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I did not get a chance to wait for Saturn but I had a good look at Mars on the 19th.
I had been at the grand prix all day but seeing a set of Bobs Knobs had turned up for my scope and I wanted to set them up (In a C9.25, I tried the suggested one screw at a time method to fit them but it was a bust, as soon as I removed an original one the mirror flopped around in the tube and I had to remove the secondary to be able to get the new one in thankfully with the trifid secondary, removing it is easy) That meant that my collimation was a complete guess. Oddly enough, my complete guess with the secondary sitting on the bench was better than I have had it before when tring it in the dark and a tiny tweak saw it pretty much spot on! Nice crisp star images that were tighter than I have had since I bought the scope.
Seeing it was there to be observed, I turned it on Mars and saw some actual detail for the first time, just a hint of ice cap and some very obvious shading across the disc. Can't wait for a night when I can turn it on Saturn for an extended look, and maybe have a crack at mars when it is a bit higher in the sky.
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