Leaderboard

Suns out

FIngers crossed!

Had these two bad boys out last night to look at Jupiter. They are both Japanese Takahashi scopes, one new and one quite old. The shorter one is a 180mm reflector type, only about 6 months old, the long one is a 128mm refractor, over 20 years old I think but gives lovely views still. The Great Red Spot was centre stage at around 9pm, so I had great views. The image below was taken by a chap called Keith Johnson on my Astro forum, and I have detuned it so it gives a very rough approximation of the view through the eyepiece. In some aspects the eyepiece view is better, some worse, it’s hard to exactly replicate it. The spot itself was a lovely orange colour, it does change over time in both size and colour.

Been quiet on here for a while, probably the rubbish weather! I popped my solar scope out at lunchtime and had some decent views today, nice to be out again. Will have a look at Jupiter tonight as the Great Red Spot will be visible at around 9pm.

Meet at The Great British Car Journey, Ambergate, DE56 2HE for breakfast before heading off into the Peak District for a run out. We will be taking the exact route we took at our last meet because we loved it that much, this time we are able to finish at the Calver Arms for lunch (no local derby on the football screen this week) Weather is forecast good at the moment, please check on here before travelling just in case it changes and I have to cancel. All welcome at the museum, members only on the run out, keep it fair to those that pay. Who is able to join us?

Small little clean up from sitting garage for a while

Baggy appears again in the Caribbeano thanks to our Tony aka Bigfoot.

Took a wee spin over to JP Exhausts for them to make a link pipe to fit the new silencer on. Well recommended and seem to know what they’re on about, so hoping for a neat job. Means the Westfield is out of action for a few days, but that’s no problem as we’re doing the Tour of Cheshire regularity rally on Saturday in the Spitfire

Meeee!!!

some little treats for my westie.

Fortune smiled on me this weekend due to a mix of circumstances. Firstly, my Mondeo decided to overheat on me on the way back to my parents on Thursday, so the AA recovered me back home on Friday afternoon. Very good service I must say, one chap delivering me to Solstice Services where another chap arrived within a few mins to take me the rest of the way. Seems like it is likely a water pump or thermostat issue. Hoping it can be repaired as a) I can’t afford a replacement currently and b) I desperately want to get it through 200k miles, currently just over 195k. Secondly, Mrs Stu had a friend down, and was out and about in her car, so the net result was that the Westfield was my only means of transport for the weekend, what a shame as my daughter had her singin’, dancin’ and actin’ lesson for 3 hours on Saturday morning in Yeovil…… Thirdly, the car was back together and generally functioning apart from a broken Speedo (officer). GPS had to come to the rescue. Finally. It was dry, and a little bit sunny. I dropped the short (though growing ever taller!) one at her lesson at 10.15, then had three hours before picking her up at 13.15. I hadn’t been North in the car for a while so headed up to Cheddar Gorge. It was fairly steady going most of the way up, but just nice to be out in the sunshine. The gorge itself was quiet, and I followed a nice looking M2 until part way up where I stopped for a couple of minutes before completing the run. I then caught up with said M2 stuck behind a van in the derestricted part afterwards, and as the van turned off left, off shot the M2, so I followed . He was bl**dy quick on the straights, but I kept up through the corners and we had quite a fun run for a while before encountering traffic so I trailed him all the way down to Wells where I stopped for a quick coffee. Time was ticking on so I headed back to Yeovil arriving with 5 mins to spare. We had a fun run back to Crewkerne, had a spot of lunch and walked the dog before hopping in the car again down to West Bay. Normal fun through Beaminster Tunnel and some of the clear sections on the way down. It was a tad chilly by the coast but the seas were well worth watching and we warmed up with a hot chocolate before heading back. Spotted a nice old Landie in West Bay too So, probably 4.5 hours in the car in total. Great fun to be out; the car is going well, steering wheel mods (Blinkstop system) working very well so bring on the spring! Here is a little YT compilation for your amusement:

Holme Moss Summit a SEiGHT and a Westus

I’ve got a few hundred photos but thought I’d start with one from the day a brought it with a coupe in between and finally one at its current stage

Had some great views of the partial solar eclipse this morning. Took a couple of fairly average smartphone shots through the scope. Was able to share the views with Mrs Stu and Little Stu which was fun.

Baggy does isle of wight with jon and lin plus tilly the dog

Not meeeee. Sadly!

Sorry we can't make this one as I'm working