New scope on its way!

I just today pulled the trigger on an Orion XT10i. This is a pretty big upgrade from the two scopes I've got now: an 8" SkyWatcher Dob, and an 8" Meade LX10. It's two inches more aperture, of course, but also I'm looking forward to the Intelliscope -- after spending a lot of time starhopping with the Dob, I'm in the mood to be lazy. The LX10's got a controller (the Magellan II), but I've found its accuracy to be iffy sometimes. Doubtless it's operator error, but I've heard pretty much nothing but good things about the Intelliscope.

I'd been thinking hard about what to upgrade to. I've been looking very seriously at the Celestron NexStar Evolution, particularly since it would be GoTo rather than PushTo. The wireless problems people are encountering are concerning, but more than that I think the XT10i should be a great deal more portable than the Evolution. I've got a hand truck that I use for the 8" Dob, and that lets me walk the scope over to a local park to go observing, rather than having to drive. For the Meade I've got a wagon, but it's a lot heavier and a lot more awkward. I don't want to be stuck driving, and the hand truck works well.

Only trouble is, I won't get to use it for six weeks. How come? 'Cos I'm having it shipped out to my parents' place in Ontario, where my family will be vacationing for a couple weeks in August. It's a long time to wait, but their skies are incredibly dark: they live ten minutes drive outside a village of 300 people, on an island about 120km away from the nearest city. We were last there three years ago, and I easily picked up Messier objects in binoculars that I hadn't been able to see near my house with the Dob. That time, the scope I had was a 4.25" reflector I'd packed into a suitcase; this time, I'm gonna be loaded for bear. :) After vacation's over, I'm going to disassemble it and ship it back home.

So...now we wait. And collect Cloudy Nights threads on mods, tips, complaints, raves and the most passing of mentions. No, YOU'RE obsessed.