I had a lovely time too, thanks for the company fellas (and the drop, RB).
It was nice to have the little fella (Campbell) bubbling with enthusiasm, even at the midnight hour!
Highlight for me was playing with WavelandScott's 16mm Nagler T5. I didn't mind the tighter eyerelief at all, in fact to my eyes it increases the spacewalk feeling. (thanks for the loan, Scott)
Yes we all had lots of fun admiring the astrogear floating around. The 31 Nagler? Not bad......
I agree with Mike and H that RB's Tak is stunning. I have never seen such sharp and contrasty views with stars quite so pinpoint before. For the things I am currently interested in (star clusters, doubles), this is the perfect instrument.
Louie, I didn't get to your 20mm Nagler......next time, mate! I am very keen to see how it performs. I have been told that double the focal ratio is the sweet spot of any scope, so I figure that 2 x f/10 makes a 20mm Nagler my perfect companion.
I am sorry to hear H that after all that polar aligning you were unable to image. After all those setbacks to describe the night as your best night out for a long time shows you are truly sucked into this hobby!
Ving and I had some fun hunting down some doubles in Orion. The dew kind of spoilt our fun in the end, along with a rising moon. Damn that dew! I seem to recall that the early months of the year in '05 (my first year of serious observing) was also very dewy. We'll certainly be needing dew shields and zappers at Lostock.
Best luck with the tooth extraction, Froggy. Nice, as always to have your company, Mike. It was good to compare views in our respective scopes, and I agree that the 31 Nagler in a fast scope is hard to beat!
I am pleased to say that I have now tracked down all of my January objects, and that I am well into February's. I will have to put February's list up sometime soon.
Soo you all soon (hopefully at Lostock).