yesterday i got the call that my mount was in. i popped over and picked it up, more excited than a child at christmas i was, but even then i still couldn;t open. i went back home and packed all my gear up and drove out to my parents place in gatton where the skies are fairly black for the most part. once there i finally unpacked the mount and put it all together, mounted the scope, balanced the mount, etc. and let me tell you, i was hard pressed to lift the whole thing when it was built. i had to pull it apart to move it down to the back yard. i also found out that the mount is designed (but not limited to) north pole use. the mask in the polar scope has all the north pole aligning stars! after finally setting up (and a call to astro_south, to make sure the motors were working accordingly, thanks again!), it was time for first light!the day was still cloudy, with patches clearing up every now and then, around dusk it cleared up nicely, but come night time the cloud had rolled in. being diligent, and having a bit of faith, i set the mount up as best i could (really should have done this during the day) and awaited a gap in the cloud through which i could view, and possibly even do a polar alignment, but now, the fun of polar alignment was not to be had this night. there were patches where is cleared right up, the seeing and transparency were excellent in these holes that formed, if only for a 10 minute window! however, through these rare patches i managed to see:The PleiadesMarsAndromedaand Comet Holmeslast night definitely makes me want to purchase a 2x barlow and 4 or 6 mm eyepiece...just for that something extra.... or maybe a zoom eyepiece and 2x barlow... the choices are endless!they were the big highlights of the evening, and all that i can remember of what i viewed, i was stoked that i saw comet holmes on first light, and purely by accident too! there was only one patch of sky clear at the time, really low in the north sky, so i started browsing it and came across the comet.not too bad a viewing for a first light on my first scope.this is only the beginning...
