Officina Stellare RC360 Pro ... has arrived!!

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

My wife Gail and I drove down to Melbourne to Astronomy Alive yesterday to pick up my new arrival.

Here are some happy snaps (Pbase images have the commentary at the bottom (they are small 250k-ish downloads at "Original" size)). There will be plenty more (of course) ... after I recover!

http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/officina_stellare_rc360

Many thanks to Cris at Astronomy Alive for his help and guidance throughout the process since February.

Cheers, Marcus

[gregbradley]

Awesome Marcus.

First light can't be too far away now.

Greg.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Just in time for the cloud to disappear..

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Love it I will be watching the beauty go up with much excitement mate, hope all goes smoothly for you

Oh and sorry I wasn't there to help

Mike
juuust a wee bit jealous

[Kunama]

Nice little "Grab&Go" setup Marcus, I suggest a Vixen Porta Mount II.

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Looks super secure and well packaged. You must own a truck to move that item!

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Did you get that New Telescope smell when you opened the box .

Either way it looks a beauty...can't wait to read your first light reports

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Thanks guys - yes, it's starting to get real now!! It's daunting though - lots to do and test to commission this beast. I fully expect some hurdles, but looking forward to the end result.

So ... I had enough energy left today to open some boxes. The scope is still in the crate but those boxes were calling out to me.

Attached is the teaser. Other photos and commentary on the PBase site. http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/galler...stellare_rc360

[h0ughy (David)]

lovely looking machine, and that grinning owner

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Awesome Scope Marcus......now you can ' adjust ' your signature ....
Will love to see your first ' pic's ' .....watch this space eh....!

[RickS (Rick)]

Congrats, Marcus! Look forward to some images.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Congratulations-lovely scope!

[DavidU (Dave)]

Awesome ! You will do well with that.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

...

Oh and sorry I wasn't there to help

Mike
juuust a wee bit jealous

Jealous??! Nothing to be jealous about mate! Nothing at all ... untill I get it working!! Funny, Gail and I both mentioned your name in unison as we stood in the stifling heat after a very long drive watching a few bobs worth of scope sit there smugly challenging us to lift it out of the car without dropping it. I'm glad Gail is stronger than she looks!!

Apologies in advance to those thinking first light is near, forget it!! Bench testing, mount wiring, mounting, collimation, TPoint modelling and some head scratching will likely take many weeks.

I do plan to make this thread a bit of an ongoing review of everything about this scope and its commissioning ... warts and all. I'll include lots of pics too.

Very much appreciate your interest & good wishes guys!

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Jealous??! Nothing to be jealous about mate! Nothing at all ... untill I get it working!!
Cheers, Marcus

Ah I have faith, you are a rather capable lad ...if it were me.....

[DavidNg (David)]

Wow, congratulation. Are you going to fit that huge scope inside the 2.3m Sirius?

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Excellent Marcus, very cool. Cant wait for 1st light.

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

Way cool Marcus, looking fabulous.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

So is it on the mount yet? itching for those pics....

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Originally Posted by Astroman

So is it on the mount yet? itching for those pics....

Hehe ... yes, we're nearly there! I would like to get it out of the crate first though.