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hi Ric i feel your pain.
After watching the forcasts all week and seeing clear skies forcast Alsitair was coming up for the night. So about 5ish went out skies were starting to clear things were looking good, so started to set up. Before I had finished setting up the lovely blue and turned to a greyish colour. About then Alistair rolls up and we decide to go have a cuppa and see what the clouds would do as there it looked like it was going to clear. An hr later still not good.Turns out Alistair has brought dinner,a lovely spicie chicken dish, well at least it wasn't a total waste of his time coming up.
After dinner things looked on the up so just after nine we diceided that it was worth it and set up. Started the alignment process, yep you guessed it, they started to disappear much like yours execpt for west to east. the clouds disappeared agian so kept at it. Got a quick aligment down. Track down M8 center and get focus, hook up PHD, no go, star dosen't move enough for calibration.Why? Alistair says try Maxim, Maxim wont guide either thru ST4, so try guiding thru ascom. Yeah its guiding. not great, but guiding. So take a test shot thru the QHY8L' only to find its developed what looks like amp glow in the corner but really bad. Check for any reflections, stray light or anything that could be causing said problem, nothing, take cam off scope cover the lense, take shot, still there. Bugger. By this time clouds are back, and look like there staying this time so pack up and go inside.
Atleast Alistair managed to get a couple of shot in thru out the night.
Next morning, after Alistair explaining the diff between ST4 cable and normal telephone cables, I remember I changed the cable for a longer one I had when I got all my cables nicly organised. I had guiding working thru PHD back in Feb, then got cables or tidied up, including changing the ST4 cable for the longer one. It was so long since I had been back out again I forgot complely that I did that. The plugs were the same size :-) . So leasson learned, if you change something test it before you forget about the change.
Now just hope the QHY8L is just another stupid operator error. Although seems strange to be looking good then 1/2 hr later to have this problem.
Ahwell keeps us all entertained.
Yes I agree, must hurray up and get obs happening.
cheers and best of luck next outing.
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