Daniel and anyone else who went to the Pit N Pole, > I am interested in knowing if the soil was too soft at P&P.

Joe: I carry three paving stones that I set my dob up on. It's like a portable cement slab and it works great everywhere except SPOC where the watertable is six inches below the ground. There the ground acts like Jello but I still get consistent pointing. At Pit n pole I was set up next to a 10 inch Schmidt and a Losmandy G11 and a 15 dob. All three were on the bare ground and had no problems. The site is actually a dry lake bed if you look at USGS maps so the ground packs hard when it is dry. There was some dust which is why I like the open design of the dob, it accepts the fact that dust will get into your tube and allows you access to clean it out during the off season. The Schmidt owner had put a clear filter on the back of his tube assembly to prevent dust from getting in during eyepiece changes. Other people have gone to the desert once, seen the dust and swore they would never go back. Wilderness observing isn't for everyone. DT ____________________________________________________________________________________Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&c...