NGC 6928

I went hunting for this galaxy around 12:00 on Saturday, and couldn't confirm it consistently. The milky Way was visible only directly overhead and the scutum star cloud was visible with direct. I was using an 8 inch with a 17 mm Orion/Vixen Lanthanum. It kept popping in and out of view, but was only visible with the jiggling/ averted method. I saw an elongated shape near a diamond of stars. It was very hard to discern and it may well have been my imagination. What should I expect?
P.S I had no luck with the other galaxies in the field

Hi again Zack--
I logged 6928, 6930 and 6927 on 8/02/03 at Lake Sonoma, LM 6+, with my 16" f/5, 10 mm Speers and 7 mm Nagler. Only 6928 was easily visible in the Speers (I think that EP had inferior contrast), but 6930 was readily seen in the 7mm, a ghostly sliver running north-south. 6927 was glimpsed in averted vision. I found the group very pleasing despite Night Sky Observer's Guide's low rating.

So I think you did really well with your 8" given your conditions, and your observation sounds just about right. As you get more experience with galaxy hunting, you'll feel more confident about what you see versus "just my imagination," and you'll even be able to make out aspect ratio and extension using just AV.

The other thing is that given your light polluted situation, the 17 was too long an eyepiece. Contrast on dim galaxies tends to be optimized around a 2 mm exit pupil, sometimes even higher power, so you need, with your f/6, something in the 10 to 12 mm range for best galaxy viewing. That's why I replaced my speers with an 11mm type 6.
George