DaveS

And I can *still* get it wrong 😆, Buy twice more like.

Fortunately I have a large area of stone patio just outside the side door of the garage, but I don't want to get gunk on it. Still have a few boxes left from my move that I can put down. Forecast looks reasonable for Friday. Will give me time to cut some of the uprights as well. I can see another order for timber coming up.

No mauling from me, even though I've an ODK12 waiting for an obsy to be built (Long and depressing story).

As soon as we get a dry spell during the day (Yeah, right) I'll slap a couple of coats of "Creocoat" on the timbers. Put down some cardboard to protect the ground first though.

I may just do that Dave. Done it before with "Hypertufa" on a sink to make a little alpine trough. *Reminds self: There's a sink outside the conservatory that I could turn into an alpine trough.

No, it's a stone facing / containment (To fit in with the area) with concrete infill. As it's on a diagonal relative to the rest of the garden the small triangles of grass that would have been left will be replaced with paving slabs. I'm making the sole plate ahead of time so it can be used as a template for the build, to make sure the top is level and the size is as spec'd, 2.2 m square x 0.5m high. It will then get bolted down and the rest of the structure assembled on it. If it had just been a stark concrete block I might have done it myself, but my bricklaying "skills" are pretty meagre, and certainly not up to stonework. Edit: This is the platform that was built earlier, the obsy platform will be similar, but stone all round

In my case that would be B.I.Y, Bodge It Yourself lol.

OK, work has commenced (Well, sort of...) After making some trial cuts in odd pieces of wood I had hanging around I found the laser line is about 15 mm or so away from the true cut, and it looks to be out of square with the blade so the distance depends on the thickness of the wood being cut. Damn Chinese rubbish. Guess you get what you pay for. Oh, and the dust extraction vac is either equally rubbish or the extraction duct isn't clear as I had more sawdust on the floor and machine than went into the vac. More bother. At least the ear defenders cut the noise to an acceptable level. Never mind, onwards and upwards, managed to cut the four base plates out of the 120 x 45 mm C24 stock. going to have lunch now, will think about cutting the uprights later. The platform is now delayed AGAIN, scheduled for the 25th, due to the weather causing delays in other scheduled work. Will this obsy ever get built? Watch this space.

I bought my mobile 'phone from the USA and had to pay the customs VAT before it could be released. I'd already worked out how much it would cost me. Not sure about the handling fee, as it was all done through the carrier (DHL), I'd have to dig out my invoices.

You'll get stung for VAT. Not sure about import duties, hopefully none on a filter, but worth checking.

There was a case a few weeks ago, in Sussex I think, where a woman was deliberately trampled to death by a herd of cows. This was targeted, not accidental. Although she didn't have a dog, they had been spooked the day before by someone walking theirs. My view is that in these cases the entire herd, including calves should be culled to remove the genes from the pool.

I have read that recent breeding for maximum milk yield has done something to cows making them more aggressive. In one report the farmer said that he would only allow his stockman and himself into the field(s) where the heard was. If true this calls into question whether we are heading in the wrong direction with breeding. Going all out for maximum yield at all costs.

Dome looks a bit tatty. Possibly a very early Pulsar? Barge pole comes to mind.

+1 for AstroArt, now in V7 and vastly improved from the V5 I was using. I use it for everything from stacking onwards, but then I'm a lazy cheapskate.

+1 for C du C

I think that's a case for "Trades Description" or even "Sale of Goods" acts.

That Tak Epsilon really is something else, isn't it. Frustrating when kit doesn't work as it should, don't suppose the FW is under guarantee.

When I bought my set of Astrodons they were "only" £385 each, and I thought that was painful. No way would I buy even one now. I do have a set of the Baader Ultra-Narrow on order but waiting for the 2" HII one, got the [SII] and [OIII] waiting to go in the wheel.

As narrow as you can afford, though Astrodons have now gone beyond being meerley silly money. Here Perhaps the Baader 4.5 nm "Ultra narrow band" might be worth a pop?

Ooh, that's really rather good for such a short integration time on a target with low surface brightness. M33 is harder than people think. Just shows how good your sky is now. Only thing I'd do is rotate the camera by 90 deg, but you know that already.

Check my sig.

ASA DDM85 Basic. No longer made unfortunately, @Datalord and I got the last two available, mine was ex-demo. Direct Drive, encoder guided with 45 kg payload for imaging (All ASA payloads are quoted for imaging), and utterly wonderful. I already use the smaller DDM60 for carrying my TS 130 f/7 Apo.

Had a look at some basic electric hoists, not too horrible prices. My back is still complaining about yesterday so will be taking things easy today. I think it was getting the whole crate from my back gate into the conservatory that did it in. Unfortunately the TNT man was on a tight schedule so only had time to help me get it from the van to the gate.

Ha, yes I've seen that. Still going to investigate hoists though. I've seen some up that long river place that aren't to bad, will come in cheaper than hiring an engine hoist and I can keep it in the obsy. ASA mounts have no axis brakes so they swing freely. With counterweights on and no 'scope the dovetail will be pointing to Polaris.

Could have been worse, could have been 9 months 😆. OOUK have never been known for keeping to delivery schedules, so I just thought " It'll come when it comes" and here it is. TBH I've had delays in other parts of the plan, the obsy platform has been put back at least twice, now to the 25th Nov due to the weather, and I'm *still* waiting for Baader to deliver a 2" H-alpha ultra narrow band filter to FLO so they can send it on to me. Ah well, nothing worthwhile was ever easy.