First attempt with the Revoloution Imager R2 kit.
http://www.revolutionimager.com/
FWIW, I powered up my R2 kit yesterday and, what do you know, it worked.
So easy to connect it and get it working.
During the day I put it into my Meade ETX 80 and was able to focus on my neighbor's house, about 100 feet and some distant trees, about 1000 feet. Did not use the cut filter or the focal reducer.
Played with the menus on the camera via the remote. Not too hard to understand. Basically there are 3 things that we will play with and leave the rest alone.
So, I am all pumped up to get this on a star. But noooo, as night falls there are clouds all across my sky. I should have expected this. I bought new stuff, of course there are clouds. ;( Went to bed around midnight.
2:30 am nature calls. So I answer the call then head for the door. Ohhhh, clear sky with a rim of clouds low along the horizon to the South and East but they seem to be moving in parallel to my location, not toward or away. Great!
3:00 am - I have all my stuff set-up and the Goto aligned and tested. That is when I realized that I have not planned for where I am going to put stuff. I have a battery, a monitor and wires to deal with. I have a remote hanging down and .... stuff. My plan was to rest this all on the eyepiece tray but that is not going to work. IT is not flat enough and not large enough and I am wasting time fumbling with all this stuff.
I get Capella lined up in the eyepiece. Pull the eyepiece and put the camera in. I almost have Capella in focus but I guess it is not exactly centered because as the big ball becomes a smaller ball moving toward a pinpoint star it goes out of view. I hit the buttons on the hand control and the movement on the screen is not in the direction I expect. I can't find Capella.
Note to self, during the day, test and mark the camera for the correct orientation so the scope and the image are moving in the same direction.
Note to self, rig up some kind of shelf or hanger system on the tripod to hold the monitor, the battery and figure out some cord control.
Back to focusing but I can't find Capella. So I look up and I discover that those parallel clouds have TURNED, have looped back toward me from the SE. and now the sky is being swallowed up by clouds.
3:30 am I am back in the house, frustrated. But, all success comes from failure so I have learned that I have some daytime work to do.
I will act on the notes to self today. Forecast is for clouds all weekend as a tropical storm is moving up the coast toward NY, naturally, but I can continue to hope.
Appealing to higher powers
I asked my wife to use her Mommy Magic to chase the clouds away but I just got one of those pitying smiles that women give to their little children when they ask for unreasonable things.
Hey, don't laugh. Mommy magic is powerful stuff. I swear she diverted a hurricane last October when our daughter was getting married. All week long there was chanting and something with a chicken.
Two hours before the ceremony the storm clouds parted, the wind died, the sun came out and my daughter was married in a garden under perfect conditions. The reception hall overlooked Long Island Sound and had an outside deck. The scene was beautiful and people were going in and out enjoying the setting and wonderful weather all around us.
As the band played the last song the clouds came back, the wind picked up, but it was OK. I looked at my wife and commented how lucky we were. She gave me THAT look and told me she was tired and wanted to go home. Mommy magic takes a lot of energy and she was tired.
Now, if I can just get her to use some of that for me this weekend. Hey, this is only a tropical storm. Should be a piece of cake. I am heading out to get a live chicken.
Wish me clear skies!
Anyone using the Reveloution Imager or R2 kit?
