The wait is over, at least for me, anyway. It came in on Feb 12, 2026!
😍
Impressive as the S50 is, the new Seestar S30 Pro may work even better for me, specifically when it comes to the bigger comets, like we had last year and year before last. Now, all I have to do is wait for one to show up. lol

These were the first light images for it.  I took the Sun as soon as I unpacked it and powered it on.  Later after it got dark, I tried it out on my favorite test subject for new gear, M42.

Unfortunately, I had poor conditions with below average transparency, a few clouds at times and horrible LP.  But, at least I could see stars on the first night after it arrived earlier in the day.  The astronomers’ bad weather curse after getting new gear avoided for once.  lol

I hope to get to a darker location and put it through more tests and maybe even catch Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) before it starts dimming down too much.