Peter Drew

I managed to catch this at 5.50pm today, it had produced a significant extension at the time. Ten minutes later the cloud covered it for good.

You need a tube of "engineers blue". Lightly smear some on to one of the mating surfaces and turn the other against it, the blue will transfer on to and reveal the high spots. Be careful doing this to avoid the surfaces binding. I think the amount of material to be removed will be less than can be achieved by re-machining, scraping as used to fit plain bearings is probably the best way forward, just removing the blue high spots.

Words fail me. Buildings and equipment are replaceable but the time, effort and devotion of those who made the original possible can never be.. I'm as gutted as the remains.

It's my belief that manufacturers tighten the mirror clips to prevent the mirror from flopping about during transit from China to wherever. One of the first things to check on the receipt of a new Newtonian.

I managed a few minutes at 6pm. Quite good seeing and unusual to see two parallel filaments. They looked wider spaced than this excellent image but I was using a much higher magnification.

Vixen enthusiasts might like to know that when the 102m achromats first appeared, should you have the misfortune to break your objective, a replacement including the adjustable cell was £445.

A bit late to this, I was about to give Spile's post a +1 and recommend that you didn't, at this stage, try and adjust the height of the secondary as this would likely lead to complications. Never mind, providing you don't break or lose any of the bits, all can be put right.

You can check the amount of power drawn with a meter, if reasonably similar in both directions the balance is good enough.

Sons can be a good long term investment. We have one that sorts out all our IT problems.

Do you need any concrete at all?. A stout metal pipe with three legs and three wheels could be all you need. An EQ6 doesn't suggest a particularly heavy telescope and "rolling around on a patio" doesn't suggest astrophotography.

I think the blue filter is an ITF not the blocking filter. If only blocking filters were that cheap!

I have 17", 20" and 30" Dobsonians on wheels so don't see why not a pier. The wheels need to be a decent size and of course able to take the weight. You will also need some form of adjustable stabilisers.

I spotted it in Ha on Saturday afternoon, lots of activity in the area at the time, should be a good one. No opportunity to view since.

Clean it as soon as possible as the deposit could etch the coatings.

Any age limit?