Took the RV-6 out back tonight, but there is so much smoke in the air from regional fires that it looks like at least 1 to 1-1/2 magnitudes of extinction, maybe more. Objects that should be bright and obvious are dim and pitiful. I'm bagging it for tonight and hoping it's more transparent next weekend. Sunset was very red this evening and I had a suspicion the seeing wasn't going to be up to snuff. On the bright side, I picked up a cable release for the smart phone last week. It plugs into the earphone jack and works like a standard DSLR cable release. These things are available on ebay and Amazon and are only five bucks! So now I can use the smarphone in afocal mode at the telescope and not worry about a blurry image from having to tap the screen, or use a shutter delay app. With the universal smart phone holder from Orion, I'll be using the smart phone for pics more often. I recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S5, and it has as many pixels as my Pentax K-30 DSLR, at appreciably lighter weight. It also does better on hydrogen-alpha sensitivity so I'm hoping for some nice solar shots. Stay tuned.