Just an update. Bintel somehow managed to deliver to Brisbane overnight - not a bad effort at all. Glad I got the 8" instead of 10" .. even this size is big enough for a beginner!
I'm just having some difficulty easily taking it outside and back in (even if I decide to put wheels on it, it will only get me halfway outside). Ideally I'd like to be able to take the setup in two parts - first the mount, then the OTA - and reassemble once outside.
Unfortunately the two springs keeping the OTA on the Dobsonian mount have incredibly high tension - making it quite difficult (and somewhat dangerous on the fingers) to attach/detach frequently and quickly.
I don't suppose anyone has a simple solution for this? Get a different spring? Or use a large metal ring to bridge the existing spring with the mount more easily without having to extend the spring as far?
(Also it looks to be cloudy and/or thunderstormy for another 6 days
- saw a glimpse of Venus through the finderscope and by the time I went to have my very first look through the main eyepiece - clouds!)