The Sailor

Hi Pat, well I am perservering with it, I want to get the Ascom working so I have reinstalled Windows to get rid of all the rubbish and will install all the Ascom software, nothing on the laptop but astronomy software so nothing to lose, just don't want to let it beat me :). Good to hear you have started the build, hope it goes well for you :). Jim

At last, without a doubt, all is comming together, the dome works well, rain yesterday failed to penetrate, the new layout of the OTAs worked well allowing me to see the same view through all three OTAs. The only problem I have is Ascom, installed it yesterday with the hope of using the laptop for guiding but it failed and I had to remove it, not the first time this has happened. I am looking at getting a guiding setup but have been looking at direct guide rather then from laptop because of the Ascom problem, it's a wait and see game. The next part of the setup will be setting the parfocal rings on both 1.25 and 2 inch, hope to save a lot of hassle :) So all in all it's going okay, just have to have a few clear nights :). Jim

Just looking for something that will keep the camera on target :). Not interested in what the guider does in relation to taking photos just keeping steady on target is the job :). As said, the next clear night I will be banging away with the DSLR and see what I can achieve, I left the OTA on Vega for 20 min last night and it had moved a degree or so, so maybe have achieved something there. Jim Jim

Back on track, ditched the re-alignment part after 3 star align and all target in/almost in centre of EP, did have me worried but spent most of yesterday going over layout of OTAs on mount and last night turned out to be a good one, seen a few more Messiers than expected in the EP so am happy. The next night out will be to check drift on AP exposures, will be getting an auto guider so hope that will help as well :). Jim

Just about Pat, after the last few days I thought that I would end up chucking the lot in the dustbin :). I followed the polar re-align and at no point after would I get my target anywhere near the EP, very frustrating. Today I spent looking at and arranging the OTAs on the mount and by this evening I had finished to some satisfaction. With it being cloudy all day I was not expecting to get out but by 2300 it was all clear and I was away. Done a polar align and then a 3 star align and left it at that, up to now I can say it has been a great night, everything spot on, got 4 Messiers I had not got before and have left the mount to drift along with Vega, have a drink and then out again so see what the results are. No AP tonight, just want to star hop and see how well it is holding on targets, so back out now and carry on :). Jim

I've actually gone backwards!!! Don't know whats happened, all great befor I built the obsy now it's all gone wrong. So now, I start again and crawl along till I get better :). Jim

Now why can't all mine be like the second and third rather than the first. Have to admit I am having a load of problems with aligning, have the NEQ6 Pro and have updated the handset firmware to the new polar re-align and it has given me nothing but trouble. Follow the instruction to the letter and still when it comes to hitting a target I am way off in the EP and drift. At the moment I am looking at reconfiguring my OTA setup to just one type of OTA on the mount and see what happens, maybe then I will get good shots like above :) Jim

Nice one :) Jim

What a week it's been, from being deluged with rain to wall to wall sun, I took every opportunity to get work done on the obsy and whatever was required in the garden. During the week I realised that after one night out the obsy needed to be sorted to make more room, this was done the next day I now have a much easier time. The nights have been kind and I have spent every clear night out and have relearnt how to use my cameras, plenty of photos taken but few have made it into an album, being fun finding galaxies again and new ones to boot. A few pieces of equipment I know I need and they are parfocal rings, rings for the SCT and a guidance camera, first already ordered, the rest I have to think about. After a year away it has been good to get back into the swing of things and hope it can only get better, just have to be careful of accidents :) Jim

Nice one Nova but what I done was to place the solar film inside the OTA cover, all I do is take the small cover off and it is there, have less to worry about :). Jim

I have at long last got the observatory working okay, the dome rotates very easy with little effort and all the cables have been rerouted. Although the dome runs easy I have bought a 12v winch with a control handle and converted it to allow rotation both ways and will install this during the week. Still work to do but that is decor and will just make the obsy look better. Just have to wait for clear skies now and get the equipment working. I have updated my photos in FB and the link is in my sig. Jim

Pat, thanks, have sent you a PM, may be of help. Jim

Well the rain today has done me a favour, no leaks!!!! Time has come to get on and finish it, I have a few embelishments to add and do some astronomy :) . Todd, my shed had a roof which came in two parts lengthways, this enabled me to open it just enough for the OTA to stick out, take a look at my FB albums, there is a link in my sig, it will show you what I mean. I castleated the two sides so that when thay came together they formed a seal, worked well. :) Jim

Thanks Todd, well have not been out there yet, believe it or not I was hoping for more rain!!! Want to test it to ensure that it is waterproof and the gear will be okay in there, have a cam in there and appears to be dry, just to move the cables and that will be it, all up and running. I went out last night and set up on Polaris and that was it, cloud moved in so closed up, then when I went to bed about 1am the sky was clear!! Anyway all is going well so hopefully it won't be long till I have a few all nighters :). Jim

