Well last night was almost a total waste of time. I had my scope all setup and ready to start learning software focusing and the astronomers forcast said the clouds were going to roll out around 4pm. By 7pm the clouds were still there so I set the alarm for 2 hours and went to bed. I woke around 11 and checked the skies and they were still covered. I reset my alarm for 2am and went back to bed. got up and clouds were still there so i went back to bed. Got up at 6am and they had finnaly run off. I aligned my scope and then slewed to regulus. I then put my new bat mask on and started the focus routine. It took me about 10 minutes to find critical focus and as it was my 1st time the next time I expect itll take minutes. I highly recomend the bat masks for focus as so far they are the easiest way to find critical focus. Now crossing my fingers for tonight. Clear skies today but clouds will probably roll in tonight....GAH!!!
Well you know Ive heard for years about the curse of the astronomer....get new gear and be asured of cloudy skies for quite awhile. the next week at least is cloudy with rain. Well this isnt totally true as the other night I had a sucker hoole big enough to try out my newly made bat msk for focusing. this mask rocks as it only took me about 10 minutes to get critical focus compared to never the old way....im sold. The rain does have its good side though as im getting a lot of time to brush up on my skills, learn new equipment (as much as yyou can without actually using it), and finishing outfiting my POD XL5. i need to make a PZT table so I can slide my dome off. Now I love my POD (from Skyshed) but it has a big issue....you cant see much tword the meridan as the dome gets in the way. So, in my opinon, the PZT (POD zenith table) is a nessity for use properly. With where my POD sits the dome will slide tword the house and not be in the way. I also havent installed any of the gaskets or goo (sealant) fue to temps but wont get to that until warmer weather.
Finally last night I was able to sort out my scope for the most part. Seems that backlash was what was causeing most of the issues with trails. Now of course we have clouds rolling in so ill have to wait for a few days before I can actually start taking pix
Sitting here waiting for the clouds to blow over really sucks.....
ReplyDeleteWell last night was almost a total waste of time. I had my scope all setup and ready to start learning software focusing and the astronomers forcast said the clouds were going to roll out around 4pm. By 7pm the clouds were still there so I set the alarm for 2 hours and went to bed. I woke around 11 and checked the skies and they were still covered. I reset my alarm for 2am and went back to bed. got up and clouds were still there so i went back to bed. Got up at 6am and they had finnaly run off. I aligned my scope and then slewed to regulus. I then put my new bat mask on and started the focus routine. It took me about 10 minutes to find critical focus and as it was my 1st time the next time I expect itll take minutes. I highly recomend the bat masks for focus as so far they are the easiest way to find critical focus. Now crossing my fingers for tonight. Clear skies today but clouds will probably roll in tonight....GAH!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet more clouds...I think I am starting to see a pattern here.....
ReplyDeleteWell you know Ive heard for years about the curse of the astronomer....get new gear and be asured of cloudy skies for quite awhile. the next week at least is cloudy with rain. Well this isnt totally true as the other night I had a sucker hoole big enough to try out my newly made bat msk for focusing. this mask rocks as it only took me about 10 minutes to get critical focus compared to never the old way....im sold. The rain does have its good side though as im getting a lot of time to brush up on my skills, learn new equipment (as much as yyou can without actually using it), and finishing outfiting my POD XL5. i need to make a PZT table so I can slide my dome off. Now I love my POD (from Skyshed) but it has a big issue....you cant see much tword the meridan as the dome gets in the way. So, in my opinon, the PZT (POD zenith table) is a nessity for use properly. With where my POD sits the dome will slide tword the house and not be in the way. I also havent installed any of the gaskets or goo (sealant) fue to temps but wont get to that until warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteFinally last night I was able to sort out my scope for the most part. Seems that backlash was what was causeing most of the issues with trails. Now of course we have clouds rolling in so ill have to wait for a few days before I can actually start taking pix
ReplyDelete