Good report Doug!
Nice work on the doubles! I imaged Mars last night at about 12:30pm (UT+11) with my little scope, so it's probably not much different to what you were looking at (fuzzy & all!) - I've attached it as a matter of interest.
Thanks for that information too Les, on splitting Sirius. I know that my smallest EP plus Barlow (necessary to get anywhere near sufficient magnification) would completely kill any star ranging towards mag 9, let alone any other limiting factors. So I take your point that large aperture is required as a starting point. Have you ever split Procyon?
Cheers -