After having used the new site out in the sticks twice and having to realise that not only does the army discharge firearms there, but also hunters, and that it is an extremely moist environment, with the fog coming up from the ground so that my optics fog up even while I’m still polar aligning my mount, I am slightly ticked off. Meanwhile, the problem with my computerised mount being off by up to 30° during set-up has been cleared up by restoring factory settings. No idea what I could have done to change those, because I never did.

Meanwhile, we now occasionally have clear skies, plus a roof garden, and I am not going to lug the CGEM with the big ‘scope up those tight stairs. Or to go out again just to get fogged up before I can see anything. So, I remember I still have that handy CG-5 mount and my 8″ Newton. Both of which go up the stairs a treat, so I set up. I’m almost all done when I notice that I still have the 3″ prism mount on the Newton, which I got to put it on the CGEM. So… unscrew, put on the small prism.

If only it were that easy. The bolts for the wide prism are, unfortunately, too short for the narrow prism. I somewhere have a compact prism that should go with the short bolts, but after the move I have lost track of it for the time being. I call my preferred astronomy supplier and ask: they have the required bolts, but of course that does not help me for tonight. But there is a mounting plate that came with the mount, which I can fasten with the available bolts. This is the original mounting plate that is used to fix refractors to the CG5 mount; since the clasps on the Newton’s tube can be moved to fit this, I do so and set up. For the first night of observations, this works rather well and I once more enjoy the beautifully clear image of this Newton bucket.

I leave everything outside for the next evening, with the necessary weather protection. I get some joy out of the Moon and Jupiter, then I have nothing left within my field of view that is worth viewing and so I return the mount to its standard position… and the tube falls out of the mount and hits the ground, hard.

Shit.

The tube hits the ground outer end forward, so that one of the struts of the secondary mirror assembly gets driven inwards, along with an according dent in the tube. The tensioning screw on this side is thoroughly stuck, and the whole thing has been rendered unusable. I carry everything inside and put it into a corner to have a closer, calm look the next morning.

The tube needs to be straightened out. That, I can do my self. The coating has flaked off; I have a can of blackboard enamel, which can be used to fix that. I try to get the mounting struts back into shape and in the process break off one of the tensioning screws. Not good. I call the people who sold me the ‘scope to ask for spare parts. They don’t know whether they can help me (OK, they are offering approx. 300 different models of ‘scopes…), and I am being asked to send in the secondary mirror mount and struts so they can have a look to see what they can do. I try to get the secondary mirror off its mount and find that the torque necessary to loosen the mounting screws is outside my range of experience: I don’t dare to force them, so I send in the whole assembly. I hope for a quick reply.