Newbie wants to help, if possible

[Ed Troy <etroy@aeroconsult.com>]

I subscribed to this list a long time ago, but I have not been following 
it, in detail, because I have been busy with other things. However, my life 
is starting to fee up some time, and I thought I would take this 
opportunity to see if there is anything that I can do to contribute to the 
group's effort. I am an engineering consultant, with expertise in analog 
circuit design, development, and prototyping. I also have some experience 
in software. I run Windows 2000 machines (I was a beta tester for win2k and 
IBM's OS/2), and I also run Linux. I was one class short of a minor in 
astronomy as an undergraduate, so I know a little bit about astronomy, but 
I am just now looking into buying some actual astronomy hardware and 
getting involved in the "hobby". If there was something that I could do to 
advance real science, that would be much more attractive to me than just 
doing casual CCD astronomy.

I live in a "fairly" rural area of Pennsylvania. It used to be very rural, 
but it has been growing as time goes by. In the next few years, I intend to 
move to some place in the country that offers true seclusion and very dark 
skies.

Anyway, I just wanted to say "hi" to the group, and find out if there is 
any area where I can make a solid contribution to the science that the 
group is involved in.

Regards,
Ed