I had a second shot at Uranus and Neptune last night. Both planets suffered from atmospheric effects, but were fairly sharp at 200x. I used the 12" scope this time, and found that the color was noticeably fainter for Uranus that with the 8". I later read that this is what happens due to the lower color saturation levels of the planets. What I thought was a moon ended up being a 11.5 mag star nearby. My skies will not allow viewing of 13.5 mag objects at that alt.! I might have to wait for near perfect conditions at 1 or 2 am to have chance (or the prayed -for blackout scenario!).
I found Neptune rather easily, having learned what to expect. It appeared as an extremely faint star in the finder scope, terminating a westward pointing finger of stars. It appeared at 300-425x as a just barely defined, very, very faint blue disk.
I finished the night pointing at M15, riding high slightly past the meridian. An excellent view! Freed from atmospheric effects, the scope performed great. I viewed at 300x and 425x. Hundreds of stars were resolved, and multiple streamers and dark lanes were evident. Probably the best viewing of M15 I've had.
A good night. I made a "drawing" (a small speck surrounded by smaller specks) for Uranus and logged my Neptune and M15 observations. I am liking keeping these logs. I have a tangible record of my struggles and successes...
The laser coozy (a chemical hand-warmer) worked well, allowing 2+ hours of observing at 40 degrees with no degredation of performance. The make-shift raised platform--well, not so good. I had to stand on it with my head poking out of the observatory to view M15! My table jack arrives Monday, and this issue will be solved, allowing me to adjust the Dob height for ecliptic viewing and DSos higher in the sky...