Happy, yes! i thought I would show what I have at the moment and while I have the time. I am looking after my Daughter at the moment (she has chicken Pox) and i just started to have another play with the toys.
The mount is rock solid, and one day I might get another threaded bar made up and put in on the meade tripod I have. But for now I am very happy with it.
For the scope I was able to find a temporary mount block for and adapt it for the mount.
I also bought a new solar filter for it. i had to pad out the filter to fit the scope, but it is a snug fit and doesn't move.
the scope moves extremely well and smoothly, and with the 3 5.4kg weights, an appropriate sized scope could be accomodated
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The version of the synscan is 2.04.
Note the baffeling in the the M500, I beleive it helps the contrast and reduce stray light.
Hey Paul, notice the finder scope!
Still a huge learning curve. More later.