I have grown tired of wrestling with big telescopes and heavy equatorial mounts every time I come home to a clear sky. I remember fondly the many nights I spent with my old Televue Pronto. From a dark sky site I actually saw every Messier object, though I occasionally needed a little help now and then from a nebula filter. A light bucket it was not, but the Pronto gave gorgeous views of the brighter star clusters and nebulae.
As good as it was, the Pronto did have a touch of chromatic when I targeted brighter stars and the edge of the moon. Now that it has been replaced by the
Televue 76, which offers better color correction, it's time to start thinking about another Televue. The fact that a TV-76 can also be used for birding (albeit from a vehicle - too heavy for me to carry) will make me think about this beauty even more.