The waiting is over, the monster in Sonoita Hills Observatory saw first light last night. Jupiter, after collimation, was a wealth of more detail than I can describe. Saturn, with the Crepe ring easily visible was beyond description. And, Titan was a solid disc.
M51 looked like a photograph-several star clouds were visible in the arms and two dust lanes were visible in the companion galaxy (NGC5128?!?!). M63 did look like a sunflower and M3 filled the field of view. M65 and M66 are indeed deailed objects at this aperture as are M95 and M96. The builder, who had to get on the road at 7 am, shut the night down early.
There are a few points to mention: This is a HUGE telescope, weighing some 1700#. The final optical system is something between 1/8 and 1/10 wave-not all that bad considering this is an f/5 system. After mirror cool down this might improve significantly but I wasn't out there at 3 am this morning. Parts are still not complete including the DEC correction motor, the RA and DEC slew motors, and the clutch motors. It is however, a functional telescope. The Byers gear tracks well and should improve as polar alignment is tweaked a bit. The mount is smooth although heavy enough to move. Also, the eyepiece is some 10' above the floor, making trips up the ladder most exciting in the dark.
All in all, things are looking good indeed so far. Just a few minor things to adjust/tweak/modify but the basic structure is in place and seems to be working fine.