What I have found ;

The Good:

1) Don’t buy anything before you discuss it on cloudy nights. Someone probably brought it and used it already.
2) Hyperion’s are excellent eyepieces.
3) Even if you have a go to scope you still need to learn the sky.
4) Charles Messier was the man
5) The best scope is the one you use.
6) Read every post with an open mind, remember your millage will vary
7) 2 inch eyepieces rock
Most astro gear products are made in Asia, no matter what you want to believe.
9) Anything over 68 degrees can’t be seen without moving your eyes
10) If you wear glasses 20 MM eye relief is very good.
11) Stars do have color (well I learned this on my own, but I only noticed it after looking at the pictures on cloudy nights.)
12) Get some astronomy books before you spend any money on a telescope.
13) Even though the best type of telescope is (pick one: reflector, refractor, catadioptric) do some research and make sure that the best is right for you.
14) Any telescope you buy must have WAF or HAF (wife or husband acceptance factor) if you are married.
15) Most astronomy shops have discounts use them.
16) There are some seriously SMART people on Cloudy Nights.
17) Binoculars are the best first telescope
18) A plastic planisphere is a great tool


The Bad:

1) TeleVue makes the best (pick one: Eyepiece, Scope, Diagonal, etc,.) everything else is junk
2) The best type of scope is (pick one: reflector, refractor, catadioptric)
3) I can’t believe the double cluster is not an M object??
4) The best is always the most expensive
5) Fast scopes eat eyepieces for lunch
6) Ethos are better than sliced bread.
7) Whatever scope you own is what you generally recommend.
NJ has very bad light pollution


The golden rules:

1) No matter what you buy, the day a new piece of astro gear comes to your house, you will not be able to use it, pick your reason: clouds, rain, snow, full moon, wife won’t let you, asteroid crashes into earth, George W. Bush declares it illegal.
2) No matter how much you spent as your astronomy hobby, after showing one of your neighbors the heavens and they declaring how awesome it is, is priceless.
3) Nothing is as enjoyable as teaching others about the heavens.
4) The 3 rules of Astronomy are 1) Aperture Rules 2) Aperture Rules 3) When in doubt see rules 1 and 2.

New rule:

1) Brandons are better than Hyperions
2) When in doubt refer to rule 1

Brandons over Hyperions anytime.