Cleaning (in-situ) is done. There are still some smudges and streaks (seen under bright light) but they're impossible to remove without creating new blemishes! They shouldn't cause any issues though, right?
Meah!...looks good to me, I'd be happy enough with that
Scope mated with mount again! Just need to re-attach the camera equipment and I'll be able to get everything tested, re-collimated and working again! Many thanks to Mike Sidonio for the extra muscle!!
Scope mated with mount again! Just need to re-attach the camera equipment and I'll be able to get everything tested, re-collimated and working again! Many thanks to Mike Sidonio for the extra muscle!!
Scope mated with mount again! Just need to re-attach the camera equipment and I'll be able to get everything tested, re-collimated and working again! Many thanks to Mike Sidonio for the extra muscle!!
Oh yeah...it was a tough day worked my bloody butt off carrying a $25K scope 60m and lifting it 1.5m onto a mount (with only one slight bump ) heck, at least 5min (including the pause for the photo) of excruciating labour
Scope mated with mount again! Just need to re-attach the camera equipment and I'll be able to get everything tested, re-collimated and working again! Many thanks to Mike Sidonio for the extra muscle!!
Mmmm the origami of folding themselves in the dome would have been worth the price of admission.........
Thanks Peter! It's getting exciting now. I'll be happier when I've proved all the electronics are still working though!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Oh yeah...it was a tough day worked my bloody butt off carrying a $25K scope 60m and lifting it 1.5m onto a mount (with only one slight bump ) heck, at least 5min (including the pause for the photo) of excruciating labour
Mike
Yep, 5 mins work - if that! But then you hung around for nearly 3 hours!? Some people just can't take a hint!
Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy
Mmmm the origami of folding themselves in the dome would have been worth the price of admission.........
Reassembled the camera, filter wheel and AO-X (left of image). I needed the manuals to remind me what to do - I must be getting old . I bench tested and everything is still working ... a sigh of relief could be heard!
Now just need to test the telescope electronics, the rotator and the focuser but I need to do that in the obs ... and of course it's too darn hot in there today! Maybe in the morning.
I had to evacuate my gear from my observatory and now putting it back together. These larger scopes are a 2 man job.
Greg.
Bah!...when it's your own Meg$ OTA caution can be thrown to the wind... for a photo could'a done this eeeeasily with Marcus' scope, it even had poles to hang on to like a barbell.. but I recon he would'a cracked me one!
Yes they are! The low end of my saddle is over 1.6m high so lifting the scope to mate the dovetails together smoothly is quite tricky - even for 2 people!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Bah!...when it's your own Meg$ OTA caution can be thrown to the wind... for a photo could'a done this eeeeasily with Marcus' scope, it even had poles to hang on to like a barbell.. but I recon he would'a cracked me one!
Double bah! No comparison there! Dropping a lightweight scope onto low slung rings is a piece of p***!
He he yeah, lifting the OTA overhead was just a photo op truth be known though, I did it a few times to get the right shot, using the 10sec timer and had to hold it overhead for up to 10 sec each time to make sure I got the right shot, from memory I did it about 6 times to get it right, ie set the timer then run, lift, and hold...a bit of a workout
Closing out with a photo of the completed rig - fully reassembled (finally). All the spaghetti seems to be plugged into the right places and I've done as much daytime collimation as I can. Only jobs remaining now are to polar align accurately, do star tests (and re-collimate as required) and start imaging! Soon now.
This is to prove that Bells Observatory 2.0 is now up and running! This annotated, very preliminary B&W image is of the barred spiral galaxy NGC4731 65 million light years away.
There's a lot more work to do to get to a finished image I can post in the Deep Space section, but "first light" is always cause to celebrate!
Alas, seeing was not good on the night and there were a few gremlins to sort out (mostly because of my rusty memory) ... but who cares!
Last edited by marc4darkskies; 26-04-2020 at 02:26 PM.
This is to prove that Bells Observatory 2.0 is now up and running! This annotated, very preliminary B&W image is of the barred spiral galaxy NGC4731 65 million light years away.
There's a lot more work to do to get to a finished image I can post in the Deep Space section, but "first light" is always cause to celebrate!
Alas, seeing was not good on the night and there were a few gremlins to sort out (mostly because of my rusty memory) ... but who cares!