May 10th 2007, 9:35pm in backyard in Lubbock

<p>I decided to setup the EQ-2 with the ST80 tonight and see if I could get a good look at Venus. I started out with the televue 20mm Plossl, I couldn't see much with it and venus was too bright. I switched to the Meade UWA 6.7mm again the planet continued to be too bright. I added the Violet #47 filter and it helped, I could make out the planet and could see that it was a last quarter venus. There was a purple hase around the planet so I added the V-block on top of the color filter, this turned out to be the best combination and it became quite easy to see the planet. I couldn't see any surface details, I'll try my C8 at some point and see how that works out.