Just got back inside after playing with the scope. Firstly, I couldn't see much thanks to Hurricane Katrina II and furthermore tonight provided one of the worst examples of poor seeing I've ever seen.
However.... there were times when Saturn appeared nice and sharp, with the ring's shadow on the globe appearing with razor sharp contrast. On the globe some dusky cloud bands could be seen. Quite impressive IMO for what are otherwise among the worst possible conditions for observing.
I was pleased to find my Vixen LVWs come to focus comfortably, unlike on the old scope where there was not enough infocus to use the longer focal lengths.
The scope's motions are nice and smooth and collimation takes exactly 2 seconds thanks to the barlow laser. I don't know how I lived all this time without one! Peter's secondary assembly is a dream come true for collimating what was once my worst nemesis...the secondary mirror! Each of the 3 screws provide precision movement in a set direction, not all over the place like other Newts I've used, and with nice smooth action. The secondary can even be moved up and down the central bolt for centering using the 3 collimation screws.
I'm loving the Feathertouch focuser. It really is buttery smooth and getting perfect focus is a snap. Even the set screws have this silky feel. A vast improvement on the focuser on my old scope.
Tonight, no dew heaters were required so I wondered where to put the straps. I found that the braces between the two outer lips of the UTA provided a nice way to stow them well out of the way, I just slid the straps between the brace and the UTA body which provides a neat way of storing them so they don't hang and get tangled etc when not in use!
Power to the scope runs thru the ground board, so no tangled wires! The fans and dewheaters run from an outboard car jump starter which simply plugs into the base and you're good to go.
And I think a case for the finders, cables, collimators etc is in order aswell!
All in all, give me some good seeing and no wind and I'll be laughing
