. This is where you will find a lot of Q&A, simple tips, and items of general importance. Items that are non-model specific will be on the "General" page. Model specific items will be on the "ETX-90" (for original the ETX, ETX-90RA, ETX Astro Model M, ETX-90EC, and ETX-90AT), "ETX-125", "ETX-60, ETX-70", or "DS, Older Models" page, as appropriate. Autostar specific items are on the "Autostar" page. Feedback on Meade's Autostar Suite is also here (LPI specific feedback and photographs are on the Helpful Information - Astrophotography page). Items on astronomy software are on the "Astro Software" page. I urge all site visitors to at least glance through each page as they are updated (noted by the updated flag and date of the update). Many times you will see a question which you can answer (and please do send in your answer) or you will discover a tip that gets you past something that has been bothering you. And don't forget the "Feedback Archives"; every Feedback page going back to October 1996 is there! (I have been asked many times why I don't switch the Feedback pages to a "Forum-style" automated system. I have considered this but since I would have to moderate the content anyway and since I have many Applescripts that I use on my Macintosh to automate many of the steps for posting content, I have stuck with what works.)

Announcements
In this topic you will find important items regarding the ETX Site (the "Site" link only appears when there is an announcement; typically when updates will be delayed or I request that attachments not be sent due to my traveling). You will also find other announcements as appropriate. There are announcements on the text, audio, and video chats with me, the occasional "Contest", an Award announcement, the "Mighty ETX Star Party", some public service announcements directly from Meade Instruments, some dealer specials and sales announcements, "For Sale Notices" and "Wanted Notices" from users, "Alerts" (which can cover any astronomical item), and "Warnings" (which cover equipment and other warnings).

Author, Author!
This topic contains a page on the published book "Astronomy with Small Telescopes" containing a chapter on the ETX and the "Using the Meade ETX" book, both written by your (still humble) webmaster.

Survey
This topic will have the occasional survey, where you can make your desires known.

Helpful Information
Here you will find information useful to potential buyers of ETX and DS scopes, as well as information useful to new owners of these scopes. If you plan to buy a telescope or accessory, or already have, check the "Buyer/New User Tips" page to see what is there. The "Tutorials" page is where tutorials on using the ETX and the Autostar are available. Currently the selection is limited but I hope to add more over time. Next, is an area on "Astrophotography". This is a collection of tips and camera specific items. It has links to some older items (all the way back to 1996) as well as new content. The next item is the "Telescope Tech Tips" page. This contains some more technical information on making or modifying items to enhance your telescope usage. Some items are more technical than others. Don't attempt anything described unless you are comfortable with what the item says and you are willing to invalidate any warranty on your system. At the bottom of the "Miscellaneous" section on the "Telescope Tech Tips" page you will see links to "Guest Contributions" from 1997 and 1998. Be certain to check them out as there is more good information there. Then there is the "Autostar Information" page; a collection of lots of tips, software, patches, and more about all models of the Autostar. The next link is to "User Observations", where you can read user reports of what they have seen with their ETX and DS telescopes. There is the "Observational Guides/References", containing a wealth of information on how and what to observe, and some items to be aware of when observing. The topic "Astronomy and Medical Topics" is where articles on health and astronomy items will be found. The final topic is "Astronomy & Intel Mac Systems" which relates to experiences using Microsoft Windows astronomy applications on Apple Macintosh systems that have an Intel CPU.

Supporting the Mighty ETX Site
There are several ways to voluntarily support your ETX site. One way is by "pledging", similar to what public radio and TV stations do in the United States. Also, if you have your telescope "supercharged" by Clay Sherrod's "Tune-up Service", he contributes a portion of each payment to support this site. Some dealers make contributions to the Site from sales of items if you mention to the supporting dealer that you saw the item reviewed on this Site.

Other
This topic is a catch-all for items for which there is no other appropriate place. That is not meant to diminish their value to Site visitors, so check these links when they are updated. The "Astronomy Links" page is a simple categorized listing of useful web sites including institutions, users, dealers, magazines, and software. There is a link to my "Oracle Observatory" web page, where I report on my activities there. The "Just for Fun!" page is just that; items that are meant to provide humor, general trivia, and at times useful information. The "Editorial" pages are where you and I can editorialize on various, ETX-related topics. The "Memorial Web Page" was something that I felt I needed to do in June 2000; if you haven't visited that page, please do. There is also a "STS-107 Memorial Page" to honor the Crew of the Orbiter Columbia. And last is the "ETX TV Commercials" page. The information there is outdated but will be updated if I get any new information. And an occasional "Contest" may appear here.

Accessory Reviews
This topic has reviews and more reviews. The "Showcase Products" page covers accessories which I deem to be worthwhile of indepth discussion. The other categories are pretty much self-explanatory. If you are considering purchasing an accessory, check the appropriate page to see if someone has reviewed it. Be certain to look for similar items to get a good perspective on what is available. Accessory reviews are welcome.

My Astrophotography Gallery
This is where I present photographs I've taken using my telescopes. I present the bad through the good as examples of what you can expect if you are new to astrophotography using the DS or ETX telescopes.

Guest Astrophotography Gallery
This is where photographs submitted by you, the Site visitors, can be shown. They range from not so good (just learning) to really excellent (lucky or lots of experience). You can also use these as examples of what can be accomplished with these telescopes. Sometimes photographs are posted on the Helpful Information - Astrophotography page if the info contained would be useful to explain how to take similar photographs with that equipment.

The next portion on the ETX Site Home Page contains "badges", linked to useful sites, and awards the ETX Site has earned. Check them out. Next is the link to the ETX Site update notification service. If you want to be notified when the Site is updated, click this link and follow the instructions. This service is totally under my control and uses the email address that you enter. Finally, there are more badges and a Macintosh oriented astronomy mailing list.

At the bottom of the ETX Site Home Page are more badges, linked to their sites, and some legal information.

I hope this page has been useful to you in helping you learn what information is available on this Mighty ETX Site and how to navigate it.

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