Hi Ken,
I'm new to Okinawa and astronomy, and have no photography experience. Like
you, I never expected to find anyone from the site still on the island.
Your email was the first time I've heard from the "club".

I live on Camp Foster so I'm fighting a lot of light pollution. I do what I
can with what I've got, but it would be nice to be able to learn more from
people with more experience, which is why I joined the club.

-----Original Message-----
From: RACAstronomy@yahoogroups.com [mailto:RACAstronomy@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of kenhowardjr
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 18:53
To: RACAstronomy@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [RACAstronomy] Hey Everyone! Looking for some friends and possibly
some help!

Hi,

My name is Ken. I've been living in Okinawa since August 2002, currently
working on a SOFA status contract at Camp Kinser. I live near Camp Courtney,
so it's pretty dark and quiet over on that side of the island.

As a kid i was big into astronomy, but my first telescope was pretty much a
crack pipe on a tripod (not to mention i left it behind dad's van and it got
crunched...), so i sort of gave up. After speaking with my mother on the
phone recently though, i started thinking more and more about getting into
it, now that i have some extra time to do so, and pursue it further.

I tried to contact Mike Swanson via his work phone number (posted on the Sky
& Telescope community search page), however it drops to his voicemail box
over at the Lester Naval Hospital...and since the group was formed in 2002
and most of the RAC information on the website is somewhat dated, i wasn't
sure if you were all still a "club" anymore (hey..people PSC, get bored,
move one, whatever...so i didn't actually expect to find anyone out here).

Anyway, i'm looking to meet people interested in astronomy who could
possibly help me out. I've been toying with photography for about two years,
but nothing serious, and i definitely have very little grasp on the terms
and mechanics behind telescopes and cameras. I mean, reading is one thing,
but actually looking at detailed listings of what parts are on what scopes,
it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

I was snooping around Celestron and Meade's web sites looking at some of
their equipment, but i wasn't sure which ones would do what i wanted to. I
mainly chose the few i found with pictures that customers had taken with
that specific model. I'd like to scope out the planets and moon, but i have
a very large interest in the various deep space objects lying out there. I
was actually hoping that someone in the Ryukyu Astronomy Club who was still
on island might be able to let me take a look at their equipment and get
some basic training on how to work it.

So with all of that said, if anyone is still out here, i'd appreciate
getting to know you and getting some advice before i start putting the time
and effort into it (possibly on a bad scope, etc? Kinda why i'm looking for
some help).

Cheers all,
Ken.

You can reach me at samuraiken@... <mailto:samuraiken%40gmail.com> or
if you're still on island, give me a ring at 080-3955-0697 (Vodafone, so it
should be free depending on your plan if you have the same company)