You got it, LX200 Classic, no fancy GPS, autostar, or “ACF” optics. I assume by the chief rival you mean Celestron? They seem to have fared better than Meade over the years. I still wouldn’t trade my LX200 for anything though. Just got a used SBIG and I may get a fancier wide field refractor for it at some point, but the base telescope it’s riding on will remain the same for as long as it lives.
Yep, worked at Celestron way back when. I was the block maker, and worked in the matching room before that. I liked the work, but the pay was lousy.
One of my favorite parts of the job was our yearly factory sale, when we’d sell all of our “junk.” I’d get the before and after sale deals. I also drove the truck for the Riverside Telescope Maker’s Convention, and was always there manning our tables. Those were fun times.
Amateur astronomy has filled my life with fun and adventure.
Oh, and as far as my rig.... been using the same 14.5” f5.5 Newt for about 20 years now. Sono tube, Dob mount, Osypowsky equatorial platform. It’s strictly a visual rig. The focus is so close to the tube that there’s no way you could get a camera to focus anyway. :)