I went out again last night (had the whole place to myself) and as promised took some more pics. Without the other DAGs I had to find things for myself with a little help from Stellarium at the beginning and a star wheel later.
Below are pics of the scope about to be transported. Plenty of room in a soft-roader or similar.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1807.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1808.jpg
Here are some pics before the shroud goes up. Some of them a bit arty with the sunset etc. My first object for the evening was Mercury before it set but with the smoke haze and atmospheric conditions at that time of day the most I could see was a shimmering brown and white orb.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1810.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1814.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1813.jpg
Here is another with shy old me added for scale. As you can see the bad-boy was made for someone like me.
I don't think I would have gone much bigger.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1817.jpg
Below is a pic of my EP and accessories case. Note how I've left some room for future new arrivals.
Might be interested in a 6mm TV Ethos for planetary viewing but still happy to research for the moment (and save up some $$$).
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/v...f/SAM_1818.jpg
As for the viewing last night, besides Mercury, I checked out most of the objects I'd seen earlier including Saturn. Since the Lagoon Nebular was close by I checked it out soon after the Trifid. I was surprised how quickly I found it. Found the jewel box also as quick. Whilst I was busy just traveling the Milky Way, Stellarium was busy draining my computer battery. But this gave me an opportunity to use the star wheel and familiarize myself with a few constellations. That's easier said than done when you have so many stars to choose from. However I did seek out and find M13 in Hercules so a little victory there. Things started to get a bit dewey at about midnight and I decided to call it a night. The Telrad was the main thing to fog up but the scope mirrors were still good. Another benefit of the shroud I imagine.
Anyway, some lunar viewing from home in the coming weeks before I get back out there and try and find the Vesta asteroid.