Backyard Howitzer - The C-6R GT Arrived!

The scope and set-up is huge . . . the last time I stood between the trails of something metal, pointing over the horizon, was years ago in my field artillery days!!! This scope (my first) is much larger than anticipated. It took several hours to assemble it and check out all the knobs, dials, and electronics . . . I can tell already there's gonna be a learning curve of perhaps weeks until I fully understand everything this instrument is capable of doing.

Last night was "first light" . . . that's amatuer-enthusiast-speak for seeing something in the heavens for the first time . . . ironically, I lost my virginity to "Venus", the first bright object I could stick my tube toward. I've spent months researching "how to do this" and collected every article available. I had no idea what to expect, fumbled around for the right combination of lenses and filters, but gradually brought the planet into near-perfect focus. Awesome!

One review I read called the CR-6 a "yard cannon" and I thought the writer was kidding. The only thing he got wrong was the using the word cannon (a barrel of a cannon has limited elevation) instead of howitzer to describe it. With tripod legs fully extended and the main optical tube pointing toward the North Star, instrument looks like a 105mm howitzer in my backyard.

Hurry sundown!!!! I'm about to be hooked for life on this new hobby!