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Progress!
I made it to Coona yesterday afternoon - and was welcomed with cloudy skies.
I arrived just after a PW CDK 700 had been delivered. Yes, a 0.7m scope. At the moment it's packed in 3 large crates with the primary mirror assembly packed in a 2m x 2m x 2m box. The iTelescope guys had to hire a crane to lift it in through the roof as there was no way that sucker was coming in through the door. I can't wait to see it all unpacked this arvo.
Yes, I will be taking pictures.
The pier was custom built by a local manufacturer - it's a thing of beauty and damn heavy. Perhaps this is a cunning way to discourage customers taking their gear home. It did remind me what a boon Siding Springs has been for the local economy. There are signs everywhere for Coona as the Astronomy capital of Australia. There are quite a few astronomers living on site and many locals will be supplying gear and services.
I was also struck by the number of domes about on the drive up - private domes that are not part of the SS site.
Brad and Pete had marked out the location for my pier and quickly bolted it down. The PMX then went on as did the OTA. Next we're electrical gear. Brad ran a 12V cable and USB cable through the mount and set up a 12V rail and USB hub on the OTA. There is a cabinet at the foot of the pier with UPS power supply, rigrunner and wireless controlled power switch so I can manually restart the telescope gear over the net.
The guys then gave the OTA a clean - with compressed CO2! Pete fired a blast at the primary which removed stray dust and - I am ashamed to say this - a cobweb or 2. Housing my gear at home under a Telegizmos cover, a local spider had decided it was perfectly positioned to anchor a web between it and a nearby tree.
I'll post photos of this when I get home - it was impressive.
I had ordered a Pyxis rotator and adapter which had arrived before I did. So we assembled the imaging train and checked the balance. I need another counterweight - this will be another contribution to the local community as it will be cheaper t have it made here than order it from Bisque and ship it up here.
The other issue is that the PMX clutch system is not quite right. When I balance the scope and the. Flick the 3 way switch to lock into Track mode, the worm doesn't quite engage. Well it does, but a bit of pressure on the counterweight bar can move it. Has anyone else encountered this? Looking at the Bisque website there is a procedure to reset the Cam stop which I will try out this afternoon.
I had a chance to marvel at some of the other gear in the obs. There is some mighty fine hardware on display. I have taken many photos which I plan to show my missus from time to time - next time there is a discussion about over expenditure I can point to how much others have spent.
This afternoon we finish off the electrical work, tie down the cables, install some software and check that it all runs smoothly. Then I need to wait for the skies to clear so I can do a TPoint model and check collimation. The crate was well padded and I know CDKs hold their collimation well but I was not 100% happy with collimation at home so it's worth checking it again.
Clouds forecast till Monday - as you would expect.
Photos to follow when I get home
Pete
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