No time to be sleeping

[iPeace]

I awoke to an insistent prodding, not from the other side of the bed as is the customary summons to stop snoring, but from my own bedside. Moose, my TV-60, had apparently walked over on his carbon tripod and was poking me with his SkySurfer.

For the shortest of instants, I pondered how odd it is that such things tend to happen when no one else is around or awake, but was interrupted by what Moose had to say. "There are those who regard me as little more than half a pair of binoculars - or perhaps even less - but you didn't bring me along to adorn your hotel room. There are memories to be made outside."

It hadn't been much of a year for stargazing so far - clouds - so to step out on a second-floor balcony at 2 AM clad in undergarments with my observing setup in one hand and welcome the coolness of the slight breeze under a clear sky was, well, special. And what a sky.

From the West, where Lyra was in descent with Cygnus in tow, to the East, where Orion was rising from the sea, it was all there. For me, there had never been so much to see all at once. No need or inclination to seek out new targets; the favorites would do nicely.

Ah, to gaze my fill of the Pleiades - without vital bits freezing off! And the Hyades as well. And the M-thirty-somethings in Auriga. To trawl through Perseus up to the Double Cluster - and the Muscle Man. To visit with E.T. in Cassiopeia. Then back down to Orion - head, belt and sword. And then, why not back over to Cygnus?

And all in extreme comfort. Not only is this setup as close as makes no difference to being weightless, it also instantly adjusts to the exact desired height. No craning, crouching or straining - it's all about the observer, without compromise.

With no faff at all, to enjoy so much in so little time hardly seems fair. Hopefully, we'll have a few more nights like this before end of hols.

Grab-and-go. No hotel room is complete without it.

[Dave S]

Love the set up.

Does it double as an anti-aircraft weapon?

Dave...

[Stargazer McCabe]

Sounds like the Ouzo has been pretty good too...

[iPeace]

8 hours ago, Stargazer McCabe said:

Sounds like the Ouzo has been pretty good too...

No need to get all sceptical. 

In fact, it's happened again, and I am out on the balcony in my Gent's Best enjoying my first ever truly decent view of M41.

[Pig]

Excellent ? It's surprising just how useful a little potrable set up can be, I had the very same experience a couple of weeks back only it was the dogs that woke me and not a moose ?

[PaulB]

I was reading this with a smile on my face. The thought of the TV 60 trotting over and proding you. Made me laugh.

It is a nice report. I hope you have more observing sessions with Moose.

[alanjgreen]

Nice report. Looks like a great portable setup!

i intend to put the borg89 out in similar configuration soonish.

what tripod are you using so I can look up how much load capacity it has?

Enjoy the rest of your hols.

Alan

[iPeace]

12 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

Nice report. Looks like a great portable setup!

i intend to put the borg89 out in similar configuration soonish.

what tripod are you using so I can look up how much load capacity it has?

Enjoy the rest of your hols.

Alan

Tripod is a Sirui N-3203X. The Dog's Globulars.

Head is a Gitzo GH2720QR. Also highly recommended.

Thanks!