A nice night and morning in Parkes

[skysurfer]

Yesterday evening: cloudy.

I woke op at 02:00 and saw it was clear so I put my telescope outside and watched Jupiter and a few deepskies. M104, Leo Triplet, Omega centauri and Centaurus A (NGC 5139) where the dark dust band is easily discernible.

Between 8 and 9 it was still clear well in daylight, but I looked up Jupiter on which I even could discern the GRS... in daylight ! At 60x is was easier than 128x due to only moderate seeing. And found Saturn and even Fomalhaut, only 19 degrees from the Sun.

[bigjoe]

Sounds like you did well Skysurfer..

Also check out M83 and N3115 and N253 , N3918 ,N2808,N6397 down here; seen detail even in scopes less than 6 SCT in some.

I Like your size scope ..big enough aperture and portable...my 130mm not so...will get this size as a portable setup on alt az to complement my others soon.
bigjoe.

[Tinderboxsky]

A productive session. It will be interesting to see how many objects you bag for this trip.

What portable mount have you brought with you?

[skysurfer]

This one, my 30 yr old Vixen SP mount with RA clock drive and still working excellently. A 4 yr old 11cm ED scope mounted on it.
And when doing AP, I use a plastic water bottle filled with sand as a counterweight and a pair of shoes to get it well balanced ;-)
For visual use I just use a spring and a chain (on the left of the tripod on the photo) to get it somewhat balanced as it is not so critical then.
So no 3kg lump of iron to take in the baggage.

[Tinderboxsky]

I like it. Your tripod legs look the part for travelling. Three piece so that they fold up nice and short?

[Tropo-Bob]

Glad to hear that U are seeing the Southern Sky. Thanks for the report.

[skysurfer]

I built this tripod to replace the original tripod to save one kilo. It are aluminum square profiles and when checked in for a flight, I dismantle it and the legs, crown (on which the mount sits) and the mount are in the checked baggage.
Total weight of tripod + mount + eyepiece box : 10kg.
Weight of OTA + focuser: 4kg.

When I purchased the ED110 in 2015, I replaced the CNC tube rings by DIY aluminum strips and the dew cap by one made from yoga mat. Another two kilos weight loss.

I have done this on several trips since 1997, mostly to the south (South Africa).

When driving to the next AirBNB / guesthouse, I just put the tripod+mount in the back of the (rental) car.



If you buy a new one, get an EQ5 and a 10 or 11cm ED / APO scope, and some DIY-ing and Bunning parts for a few dollars, gives another weight loss.

[bigjoe]

Thanks for the tips on a weight saving portable setup Skysurfer.
bigjoe.