20" Obsession First light (sort of)

[Roy]

I say sort of because I have had the scope out twice before, once just to set up and break down and again when every thing went pear shaped

So this time was more like a proper first light although my main aim was to get the Argo Navis DSC's and the ServoCat goto system up and running to see how they performed, if at all.

Well the first thing I did was to read the manual again and then enter a few settings followed by a two star alignment.

Now for the moment of truth, I picked an easy target, namely M57. found it in the appropriate menu and hit goto and there she was slewing gracefully - in the wrong direction So it was back to the manual again, made one quick adjustment and tried again.

This time it seemed to be going in the right direction so it was just a case of climbing up the ladder to see if it was anywhere near M57

So up I went and there it was nicely framed right in the middle of the fov of my 35mm panoptic

I spent a while looking at the ring and then curiosity got the better of me, I had to find out if this was just beginners luck or would the Argo Navis do it again, so I picked yet another easy one, M27, hit goto and it was up the ladder again, and there it was bang in the middle yet again.

I tried several more targets and the result was the same every time, all in or near the middle of the ep

That's the good news the bad news is that the views where not as nice as I would have liked but beings as it wasn't really dark and there was some thin cloud about I'm not to disappointed.

The other draw back I have is that I have houses on all four sides so I can't really sit out all night slewing away, much as I'd like to.

Don't want to give the neighbors the hump.

All in all I'm very pleased with the way the scope performed, the Argo Navis and ServoCat worked like a dream, all I need now is a darker site and a truck to drag the scope to it.

[anthony]

Roy,

Small steps, early days. Sounds like you are going to have a great time with that scope. Teething problems under control and darker nights in the near future - sound quite exciting.

Anthony

[dogfish]

Hi Roy

Congrats that the servo cat works. Any plans to take it to a star party this year (says me who's dying to have a look through it as this is my dream scope )?

Martin

[Roy]

Hi Anthony, as you say, there are always teething problems wether it be with a visual set up or an imaging set up, believe me I've had more than my share when I was into imaging.

I'm pretty sure now that the next outing will go a lot smoother, just need to get away from my house which brings me to Martins question

Hi ya Martin, as far as taking it to any star parties, well I can't see it happening any time soon, I work strange shifts and I drive an MR2 Roadster and even with the roof off and all the good will in the world I can't see the scope fitting in that, the ep's maybe but not the scope

[dogfish]

Sorry Roy, you'll just have to sell the MR2, buy a Volvo and a trailer

Martin

[lunator]

Roy

Glad the scope is performing well.

Looks like your're going to have to buy a van

Cheers

Ian

[Sam]

Great write up Roy. I'm glad the goto works quite well as you're going to get a heap of enjoyment out of the huge aperture!

[Plastic chicken]

Glad to hear everythings ok Roy, the Ring is fantastic in my 16" god knows what it looks like through a 20" er!!!! Get shot of the car and get a cheap estate. To make the most out of a dob that big you really need to get somewhere DARK!!! I`m taking my 16" to Kelling can`t wait to see how it performs there!!!

PC

[FLO]

Hope you do get it to a star party someday ... and that we all get a chance to see through it

[Roy]

Thanks for the kind words and support chaps, it's much appreciated.

Just a quick question for you all,

who do you have to kill to get an accurate weather report in this country, the met office said last night was going to be cloudy, I looked out of my bedroom window at 12.30 only to see Cassiopeia hanging in a nice clear night sky.

[Sam]

That's the joy of living in a changeable maritime climate!