iPeace

2 or 3 half litre water bottles is the ticket. Takes the shakes right out, even at full leg extension.

I'm an addict; I've got three. Every scope should own one, and my fracs all do.

Oh yes. Always capped when not in use.

Here's one.

May well be a good match.

Never mind. Who knows how long yours was just lying around there? Mine will be freshly baked. Seriously though, it will only be a couple of days, no inconvenience at all.

As always, @James at @FLO is keeping me well informed - the 5mm will soon join the gang to complete the Short Set.

I probably don't really need the 3.5 XW for the newt - 342x is a lot for my skies. But it completes the XW Short Set and I thought: what the Herschel...

Like, Ethos 3.7?

Nice one! My own 5mm is back-ordered, 7mm and 3.5mm should arrive tomorrow.

I'm sure you'll get it sorted in due course, Steve. All the more interesting.

Meanwhile...Steve, our resident OP, has a beautiful new Tak and an unexpectedly ideal way to bino-view with it! Looking forward to reports once the mounting bits are sorted.

Here's what I've got on the Amici prisms. The well-known 1.25" ClickLock adapters have a lesser-known feature: an inner T2 thread. With the spacer ring between it and the diagonal, there's no way an eyepiece will touch the prism. Apparently the combination also provides the required focus travel for use with the Borg 71FL. So the plan is to get a T2 BBHS mirror (or T2 prism) and configure it just like this for the Borg...in case you're wondering, my commitment to correct-image observing is a bit shakey as of late.

That's what they all say - and now, I'm inclined to agree... ...I'm likely to get a Baader T2 BBHS mirror (or prism; haven't decided) for similar reasons. I also use Baader T2 Amici prisms, and the T2 connectivity means I can put a 2" nose on them to fit the TV or FT focusers and put a bit of spacing (T2 spacer rings) on the eyepiece side to help reach focus. I had done the latter to prevent long-nosed eyepieces from hitting the prism; only discovered the focus benefit when I tried a 1.25" TV Everbrite diagonal in the Borg 71FL and it wouldn't reach focus...apparently the Borg's 2" FTF doesn't have a long enough drawtube to use a 'regular' 1.25" diagonal! I did have a 2" 35mm extension tube in the spares box, so this works with the Tak prism as well, but the OCD banshee is screaming for a neater solution. I can always use the Tak prism in the TV-60; that's native 1.25" only.

The unstoppable onwards march of the United Front For Japanese Eye Relief continues... This mint specimen arrived in perfect condition, something that simply could not and would not have happened without the most considerate and selfless support of @Saganite A true gent if there ever was one. My grateful thanks and appreciation are for Steve.

Wow. I think I should have done this long ago.

...and another one.

Here's one of those impulse buys that's been a long time coming...

Having done a lot of tedious shopping before I settled on the Sirui, I do concur with this; you've only got slivers left to shave off. Maybe 700g. Unless you'll be walking the length of Oz, you may not notice. The only further enticements I see on offer are (marginally) improved stability (perhaps) and (somewhat) smoother operation (the Gitzo head). You'd lose any pride you feel in slumming it without such premium nonsense. If it passes the John H. Backyard Test, well...

Since I'm very pleased with my Sirui N-3203X - very nice, good value - my first thought for John's case was something from that line. Since his total setup weight is currently 4kg, of which 2.5kg is tripod and head, the optical assembly is pretty close to weightless, so a tripod rated for 15kg should do pretty well. The N-2204X is rated as such, and my local vendor states its own weight as 1.3kg. However...further searching on the interwebs shows the weight a bit more according to Sirui: http://www.sirui.eu/en/products/tripods/nx-series/ ...1.48kg. Not sure what to think at this point. My own N-3203X is listed there as 1.82kg, but no longer available from my vendor so I can't compare. I can weigh it separately and more accurately when I get back home; perhaps the weights listed by Sirui include the case, etc.

Let me get back to you, must away.

Doing pretty well in the weight department, then. I'll take some exact weights when I get back home and see.