So I finally lashed out and bought an 8" dobsonian (thanks to Iceinspace trade section) and though it was cloudy last night after I received it... there was a clear sky tonight (clear enough to get some viewing anyway).
I am still somewhat limited in my viewing due to being in the recovery phase of what my eldest step son called being "desexed"... but I did manage to spot a lovely "pulsar"? just down and to the right of the southern cross (I should appologise here for my lack of co-ordinate knowledge... I'm sure I'm going to frustrate people with my lack lustre descriptions). It was down and right of a similarly bright star... but it had a lovely mix of colours... at least it did in my eyepiece (though it was partially obstructed by some leaves from a tree in my backyard so perhaps that split the light and caused the lovely effect).
In my random scannings of the sky I'm also fairly sure I spotted a nebula... my description of where I found this will be even worse... it was somewhat to the left of center of the sky and maybe 1/4 of the way down... I wasn't searching for anything in specific... just seeing what I could find from my seated position and the it popped into view in my largest eyepiece (a 25mm if memory serves)... it was a dark greyish patch with a darker/black wavy center. I had a quick jump on Stelarium but as I hadn't really noted it's spot in the sky and with my currently minimal knowledge of object positions in the sky I can't really help much here... but... for a first grab and go scan of the sky with the new Dob... I'm pretty pleased. I should also note that the sky was pretty washed out when I was viewing which was around 10/10:30pm. It seems I have more light pollution here than I first figured... or maybe it was just a rough night. Will have to find a planet or two next time... if my snip snip recovery allows more detailed searching
)
Then... to try some afocal snaps... maybe stick my video camera to the eyepiece and see what I can manage.
I should also grab the Barlow from my inherited old Tasco Refractor... there is so much to do and so much gazing to look forward to
Thanks everyone for their advice and for Iceinspace in general for being a great resource and for being full of people who are helpful and kind... can be rare online
Ouch ! 'Desexed' . 
