Mr Magoo

The ABS definition of a kit tester, to me, spells out trader, for profit. Those that are regularly buying up equipment and selling it on for profit are denying newcomers and longstanding members the opportunity of obtaining kit at reduced cost.  I think they should be challenged.

Just added C/2023 A3 to Stellarium, my easy goto star atlas

Kit sold on SGL should be sold for the benefit of a members observing experience, not their bank balance. If you don't need it once you've bought it, put it back up for sale on the same site for the same price.

I regularly observe in an isolated dark site, on my own, from dusk till dawn. I've been going to the same spot for eight years. It's around a mile from the nearest road, across fields with the grass cut low to indicate the path (National Trust land).

I pack my telescope (5 inch Intes Mak) , mount, eyepieces, food, water, etc into a 65 litre backpack, carry the tripod in it's case, and set off with a headtorch. 

Once the sun's gone down I've never seen a soul. I tend to think who in their right mind is going to come along to this isolated spot, on a very cold night, unless they have a legitimate interest such as mine, being out in nature and enjoying the star filled sky.

I've jumped out of my skin on a few occasions, usually because a strap has caught the wind and slapped onto my jacket making an abrupt sharp sound. That, and thinking about ghost stories is about as scary as its been.

The best places to go are well away from roads, housing, people. The ones who might rob you wont stray far from their source of income.

I realise I'm fortunate enough in that I'm still fit and able to go where I go, I'm 60 and will do it for as long as I can. The sense of freedom and amazing experiences I've had observing make it all worthwhile.

I have to keep going back to the pictures of the APM binoculars , what a great looking setup with the Panther mount.

Watching Earthlife's ESA video of smaller and smaller particles orbiting in space, makes me think of the way we measure smaller and smaller particles of plastic in the oceans. Pollution all the same.

I noted recently that the ESA Sentinel Satellite 2B underwent a maintenance operation for a collision avoidance manoeuvre. There must be a lot of that going on we don't hear about. As a purely visual observer I've seen a number of events that can only be space debris burning up in our atmosphere, quite spectacular.

https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/web/sentinel/home

Another 3000 satellites is bad news. With more countries inevitably becoming capable of their own space programmes, this trend is likely to get worse. I despair that we have polluted this planet and now seem intent on doing the same to the immediate space around us.

A striking colourful setup, I like it. Picture 2 has so much going on, it's an interesting photograph.

I have only ever used push to mounts, Discmounts DM6 and DM4, and find they satisfy my desire to keep it simple, unautomated. But I can understand the relief at having the time to relax and let the mount track for you. More time to study an object, to scrutinise every last detail at your leisure. The EQ5 is a mount I have often looked at but never got around to purchasing. Could be time to look again, it's nice to lock onto a target and just get lost in space, as you appear to be doing 😎

Very impressive, thanks for the heads up. Like you. I will wait to see if it resulted in a new crater, an interesting piece of investigative work for somebody. Afraid I'm not much of an expert on the Moons surface.

Ouch, that looks quite scary. But not lost. The corrector plate at the front of your Mak can be replaced. I doubt that it will be of much use as it is. I would be contacting Sky-Watcher to see about a replacement. You certainly won't be the first.

I have two Maks, I've dismantled the front end, removed the corrector plate and carried out a few cosmetic changes to the tube. It's not  a difficult task. Collimation takes place at the other end, that can be quite tricky, so you've broken the easy end.

Recently purchased the Fujinon HC 8x42, not had the opportunity to try them at a dark site, but daytime viewing has been excellent.

Pocket Sky Atlas

Jumbo Pocket Sky Atlas

Sky Atlas 2000 and companion

The Cambridge Double Star Atlas 

TriAtlas by José Ramón Torres

I've had these on order from FLO since May 2021, contacted FLO recently and they don't have an ETA. I'm resigned to a further long wait, and as I said to FLO, at least by the time I get them the long dark nights will have returned 🧐

Had this in my calendar for a few weeks, got a heads up here

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/tau-herculid-meteors-may-intense-shower/ 

Fujinon 10x50 SX2's, heavy handheld but worth the effort for scanning the Milky Way. Very good on a monopod or tripod.

I caught the crescent Moon at 2 degrees altitude over a calm flat ocean at 05:15 this morning, with Venus at 4 degrees altitude just off to the East,

and right on cue the ISS passed overhead from the South West going North East, the three made a very nice visual, a just reward for observing from sun down to sun rise.

I missed the moon rising from the ocean because I was packing up,  but I'll set my alarm clock and make a point of catching it tomorrow.

I'm on the South Coast of England, clear skies forecast all night and through to the morning, bit windy though, 20-30mph from the south east.

Thanks for the challenge!

Thanks for the heads up, very cloudy here on the south coast, but a new aspect of the Sun's activity to watch out for in future for me.

I have an Intes Micro M703 Deluxe, one of the last few made (2017) before Intes Micro stopped producing Maksutovs.

It's a joy to use, the optics are superb, absolutely solid build, collimation has held since since it's arrival, plan ahead for observing time and cool down is not an issue.

Also have an Intes Micro M500, that sees a lot of use because it is so easy to set up being small and light. Same build quality as the M703, same great quality views at the eyepiece. 

Both Intes Micro Maksutovs are robust and refined.