I could not help myself!

[wavelandscott]

I've had permission for a while from the Finance Minister to get an ED80 as a quick grab and go scope...but with travel and moving house I've been waiting to pull the trigger.

I figured the ED80 would also be good to go with the Denkmeir Binoviewer I was going to get (and did get while back in the US)...

As I expect this to be used mostly by Cam and Tom (and me) on the moon and some planets I was not enthralled with getting an EQ mount instead preferring an Alt/AZ (I especially had my eye on the vixen porta mount).

So today I wandered down to Bintel to take care of some "Stellar Seat" stuff and to see what an ED80 with the trimmings would cost...

low and behold I saw what I was looking for (see picture I borrowed from their website)...

so I bought it...along with an ED80 and some other trinkets and beads I had been looking for (I had a fair bit of pent up consumerism to expell)

The mount was brand new in store and I took the only one they had...I am sure that they will get some more in soon...you can get more detail from their website about specifications price etc.

It looks and feels nice and solid and the build quality seems nice as well.

While it is very suitable for daytime viewing, I am hopeful at giving it a whirl after dark tonight...

Anyway...as noted in the title, I could not help myself...

Now, what do I tell my wife...:help:

[beren]

Nice one Scott, I'm sure you'll like the 80mmED...the porta mount looks great, remember someone on the forum using a vixen accessory plate to mount a pair of 20x80 binos which looked tempting to get as well

[iceman]

Nice scott! I like the look of that.

[Shawn]

Dont tell her anything, buy her a big bunch of flowers or 40kg of chocolate, Vacuum the house, paint the roof, or somesuch...

Not stupid the fairer sex, and incredebly tolerant...;)

S

[jjjnettie]

Looks very nice Scott.
I'm sure it will get lots of use.

[acropolite]

Looks like a porta mount clone. I have both the ED80 and a porta mount, the porta mount is a delightful piece of equipment to use. If you can buy beg or otherwise procure a pair of the flexy controls off an Az3 mount they will replace the stock adjusters.

[wavelandscott]

I've been playing around in the house with the new mount and came to the same conclusion...

I was able to beg/borrow/steal one flexi-control and it is fabulous...if only I can find another I'll be set....

[wavelandscott]

I had the new mount and scope out tonight at Kulunura and it was a very nice combination...I need to work on the tension a bit to suit my taste but it is a nice sturdy mount for the ED80...I am pleased with them both.

I used my Denkmeir binoviewers for the first time tonight in the ED80 and it performed nicely. Although the views were limited by the size of the scope whaat could be seen was very nice...Orion Nebula, Eta Carina and Saturn is where I spent my time. The views were very comfortable and I found myself spending much more time at the eyepiece pulling our small details...I can't wait to use them in a larger scope!

I used Denkmeir 21 mm eyepieces (gave me 40x) and later shifted to 15 mm TV plossls (adjusting them to 100x in high power mode)...

I can't wait to see the moon!