Good prospects

[DaveS]

Well that didn't last long .

Either the drivers or the SX694 are playing silly whatsits, as the temp wasn't anything like the set point, and wasn't even holding steady at whatever temp it was showing. Devices and Printers was showing two instances of SX Trius, only one of which looked to be functional. Had the same problem last night, but thought getting rid of one instance would cure the problem, but that only stopped Maxim from connecting to the camera.

Hope it's "just" an IT issue, as I really *don't* want to be sending the camera back to SX *again*.

[DaveS]

41 minutes ago, Gina said:

Clouded up here - "mackerel" sky mostly withs some stratus.  Decidedly misty on the horizon.

 

37 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

"Mackerel".. I thought that Mackerel was getting a bit shaky.... oh wait, thats Merkel, HAHAH

 

"Mackerel skies and Mares' Tails make Tall Ships cary Short Sails"

Batten down the hatches. 

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

I can just about see Io coming out from behind Juoiter, plus GRS. Colours are quite strong, probably because it is still light but fine detail not there really.

Or even disappearing behind Jupiter 🤣🤣

Actually not bad as things settle down, considering how low it is.

[John]

Not bad views here, all things considered. The Tak FC100 is doing good. GRS nicely postioned. 4 belts visible plus darker poles. Suggestions of festoon type acitivity within eq zone. NEB shows scalloped / uneven edge on both the N & S sides. Io slipping behind the disk was nice with the "bump on the limb" appearence showing up.

This is generated from Cartes du Ciel but is close to the view I have been having with the Tak at around 140x or so:

[John]

The seeing has stayed decent tonight. Much better than last night

[Paz]

I went out for quarter of an hour looking at Jupiter with the st80 at 50x.

The NEB was clear but other features were not. No GRS seen even though I cheated and checked exactly where you look on sky safari.

But it was good to be out in warm weather looking at something, and Europa/Callisto made a nice pair.

[Stu]

9 hours ago, John said:

The seeing has stayed decent tonight. Much better than last night

Yes, same here, definitely much better than last night fortunately.

[Gina]

Clouded right over here - still hot though 28°C and 45% RH.  Air con was one of my best investments.  Rarely hot in the UK you might say but it heats as well and that's jolly useful.

[DaveL59]

still clear here but then was pretty ok yesterday too till as light faded there was cloud everywhere. Till just as I was ready for bed of course when it was nice and starry, but by then Jupiter was behind the oak tree. Bummer as I was hoping to test the TAL100RS I went and bought last weekend and the vixen NPL EPs, pretty much rained ever since lol.

Agree re the A/C it sure makes a difference, wouldn't have a car without either, is no fun stuck in traffic on sunny days!

Edited June 29, 2019 by DaveL59

[John]

Cloud cover here just now as well. Still warm though. Forecast here is for a clear patch between 10pm and 1am so there is still hope !

[Gina]

Can't afford a car with A/C unfortunately.

[DaveL59]

ahh well mine's almost 20YO now, I don't do new cars they just ain't good value 😉

[DaveS]

Bother. Bother bother bother.

Got another clear night, and it looks good, but my Trius is still playing silly whatsits.

More investigation tomorrow, but it's looking like it may have to go back to SX for repair.

Bother. Or very bad words to that effect.

[F15Rules]

On 27/06/2019 at 20:33, Stu said:

Dave, how can you have any cloud? Looks clear everywhere? Must say it seems a bit hazy and I've got a horrible feeling that muck out in the North Sea will come in sooner rather than later, but the scope is out and I will have a go until about midnight perhaps. 6am alarm

 

Hi Stu,

Well, we had cloud on Thursday night! We are only 15miles or so from the Wash in the Linc's Wolds and the weather can get "stuck" here...that can be good or bad..last year the Beast from the East made our weather endlessly cloudy for weeks, but then the hot summer gave us clear nights but a very wobbly atmosphere.

