Alan White

ED103s, f7.8. 795mm fl. Very nice indeed. Made for that setting.

Very nice Mike, sadly it was not for me yesterday. I so wanted to see Mercury and Venus but clouds and trees conspired against me yesterday.

It got first 'night' yesterday, sadly clouded out while observing, but got a look at a number of the obvious doubles. All that I can say is that the whole experience is transformed for the better. Set up feels like its fixed to a rock, any shake from focusing goes in <.5 second or less if at all at very high power. All I can say is if you are considering a pier, have the space and can afford to do so, go for it 👍

I hope so, but judging by tonight not quite. The observing area is lower than next door, so blocks a little bit at times, I will try my best.

Sadly missed it as view blocked by a big oak next door. I will have a wander out for exercise and see if I can spot tomorrow.

The problem with is x better than y is that my perceived better may not be the same as your one. With eyepieces that is very true. What you buy as you spend more is a wider view and that comes with varying problems. A Plossl is not just a Plossl, it depends on whose it is and when it was made. A Starguider is a branding name not a type of eyepiece as well. Have a good search and each opinion always has a counter opinion to match. So until you try with your own eye, then you will not know, as only you can answer which is better for you.

Very sorry to read of this vandalism Nigella, you have my heartfelt sympathies on this. As others have said, Fibreglass is very repairable with some thought and care. It can be repaired very well and made to not look bodged if some time and care is taken. I know this first hand, as I have repaired a number of boats and kayaks over the years. A line quoted on 'The Bluebird' rebuild after it was recovered from Coniston, 'It Will Fix' and it has. Oddly as Peter Drew said, as so very annoyed I feel with perpetrators of these crimes, oddly I do feel some sorrow for them being so desperate to need to do such a thing in the first place.

I rather like the idea of an abseiling Snail. Go Ninja Snail 🐚

@John is that T-Rex encoder fitted?

Nice image, particularly the movement one, I like that a lot. I am being told it has broken up more since you imaged it and its dimming again.

A nice new mount and then a 130mm Frac would top it off even more though 😉, I can but hope.

That does look a very well built Monocular John. I have been tempted by them before, nearly went for one at FLO on offer a while back. One day perhaps I might treat myself.

No plan as of yet, but I certainly will very soon.

Well the final bolt down and first light, albeit WL and a blank disc in poor seeing 😁 Biggest delay today was finding an M10 nut in my vast collection of M6 and M8 nuts! Clearly the cover is temporary, it's a rubble sack covered by a stuff sack, tied closed with an old bike inner tube......needs must. But as I need to decide on the final mount, no big spend ona cover until I know what I will be covering.

I should add that my Nagler 3-6 has allowed me to start to see some marking in Venus atmosphere, taken 2-3 years but it shows it, so honed observing skills and a fine eyepiece combined.

Yep, typos, the bain of my life.

Interesting question Craig and had me looking at my books. Not a mention in the 3 volumes of Luna Cognita, which is disappointing. Its on the edge of two maps in 21st Century Atlas of the Moon, so again missed. Observing The Moon, Gerald North has its own pages, hurrah we say, The peak in Albategnius is thought older than the smaller crater Klein in the NE corner. So the peak is quite old, but sadly no mention of the craterlet at the peak. Book written in 2000, so did Mr North not see a craterlet or did it get edited out?? My gut feeling is that it is a lucky impact crater.

The one eyepiece that remains constant in my case is my 3-6 zoom, it just does what it says on the tin and does it very well indeed, so well it feels most unthreatened. I did have to chuckle reading Matthews review, which is as well written as normal and very informative. The chuckle came from the ‘Naked Astronomy’, I suppose you were in the desert and darkness after all, so whatever floats your boat fella 😂

Hi Ed, yes stability first and yes easy clearance for the second reason. It will obviously hold a nice larger scope in years to come too.

Just because it's in the picture Jeremy, does not prove it was used now? One thing I always try and do is get things level, I was a building services engineer for years, so things had to be tidy, clean, painted and straight. I Apprenticed with my dear Dad and a slap on the head soon got me focused on using a level correctly. Dad, like my old teacher gave up on me and wood though......'if he could just see me now' sounds like a song.

Amazing my photoshop skills.... The nail holding the bubble straight in the level painted out well 🤣

Well the light is fitted in the Khazi. A nice eyelid bulkhead lamp so the light only shine into and not directly out. Also fitted a natty LED RGB bulb, that has a remote and a memory so when power is put back on the last colour and brightness is used again. I await darkness to fall to see how dim the dimmest setting is. Also I drilled the bolt holes for the pier and had a trial fit. The ground has not suddenly sunken to the right, dodgy camera operation!! Just edited this in, its North pin is pointing Magnetic North. And then the big drill with mys trusty SDS and a lot of vacuum and brush and vacuum and brush to clean the holes after. Then the oh my, how does this gunk work few minutes and then the big and brave chemical into the holes and hope moment. It clearly sets fast, the test bit on my shirt (that was deliberate of course), has set like the proverbial on a blanket. So here it is, sits quite level too, must be the floating off of the cement I did. And just to show how level, well a picture of a level of course! So I await the cure of chemical fixings and then will bolt down and fit the alt az mount. It will have my Sabre for now for the summer. Now need to sell off some kit and work out how to safely sell the dob in the present times, which may be a no for the foreseeable. Anyway a decent update, very happy for now and relieved it's nearly done 😁

I think we should add to @John this and other comments: When you are a seasoned observer and have learned to observe then and only then...... Its the usual thing with optical quality. Most of the time there is little in it but differences start to show when the conditions are good and when you are going for challenging targets.

That does look a very nice if expensive light. I have one of the Black Diamond Cosmo 25 lumens jobbies, works well, but when tired you can switch it white by mistake! Makes that Vixen jobbie look quite worthy.

Happy not 69th Birthday Francis. Nice that you got out last night I presume.