Pig

I see nearly all of these scopes (pretend dobs) are relying on a baby frac to point them in the right direction

Yes Stu, impressive or what !!!! :-)

Here are mine :-)

The only images I have are in my memory amazing sight to see though and I got my first view of Mercury

Nice one John, It certainly has been a good one today. Good to see you managed a peek I took a small trip to the east coast(ish) to see it as Northants was not looking too promising.

I didn't see the note on the sausages lets hope it is cloudy in boston

Chris, Thank you for the offer it is very kind of you, I will try Boston first purely on the grounds of the time getting home again. However, I may still take you up on the offer, I will send you a PM on here via my iPhone if it is crabby in Boston

Anyone In Peterborough ? it shows sun until 4pm ish......

North of Birmingham is looking good according to forecast below and I was wondering if anyone can confirm this, my car is loaded up and ready. I am also prepared to meet up if anybody wants to, or even collect anyone from around the Northants area for a joint venture. http://www.forecast.co.uk/cloud/

Nice one Dave I was thinking about getting one of these especially after seeing the solar views through Derek's. I also like the red version.

Oli, I have had five or six good sessions under my belt to date and so far I am very impressed I know what you mean about the flying Michael, I was pleasantly surprised with their astro performance and once I got to grips with holding them in the optimum position the IS performed excellently. I am also fortunate enough to live very close to a bird reserve (luckily the feathered variety ) and I spent most of Saturday watching a buzzard and quite a few other species, the suns rays catching the water ripples as the Coots surfaced from their foray was also pretty spectacular Watching aeroplanes is also quite relaxing and the IS is pretty much perfect for tracking them.

Seiko, I have managed quite s few sessions now both during the day and also at night, the views are fantastic and the image stability is nothing short of a game changer The night sky coverage and the colours of stars is nothing short of breath taking. To be honest I was not expecting the view of Jupiter to be anything more than a bright disc accompanied by its moons because of the magnification delivered by the binoculars in comparison to my scopes. However, the moon is fantastic along with clusters etc........ Definitely a winning purchase and a great addition to my kit.

That's great news..... They should arrive today so I can check them out later

LoL yes ......the clouds have more than just obstructing our views to answer for

Cheers Oli....I will let you know how I get on with them.... I thought hard about the 10x42 but the price put me off. I was having difficulty choosing between the 15x50 and the 12x36 I am sure they are both very good but the weight was the scale tipper for me... Ha Ha

Thank you young Gerry, I used a pair at our local dark site about 12 months ago, I was very impressed with the views, and they have been at the back of my mind fore some time. I was also toying with the idea of another refractor but I thought these would make a nice alternative

Well I have hit the button and bought a pair .... should be here tomorrow .... 12 x 36 III

Surely being left a pair of IS binoculars would be nice too

You only live once Dave and you cant take it with you

Dave you would think something like lens covers would be such an easy and cheap niggle to correct I am starting to edge toward the 12 x 36, I am just trying to find a comparison between the mark 2 & 3 version.

Thank you Peter

I am very interested in buying a set of these binoculars but I am not sure which set to get. The 12 x 36 appear to be the best value yet they do not seem to be the preferred choice !!!! Is this because of the jerky action and lack of crispness at the edges ? The 10 x 42 are so expensive compared to the 15 x 50 for some reason, is it just me or is this extra cost because of the " we can get away with it" syndrome. I have read Gary Seronik's review and he states the 10 x 30 were his preferred set and most used, Can any one second this ? My main requirements are for astro and to have a set that are not over heavy ( I don't want to use a support). Luckily I also live within walking distance to a bird nature reserve so this will also be a factor going forward. I can afford any in the IS range but I don't want to pay over the odds just because of popularity (IE 10 x 42)

That's one fantastic set up... when can I come and have a look through it ?

The finder on the Esprit simply slides off and the finder on the SCT and the indeed the SCT objective itself has the caps fitted at all times whilst solar observing No shortcuts here.