Nope.
Life and health are too short for me to worry about gas prices. It seems penny-wise and pound-foolish (OK, dollar-wise and scope-foolish) to spend so much money on astronomy gear and then let it sit idle. I'm grabbing all the gusto (and photons) I can. I know not everyone can afford this approach. It works for me.
I don't see that smaller cars necessarily require one to down size one's aperture. Few on TAC own apertures large enough to be a permanent barrier. Certainly many commercial scopes were designed with lower gas prices, larger vehicles, and stronger owners in mind. That paradigm doesn't need to restrict us in the future. Consider buying or building minimalist scopes that fit into smaller spaces. Greg Babcock fits his 24" into a small hatchback or sedan (http://synrgistic.com/astro/24inch.htm).
Albert
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Are Auto Gas Prices Changing Your Astronomy Hobby?
From: Peter Natscher ^lt;natscher_at_redshift.com>
Date: Tue Mar 04 2008 - 15:51:04 MST
Hi Tacošs!
With gas prices now hitting $4, and forecast to be higher for this summer,
what effect does this have on your travel to observing sites? Are you
getting another higher-mileage vehicle or a smaller and lighter scope to fit
in a smaller vehicle? I now calculate my gas usage with my 20 mpg SUV
regularly something I never really considered very much before. Išm lucky
that I donšt need to drive my SUV all week to travel the 1.5 miles distance
to get my office to work here in Monterey. Išve been walking this distance
for three years now (3 miles per day r/t walking), enjoyably. It would be a
hard decision to give up the big scope if you need to downsize your vehicle.
The killer of aperture fever gas price phobia.
Peter Natscher in Monterey
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Received on Tue Mar 04 16:54:08 2008