Had a great time later on (8:30pm) for about an hour with the moon...trying all my new EP's and filters.
Went in to watch a movie.
Went back out at 11:20pm. The moon was way too high up for me from my position to catch it so i gave up on it. Saturn was very low down so i decided to track it as it rose and experiment with the EP's. That didnt happen cuz the red dot laser pointy thingy on my scope that helps me find things decided that tonight would be a good night to die. So i tried "flying blind" for a bit to see if i could catch Saturn....................NO CHANCE.
My EP's were fogging up,the mirror in my scope was fogging up when i was changing EP's...............
To top it all off..................i couldnt see a damn thing in the sky because the moon was so bright.
I decided i'd call it a night before i did something stupid like launch my scope into orbit and over the neighbours wall.
No sooner had i come back in i realized the problem with the finder scope. The screw that holds the on/off dial in place had come very loose. So i fixed that with a very sharp fish filleting knife cuz no other knife would fit the ting screw. Works fine now.
Also discovered that the screw ontop of the scope near the EP is actually to loosen and tighten the focusing mechanism..............WOO HOO.......i now have silky smooth focusing.
Then to add insult to injury...i was cleaning the filters and one of them came loose in its casing. So i had a look at the others and noticed a thin ring around them that holds the glass tight................so out came the fish knife again and i tightened it.
That was one of the worst nights i can ever remember having while observing.
Paul C
My next scope is going to be a Vixen VMC200L Catadioptric OTA
was out for an hour and a half early this evening. Out the front so had street lights to contend with but spent a good hour or so peeking at the moon and trying out my new eyepieces, as well as trying to attach my camera!
First real chance to use the C6N and must say I'm impressed. Got some great views of the moon and unfortunately couldn't grab any worthwhile pictures to mark the occasion.
Had a quick look at Mars too. Couldn't make out any detail but wasn't expecting to.
Finally had a peek at the Orion Nebula. I reckon I might get a good picture out of it if I can get everything working:)
Pretty clear night in Belfast, excellent for Moon viewing.
  