DRT

It has taken a while to gather all of the components together but I think my travel kit is now complete... I still have some work to do on the cases so that they accommodate all of the bits but the kit comprises the following... Celestron C5 Tele Vue-60 Tele-Optic GR-2 Mini Giro Tele Vue TelePod Tripod Tele Vue 32mm Plossl, 24mm, 19mm & 15mm Panoptic and 2.5x Powermate Both scopes will also be "solar-ready" by adding a Baader film filter to the C5 and my Quark to the TV-60 I managed a quick look at the Moon tonight before it disappeared behind the cloud and I'm very please with how this has turned out

This arrived this morning from Telescope House and will form part of my travel kit...

I think I seen that picture in an email recently

Indeed. I think a line has to be drawn under the "Show us your..." genre of threads before we breach the bounds of common decency

I have a black one on my 120ED and have often thought of trying to swap it for a red one

You've got to love those red Moonlites!

Absolutely! Even from my short look at the Moon at low mag I can tell that this beasty doesn't like the wind! I just tweaked the collimation, which was dead easy and hadn't gone off to much as a result of its trip over the Pennines. Just need it to stay clear now, although I don't think I'll be out long given how fast the temperature is dropping

My new OO UK 6" F11 Dob which I collected from @Moonshane yesterday I've just had a quick look at the Moon to line up the finder and it looks great so far!

I have used Teleskop Service a number of times and I must say they are consistently efficient at getting stuff to you quickly. After a hiccup with a UK retailer I ordered a Tele Optic Giro GR-2 Mini late on Christmas Eve and it was delivered this morning. Communication of progress of the order and tracking updates was excellent. Highly recommended if you need stuff in a hurry and their range of stock for immediate despatch is extremely impressive.

Santa had a bit of a nightmare delivering my present this year but one of his little helpers just turned up with this...

Was it dressed in Santa red?

My only delivery since Christmas was these... They will help me align the TV60 that is now attached as a finder to my VX12

Thanks, John

Very interesting, John. I haven't seen that style of mounting before. I wonder if anyone still makes them?

That's a very interesting secondary mount, @John. Was that fitted by OOUK or is it your own creation? What is the effect on the star images?

Perhaps I can kick things off with my VX12 with a rather nice frac finder ?

I've just checked the long term forecast. Apparently there is a clear night expected over Cambridge just after Christmas 2017

Garry must have been a very good boy this year!!!! That looks excellent - congratulations.

It has taken much longer than expected but having sold my Maxi-finder to Kerry I have now completed the upgrade by attaching my Tele Vue 60 with an Everbrite diagonal and a Panoptic 24mm as a finder for my OO UK VX12 The reason for the delay is that the most effective way to attach it was to order a 3" balance bar direct from Tele Vue which took a while to come and even longer to get over the price The movement allowed by the balance bar plus the adjustment in the sliding dew shield of the TV60 will also give me some great options for balancing the dob when I switch eyepieces. I have just tested it out and I think it will be excellent. It gives me a lovely 4.3 degree FOV and a proper apo rich-field view to combine with the delights of the VX12

That's a great buy, Chris. The SW ED100 usually sells for about £100 more than that second hand, normally minus a couple of bits and bobs, and it doesn't have the fancy coatings. Now you just need a Moonlite focuser and you're sorted

Just looped back a page and now get the joke, Chris - nice scope, and great to see you've bought two in a week

Do I detect a little irony in your post, Mr Lock? Looking forward to the pictures

Perhaps we need to re-name Steve's Dob as Trigger...

I hope you've kept some of that good weather for me - heading for Loch Rannoch in an hour for a week of peace and quiet before the onslaught of Christmas Unfortunately I will only have my TV60 and IS Bins with me due to space restrictions Cheers

That looks quite splendid, Kerry Have you managed to find some clear sky to point it at yet?