Friday was my last working day (yay!!), but I was shattered (long story), so I'm still waiting for my first session for over a month.

But when the clear, steady skies DO arrive, I will be waiting..and NO more getting up for work!! 😁😁

Dave

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by F15Rules

[Stu]

Enjoy your retirement Dave! 👍👍

Not having to get up early will be a major boost to your observing I'm sure 😀

[John]

39 minutes ago, Stu said:

Enjoy your retirement Dave! 👍👍

Not having to get up early will be a major boost to your observing I'm sure 😀

Not to mention being able to do things during the week without the weekend crowds around and not having that sinking feeling on a Sunday evening when you know you have a tough working week ahead

 

 

[DaveS]

On 28/06/2019 at 22:20, DaveS said:

Well that didn't last long .

Either the drivers or the SX694 are playing silly whatsits, as the temp wasn't anything like the set point, and wasn't even holding steady at whatever temp it was showing. Devices and Printers was showing two instances of SX Trius, only one of which looked to be functional. Had the same problem last night, but thought getting rid of one instance would cure the problem, but that only stopped Maxim from connecting to the camera.

Hope it's "just" an IT issue, as I really *don't* want to be sending the camera back to SX *again*.

I *think* I've solved the problem. It looks to have all stemmed from a USB power issue, I had my ASI183 connected but not powered so it was trying to draw power as well as the Trius and SX wheel so something had to give. After physically disconnecting the ASI I managed to get the Trius and wheel connected and talking to Maxim. Still not sure why I had cooling problems, but I think it all came from having two instances of "SX Trius" open, after taking a sub it looks like Maxim was switching to the other instance and warming up the camera. Mind you this is supposition, based on what looked like two instances of Maxim when I came to close down. Now there is only one instance of SX Trius and SX Filter Wheel in Devices and Printers. I tried taking dummy 0.1 sec exposures at -15 deg and the cooling looks stable.

[DaveS]

Imaging again at last, think I've sorted out the camera problems. Getting some nitrogen data on the Crescent.

The change in the wind direction has blown a lot of the clag out of the air, and the sky's very transparent, I can see the milky way right down through Sagittarius to the horizon.

[Ibbo!]

A gentle waft of the hair dryer on the dew collector certainly upset the seeing 😀

 

[John]

It's cleared again for the past couple of hours. With my little 70mm TV Ranger scope I've managed to observe:

- The Eastern Veil Nebula (with the help of a UHC narrowband filter)

- M27, the Dumbbell Nebula (nice without the filter, even more enhanced and "filled out" with the filter)

- The "Sword Handle" double open cluster in Perseus

- The Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia

- Galaxies M31, M32 and M110 in Andromeda (M110 is pretty challenging with 70mm of aperture !)

- Saturn, the main equatorial belt on the planet, it's ring system, glimpses of the Cassini Division and the Saturnian moons Titan and Rhea

- The globular cluster M71 in Sagitta

- The lovely tiple star Iota Cassiopeia.

Very nice 2nd half to the session tonight. Sat quietly in a deckchair browsing the Summer sky

 

[SIDO]

A couple more hours and I'll give Jupiter and Saturn a go, got intermittent cloud Sunday and did ok on them but just ok and really think I can do better even with them so low. Did hit the Andromeda triple M57 M51 M63 and a few Ngc's before and after the planetary stint on Sunday but seeing was mediocre and transparency less than adequat and cloud almost ever present, the Milkyway did brighten just as the bird's began singing though gotta love when that happens...

The rainy season just keeps dragging into summer here and the last two years have been wet all summer, summer usually means dead grass and hot dry air here so things are outside of normal and I'm hoping the trend ends soon.

                      Freddie.

Haha, Spoke too soon...2 separate systems now approaching looks like I'm all wet again and maybe all night.

I"'ll be up all night anyway so if there's any chance my scopes are on wheels 😉 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by SIDO