Very Excited!

[Kal]

It's been a hectic week for me, but a great one! On wednesday I received a CG-11, about 10 years old but in great condition. On Thursday my wait for an apo came to an end as I took delivery of a new Stellarvue SV90T refractor! I has some false dramas as I initially thought the SV90T had a scratch in the optics but as I found out today it was just a loose particle on the inside of the objective, that came out quite easily.

Anyway, the pic of the CG-11 and it's proud new owner was taken just after delivery when I set it all up at work on the production floor - attracting quite a few inquisitive eyes :) The pic of the refractor on the same mount is from 10 minutes ago in my back yard as I wait for it to get dark :D

New scopes and a clear Friday night......something doesn't feel right! :lol:

[Kal]

Some pics might help....

[Dennis]

Congrats Kal - I'm glad the gear arrives safe and sound. Did you forget to attach the pic?

Cheers

Dennis

[Kal]

Yes, I forgot to attach the pics. Sheesh! You gotta be quick around here! :lol:

[anj026]

Nice new scope Andrew,
Please let us hear your thoughts after observing with it. Great to hear the "scratch" was temporary. I think the SV90 must be one of the best 90mm scopes ever made, would love to try one.

[h0ughy]

great - many happy hour of use ahead!!!

[RB]

Congrats on the new gear Andrew !

:)

[g__day]

Looks Great Andrew!

[netwolf]

Looks great Andrew, cant wait to get a peak threw this.

[EzyStyles]

i love new toys. congrats Kal.

[Phil]

looks like someones in for a rainy weekend.
Phil

[Kal]

Here is a first light report.

It was clear when I set it up but then some cloud hung around like a bad smell after dark so I was hopping through pot holes as they appeared looking at anything I could see. With a low power 24 Panoptic I saw a wonderful open cluster near the crux region. With so much cloud around I have no idea of which one it was though http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

I then pointed the scope to Alpha Crux - a bright double. Pumping up the magnification with a 2.5x powermate and a 9mm nagler gave a nice clean split of this double which I think is about 4 arc-seconds apart?

The clouds then parted directly overhead revealing orion, so I quickly pointed it to that. I've viewed this object so many times with my 10" LX200R over the last couple of years and I will never tire of viewing it - such a wonderful area. I only used the 24 Pan and the 9 nagler and could only make out 4 stars in the trap this time. Always worth a look though!

I breifly pointed it at mars, which was rather boring http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif but I then spotted saturn rising low on the eastern horizon so I turned the scope that way. It was a wonderful sight, and even though it was low on my eastern horizon (towards the city as I live in sydneys western suburbs) I could easily make out titan and rhea.

I wanted to view the moon, but between the clouds and two Gum trees in my front yard I never got a chance.

My power tank then started blinking low battery so I called it an early night, just when it seemed to be clearing up nicely...

Anyway, that was my first light report, and I can't wait until I get it under dark skies - most likely the SPSP will be my first chance to spend some quality time under dark skies with my new aquasitions.

[chris lewis]

Hi Kal - is the SV90 APO mounted via one small camera type screw into the mounting plate or via a 'Vixen' type dovetail that fits securely on to the mounting plate ? Would 2x tube rings be more secure if its the camera type screw ? Thanks for any info.

[Kal]

Hi Chris,

I purchased the Stellarvue TP-6 mounting plate which slides into my G-11 saddle. The clamshell that is supplied with the scope mounts to this via two screws on the base of the clamshell. It is very solid, the clamshell itself is 9cm long around the scope, and it appears to attach to the plate very solidly - the only drawback I see is that I can't piggyback another scope ontop which you can do with rings.