6" f/8 Criterion EQ | 76mm f/16 Refractor | 8" f/6 Dobsonian 

 12.5" f/5.6 Dobsonian | 3" f/5.6 Zeiss Copyscope
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It seems my father and I have luck at finding telescopes for sale at either auctions, flea markets or in the newspaper. Our 6" f/8 Criterion Equatorially mounted scope is proof of that. The scope was purchased at a garage sale that had the scope advertised in the classified section of the newspaper. My father called the family having the sale and the telescope was described as such: "well, it has a white tube and it can come off the tripod. Oh, and I remember my son showing me Saturn's rings with it!"

With that in mind, my father drove about 45 minutes over to the sale and was greeted with a larger than expected scope. The mother and my father negotiated and now the scope is ours'. Except for a small dent in the tube, the scope is in excellent condition.

Included with the scope was the pier-style tripod, AC drive, 6x30 finder, a couple eyepieces and the end cap for the tube. One would think that the scope came directly to our house from the factory due to it's outstanding condition. We believe the telescope dates back to the early 60's when Criterion telescopes were one of the most popular names on the market. Ads from older Sky & Telescope magazines show that Criterion, Cave and Edmund Scientific were the 'Big 3' prior to the 70's.

The AC drive that was provided with the scope tracks well enough for visual observations once proper polar alignment is achieved, but is less than stellar when a 35mm SLR camera is added for photography. Even with an optional Drive Corrector the scope is still a touch too slow while tracking celestial objects.

The only major concern with the scope, overall, is the fact that it sat for so long (most likely in the range of 20 to 30 years) with the primary and secondary mirrors exposed in the original owner's basement. Both mirrors call for recoating before definate optical evaluation can be done. However, the images given are up to par with what they should be. They are quite similar to views in my 8" Dobsonian.