This is actually an unsuccessful observation, I still believe it should be posted here because it shows how hard is the life of an ordinary visual observer. :) The map I'm using (Triatlas B) shows stars and DSO's to approximately 12 mags. I found this quasar in Auriga and I was sure I'll be able to take a glimpse of this distant object. Without exact position data, I decided to sketch the field of stars and identify the actual quasar later. Unfortunately my astronomy program did not show any quasar here to the 16.5 magnitudes. The reason is that it lists the quasar at 18.2. I've googled the Vmag of this QSO, and found brightness data anywhere from 15.0 to 17.8m. At 15 magnitudes I should be able to see the object surely with averted vision (we had 100% snow coverage, so the NELM was not as good as it used to be). So, what I've learned from this is that brightness information must be handled with special care, especially for faint and exotic objects.