[ColHut (Colin)]

I was happily watching Jupiter drift pass when I noticed that the dob was getting springy. Very odd but it was hard to move and when nudged it nudged back. It was so cold that I took it inside for a look and I was suprised to see that the trunions were flexing and twisting on the dob. An inspection showed that each trunion was held on by two phillips' head bolts secured on the inside of the tube by a normal nut. Even as tall as I am I could not hold the nut with a spanner from the top (I laid the dob down to avoid death by gravity) and use a screwdriver. Thus the mirror cell had to come out which it did easilly and I could get to the pesky nuts from the short end. It did not take long but I discovered that the mirror cell only goes back in, in one position on the tube in my case to allow for the seam on the tube. If this problem recurrs I will loctite them. The alignment had not gone off which was a bonus when I checked with the Cheshire. Next stop some of those chair sliders for the base!