Tough gig tonight

[JamesF]

Just come in after getting on for three hours outside, and it's been a difficult evening.

I'd moved the NEQ6 around to the back of the house and mounted up the C9.25 to get a decent amount of time imaging Jupiter at a reasonable hour (from where it is now I have a reasonably clear view in every direction apart from the south west which is blocked by the house).  But moving it meant I needed to polar align again.  Only the polar scope LED was at full brightness and I couldn't find the lead for the handset so I could turn it down.  I did the best I could by sighting along the side of the mount and decided to just stick a load of points into EQASCOM, but it was so far off that I was really struggling to find the alignment stars I was selecting.  Eventually I told it to go to Jupiter, managed to align on that and a few other nearby stars and decided that would do for now.  I'd just keep the planet on the camera sensor with the game controller.

Once I started imaging it turned out that the laptop was really short of memory.  Eventually it transpired that someone I had three copies of CdC running and two instances of EQASCOM.  I didn't dare kill EQASCOM at that point, but getting rid of CdC helped.

Unfortunately by this time dew was freezing onto the corrector plate of the SCT.  I kept clearing it and starting capture runs, managing three or four before another clean was required.  By midnight I decided that I was probably flogging a dead horse and packed up.  I haven't looked at the data yet.  I'm not expecting much.

So, it looks like I need to get on with making a dew heater and controller before too much longer.

On the positive side, I did get some very nice views of Jupiter through the eyepiece when I was setting up for the camera, and if I do have any decent data then it looks like I have the start of a transit by Europa.

James

[philhas]

At least you gave it your best shot James. Walking back from a night out the sky up here is clear however everything is sopping wet with dew

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[SnakeyJ]

Glad to here you have got the C925 out after a long pause - well worth working through the niggles and getting used to this for the opposition of Jupiter.    Dew tapes and shield probably a must for this, lots of guides for making them with resistors or nichrome wire - though rather than making your own heater control, I think the LED dimmers are a cheap alternative.

[earth titan]

Dew heater for a C9.25 is a must I'm afraid. Glad you got out though - it looked fantastic last night.

[madsarmy]

James get & make your dewheater & bands. I made a four channel one a couple of months ago & it was really put through it's paces last night. It worked flawlessly thankfully. I modded the Telrad. Made a secondary mirror heater that fits to the back of mirror & heater band for eyepieces.

It was my first attempt at electronics & I got to say its pretty easy to do. The great advantage of DIY is you can custom fit your heaters.

One tip. Get a good size project box to give yourself room to add an extra channel or two at a later date if needed.

[Luke]

Hope your next run goes much more smoothly, James. I think you are going to love your dew heater when you get/make it.   One less thing to worry about - unless you forget to switch it on, like I did once!

I've managed to pull my back again and wasn't sure I'd go out last night, but Orion looked glorious and Jupiter was nice and high. Had a very enjoyable hour under the stars, conditions seemed so good for DSO's that I even tried to see the Horsehead with a 10 inch from my okay skies.

[Pig]

Look on the bright side James at least you got to go out, I made plans to go out with some of the family last night and missed a good couple of hours by the looks of it

I agree with Tom, a dew shield and heater is a must for that big corrector plate

[JamesF]

It was very pleasing just to be out, I have to admit.  And it was a beautiful night.  I've often found the Milky Way hard to pick out during the winter, I assume because the proximity of the Sun means that it gets lost if the atmosphere is at all hazy.  Both times I've been out in the last week though it has looked gorgeous.  Can't complain when you get a sight like that

Dew heaters have definitely got nearer the top of my project list now

James

[earth titan]

Envious is not the word. I slid my bicycle down the road last week so am currently out of action waiting for the road rash to scab over.

[SnakeyJ]

Envious is not the word. I slid my bicycle down the road last week so am currently out of action waiting for the road rash to scab over.

Ouch - hope it heals quickly!

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