At last, the observatory is almost finished, the only thing to do is reroute all the cables but that will have to wait till clear weather appears again. With the sun out today it was all go and ended with the mount and telescopes back in place, tonight is clear so will be out to see if all works. I was going to get the roof fibreglassed but the weather held this up too much so went and replaced all the wood and waterproofed it, will be interesting to see if all has worked by tomorrow evening when the rain has passed. I downloaded the Polaris beta upgrade a few weeks ago, tonight I will be putting it to the test, looking forward to that. Jim

Hi Isabelle, am afraid that one problem begets another and at the moment my observatory is scattered in bits across the garden, I have had to take the dome and ring off to repair the roof and the constant rain has created an utter mess so I have to start all over. It may on reflection be a blessing in disguise as I can rearrange to take account the gear I have now and as the cloud cover seems to be stalled over the house for the foreseeable future I may as well do it now. :) Jim

Thank you both, I have given all the parts with the batteries a good clean now and test show no problems, have to say I had almost forgotten what I had in each case and opening them has given me food for thought as to wether I actually need some of it so it may be time for a clearout. I doubt if I will ever be able to attend any star parties now and a lot of the gear is aimed towards that so it may be for the best. The observatory, well all I have to do now is wait for some good weather, take the dome off and put new plywood on and get the glassfibre on, so the future is looking good :). Jim

Try to get back into observing has not been easy, disasters all round. After setting up the equipment in the observatory I turned my attention to all the flight cases of gear I had not opened in almost a year. Silly me had left a number of items with batteries installed and these had leaked, so the last few weeks have been a recovery effort and that is going well but the worst part was not the cases but the observatory. I don't know what has happened but I have more rain inside than outside, the roof has developed a sieve like appearance!! I have now decided to get the roof GRPd and as soon as the weather gets better it will be done. In the meantime the kitchen table has taken on the appearance of an astronomy store, gear all over the place. So all in all not a good restart but at least I know the problems and can get them sorted, just have to see if my body can be fixed, not as easy :). Jim

Well, the sun is beaming, not a cloud in sight, so took the opportunity to try out the mount and telescopes on a solar view. At the same time I want to me see how my dome will work, a few modifications required so far but all in all going well, maybe tonight if it stays clear I will have a go. I have yet to open up my camera cases, after so long I dread to see what has happened to all the gear, will leave that for another day, one job at a time :) Jim

Old age creeps up and wallops us all in different ways :) Jim

Thanks Todd, all is well, a few aches and pains but nothing to worry about, the kidney and protrate problems I have to live with but getting back into the observatory has taken my mind off it all. Now where are all those clear night I seen when laid up? :) Jim

Almost nine months has passed since I was last on here, falling down the stairs and breaking my replacement knee put me in hospital. The knee was not so much the problem as what else they found at the hospital, heart, kidney and postrate problems all came along at the same time and I also picked up an infection from the hospital!! So, all in all I was in and out of the place and not expecting to get back to sky watching again, but here I am :hello2: and a lot to learn all over again :). Before the accident I had started redoing the observatory and as I could not get out there it all went to hell, water everywhere and a lot of damage. A couple of weeks ago I got back into it and I now have a dome instead of the flatroof, got it made local, basic dome so I had to cut out the shutter. Almost got it ready, at least it is waterproof so have the telescopes mounted and just have to get the comms sorted, a couple of weeks should do it and back to late nights :). Jim

As far as cooling is concerned I don't have that problem, I have all my gear in a location that ensures it's all at outside tempeture at all times :), security headache :D. Regarding the dog, thats nice but I have a cat and she has given me some heart stopping moments by creeping up on me, probably the reason I hit my head on the balance weights some of the time lol.

The last couple of weeks I have been going to the obsy each morning, opening up and switching everything on. A twofold operation, one is to check that noting is amiss as far as security is concerned and two is to get the equipment working. I leave it then till the evening in the hope of clear skies but till now it has only been a couple of night with clear skies. Sunday looked to be one of the best nights, clear skies all round, the afternoon brought a change, a sea mist was rolling up from the south and standing in the garden it looked like there was a large fire somewhere, the cloud hugged the sea and just rolled up. Went for a meal later and sitting eating all we could see was what looked like rain sweeping past the seafront windows, last time I seen something like that was Snowdon. The mist cleared late in the evening and when it was just dark I set the OTA on the mount, opened the roof and nice clear skies :). Spending the next couples of hours wandering the skies I realised there was more light pollution than usual, it was then I realised the mist had returned, the street lights were being reflected a lot more and the GoTo was getting a little erratic!! So what I thought would be a good nights viewing turned into a bit of a damp squib, still more nights to come :).

Hi Todd, although no overall cloud cover it was patchy enough to ensure I could not do any AP but as said it all disappeared to be replaced with moonlight which really killed off even playing with the cams :( .