One benefit of membership in the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association is access to the telescopes that are part of the SFAAA Loaner Scope Program. The qualifications needed to borrow one of these telescopes are:
- A minimum of three month of active participation in club events
- Completion of a short training course
- Approval by the observatory director.
The SFAAA Loaner Scope Program allows members who don’t own or have access to a telescope to borrow one for touring the night sky. The loaner scope program can be particularly beneficial to novices, who not only want to become familiar with the night sky but would also like to learn something about the different amateur telescopes available today.
The SFAAA Loaner Scope program works something like a library book loan. You can check out a telescope for a one month period. At the end of the month, you are obligated to return the telescope. If no one else has reserved the telescope, you may renew your loan for an additional month. As with a library book loan, you are of course responsible for the equipment while it is in your possession.
The telescopes are borrowed the Saturday after the SFAAA Monthly General Membership Meeting and returned at the next monthly General Membership Meetings. If you are interested in borrowing a scope from the SFAAA Loaner Scope Program we have made it easy. Just submit the request using the SFAAA Loaner Scope Request Form.
Here are the different telescopes that are currently available:
1) Orion SkyQuest XT10 10″ Classic Dobsonian Telescope |
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A good all purpose, portable, rugged telescope. A Newtonian telescope on a very simple to use Dobsonian mount. Just point and shoot. A good telescope for the beginner. This telescope will provide good planetary and deep sky viewing.
It includes the following accessories:
Specifications:
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2) Celestron NexStar 6SE Computerized Telescope |
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Celestron NexStar SE Key Features
It includes the following accessories:
Specifications:
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3) William Optics ZenithStar 66 PATRIOT Edition |
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The William Optics ZenithStar 66 APO OTA is a doublet, air-spaced APO telescope. This small, portable scope can be used on its own or as a piggyback guide scope. The lens design offers color-free, high-contrast images that are sharp to the edge of the field. It includes the following accessories:
Specifications:
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