L8-Nite

We have two, a Half / Hitch Mk-2 with Sky Commander which is the preferred mount for our Intes-Micro M-500, and a versatile Zeiss equatorial T-Mount which quickly adjusts to Alt-Azimuth configuration. .

Both last night and tonight showed clear skies through the night here at home, but Venus disappeared into the clouds as my scope came to ambient. ☹️

I have it penciled in also, and wishing clear skies and a Happy New Year to everyone.

Interesting ! Thanks for posting.

Just caught up on recordings and enjoyed the episode. Not mentioned, but it appeared that they also flocked the inside of the wood tube.

If higher magnification is not an absolute requirement, consider looking for a Zeiss " 6x20B " on the used market; I paid much less than your budget and am confident you would not be disappointed. The resolution is superb, and its diminutive size of one inch by four inches makes carrying it in a pocket barely noticeable. Edit: I consider it a lifetime keeper.

For 2" eyepieces, a Gaviscon cap fits "perfectly"; and being white makes finding it in the dark easy.

Its a finely made metrology stand which most likely came from the Zeiss factory works. A great help when a third hand is needed for micrometer measurements and other inspection uses. I stumbled upon this on ebay in a listing which was unrelated to Zeiss.

I love Zeiss ! .

Hello, and welcome from me too. You have found a great forum for the hobby.

Hello from South Wales, and welcome to SGL ! here as usual.

Thanks, but no commission required, just doing my good deed for today.

The great thing about older books is that you are not besieged with advertising. Another good book worth looking for by James Murden is " Astronomy with a Small Telescope ".

I had to negotiate a jungle of bubble wrap too.

A couple of Skywatcher eyepieces for the 150P dob I bought the other day. A Super 10 long eye relief, and a Super 20 wide angle long eye relief.

Hi Steve, Upahill & Choo_choo_baloo, The South Wales Group which meets at the Fox Hunters car park has been quiet for awhile, but the site is a good one. For most of us its a long drive though, and many times I've made the 60+ mile round trip only to be disappointed, along with others, by the failed forecasts. Got to say quite honestly, the advanced scheduling of meets up at the site seems pointless considering the fluctuations in the UK weather, and I've found posting short notice meets also to be challenging based on the unreliability of even the "area specific" Astronomy forecasts. If anyone is near Blaenavon, it would be great if you could post in the early evening the actual weather conditions as you see it for those of us watching SGL. I think this would give a great boost to help the South Wales Group to recover from Astronomical hibernation. Although the South Wales group hasn't been active for some time, it would be nice to catch up with familiar faces and meet some new observers. Glad to see your back Steve. Cheers Everyone !

It weighs in at 34.8 lbs.

Not from the postman, but I received a photo and message from my Niece that there was a telescope for sale at the "Shed" in the local recycling centre. I don't need another scope, but I jumped in the van to go and have a look; it followed me home. Its a 150P and all that was missing were the eyepieces and the knob for manual tracking. EDIT: My mistake, there is no provision for attaching a manual control knob for tracking, must be an addition on new models. The few marks on the scope and base were actually glue residue from stickers I would think, and they easily cleaned off with a rag soaked in "Goo Gone". .

That's good to know, as I've been considering selling my Questar 7.

It would be my 89mm Mak, because its the most portable user friendly scope I have for the intermittent opportunities to observe here in the UK.

Happy Birthday Gina.

I still have a book dedicated to the Apollo 11 landing by the Gulf Oil Company which my parents bought for for me in 1969. Its in storage so I can't access it for a photo today, however, I do have a tangible piece of of Apollo 11 history which I received from a fellow trap shooter, hunting buddy & great friend who was a public relations officer for Nasa at the time. After the astronauts returned, metal from the spacecrafts was melted and Medallions made, which I understand were to be given to those who had made a significant contribution to the success of the mission. I am grateful that Lou chose me to be the caretaker of his medallion, and when the time comes, to pass it on to a worthy recipient. .

Several years ago I acquired a two volume, or two part set of books titled ....... " A Picture Book Of Evolution " - Dennis Hird ( dated 1906 ) I later discovered that in Part 1 there were 49 pages dedicated to Astronomy with numerous illustrations. An interesting read.

I find the age profile to be mainly mature and older adults in my encounters with other observers. For me this has been mostly a go it alone hobby which started long before the internet.

Wonderful !