Matthew

From my own experience collimation was surprisingly close and only needed slight adjustment for a evening's observing after storage. For both scopes I did buy the astrozap  light shroud but when I first had the 300p I 'acquired' some packing foam from work (similar to camping mat foam just a bit wider) and lashed it on with some black insulation tape. The one advantage I found the flextube had over solid tube Newtonians was how easy it was to flock.  

Hi Ben, another option worth considering is the 250p flextube from Skywatcher.I have seen them in the flesh and size wise they are very manageable and with the collapsing ota they don't take up too much space. I have owned the 300p and 400p and found them both very good scopes and there's always a couple for sale on the second hand market.

I was out this evening John with a 11" SCT, but Saturn is a little low for me to observe in any detail from home so unfortunately I cant help you confirm or deny Mimas. It has always  been my favourite celestial object and I am going to a nice dark site Tuesday that will give me the chance to observe it properly, thanks for posting your experience.

I cant make any promises, but if I am free I will pop in for a cuppa 

This is a really good thread,i intend to get one for my C14,when you include that power mate Paz ,it looks like something you could build at Galaxy's Edge 🙂 

Hi rob it’s always great to to hear and share other people’s opinions And experiences on what they do During what is a more challenging  time of the year for many of the reasons mentioned above. But as the spring summer progressed I’ve alway concentrated on brighter objects , the moon and most of the brighter clusters like m13 or if the conditions were poor  I’d spend a evening with Bino’s looking for objects like the ‘ coat hanger ‘.Ive not been very active the last couple of years myself but last going off I used to switch to solar observing at this time of year ,I used to own a Coronado PST and i spent hours observing the sun ( and sunburn is far easier to treat than frostbite 😀).

SW4000 goto and patio...:-)

Oooo thats a familiar dob.

Knowing how short ( ) you are Mathew. That looks small..........not. What a beast that is

It is a monster Steve!.Ive not had a proper first light yet but i bet it weighs best part of 200kg !

Heres my 20" f 4.7 surrier truss dob.

Nice set of pictures Grahame,the sunset image is stunning.

Such sad news,certainly the end of an era but what a legacy to leave behind to us all.R.I.P Sir Patrick

I will be at the site from around 8 30pm

Aaaaaaaaaa Bob!,this year has gone so quickly!.It would be great if you could attend one of the sessions ( i bet that 18" dob is something else ),im hoping to attend one of the observing sessions with CAS next month,i will let you know which one.

Hi Bob the next observing session is this coming saturday at Blaenavon,the co-ordinates are within the frst post of this thread.I normaly try to arrange a meet every few weeks so just keep a eye for the dates in the South Wales Group,i look forward to meeting you at one of the sessions

Hi Sam welcome to the group,the observing sessions are open to everyone and I look forward to seeing you there.

They are both excellent eyepieces Orlander,last night was the first chance ive had to use them both and they performed very well.In my scope the 30mm gives me 52x magnification and a true field of 1.5 degree,so its superb for finding objects i was amazed how much of the sky you could see through it.Its hard to say which will get used more only time will tell.

My case is nearly finished im waiting for the 11mm and 6.7mm 82 degree F.O.V to arrive but heres where i am at the moment

Nice cases gents well done,ive got a few more coming this week so when they arrive i will post a picture of my finished case.

Amazing looks like I've missed a good night although I'm confused to what the temp was like stu had got beach ware on and matt has what looks like headware from some tribe high up in the andies lol

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

It was suprisingly chilly Steve,fair play to Stu he stuck it out but i have a sneaky feeling he might have been a little cold:).Cracking photos gents.It is a bit weird observing off steps ( especially when your changing a £500 eyepiece ).

26th May 2012,( left to right ),Me,Mal and David

I dont mind Steve,i should have my copy of photoshop shortly so i can edit my pictures then.

Saturday 12th May

From left to right

Gareth,Mal,Ant,Lenny,Steve,Gordon,Mike,(Me),Pete

Hi Steve,

OK, I'll keep you in mind. I don't fancy hiking though, I'd rather drive there.

Yeah, the area sure looks good as far as minimum light polution goes.

You can count me in too.

I will get it sorted Steve.

I forgot names Helen,for some reason i cant edit my post now