well it was a challenge I can say that... the best part was the group effort from Mike, Andrew and myself for getting the 3rd and 4th contact of the transit. Mike will post images of that later I suspect but I found Mikes secret weapon on how he images... and you guys think he uses that DMK thingy, no way
oh and also the portable fan we brought along to get the sucker holes
EEEKK look at the dust moats , note need to clean lenses and sensor
Cloudy until about 8:30am, got a few afocal shots through the expensive 32mm GSO plossl after that.. tried the DMK for a while but the focal length was too long for the conditions.. LOTS of wind shaking the scope about madly. Trust houghy to lead us to the 2nd windiest spot in newcastle (and the cloudiest, today).
Clouded out for another hour or so, then some nice breaks for a while before having high hazy cloud for the remainder. We got a nice sucker hole right for 3rd and 4th contact, which I got some avi's of using my DMK in h0ughy's 5" mak on his EQ6. Man I want an EQ mount. So much easier to press a button to get it in position. Much more stable too thanks to the short scope on it.
Great company with Andrew, h0ughy and others from NAS. Sun and wind burnt, very tired but at least we saw it and got some images. For a while there I thought we would miss the whole thing.
Came over wall to wall cloud again shortly after it finished.. so it could've been worse!
Will post images later, once I get a chance to go through the junk and find the good stuff.
Cloudy until about 8:30am, got a few afocal shots through the expensive 32mm GSO plossl after that.. tried the DMK for a while but the focal length was too long for the conditions.. LOTS of wind shaking the scope about madly. Trust houghy to lead us to the 2nd windiest spot in newcastle (and the cloudiest, today).
Clouded out for another hour or so, then some nice breaks for a while before having high hazy cloud for the remainder. We got a nice sucker hole right for 3rd and 4th contact, which I got some avi's of using my DMK in h0ughy's 5" mak on his EQ6. Man I want an EQ mount. So much easier to press a button to get it in position. Much more stable too thanks to the short scope on it.
Great company with Andrew, h0ughy and others from NAS. Sun and wind burnt, very tired but at least we saw it and got some images. For a while there I thought we would miss the whole thing.
Came over wall to wall cloud again shortly after it finished.. so it could've been worse!
Will post images later, once I get a chance to go through the junk and find the good stuff.
not my fault, who said they were coming , if it is any better Mike the Visual sat image shows cloud to the ranges
Now where else could you have spent the moring with a better looking bunch of misfits
Was nice to do some "sidewalk astronomy" too, as a lot of members of the public came over to see what all the fuss was about.
It received a lot of coverage on the local radio but due to the early morning weather a lot of people didn't show.
I must tell this story, I was with Mike and Andrew as the sun was rising and there was a break in the clouds so I was using the Pentax to get the first shots, ABC radio rang me and wanted an interview right there and then. I politely declined and said I had some imaging to do get me in 20 minutes time. True to their word they called back and I had my 2 minutes of fame with the local ABC.
I also spoke for a little while with KOFM for 5 minutes at 10 to 6, so it ended up a busy morning to start for me.
To their credit Mike and Andrew didn't pull faces or make farting noises while I was speaking
man my face, neck, ears and hands are sun burnt, badly. I forgot to put on sunscreen, i left in the dark, it rained and I forgot to cover up. Everything else was!
Same h0ughy.. I was packing sunscreen last night, but my wife told me I couldn't take it because she needed it for Eliza before preschool today!! So I can blame her for my sore red arms, neck and face!
I must tell this story, I was with Mike and Andrew as the sun was rising and there was a break in the clouds so I was using the Pentax to get the first shots, ABC radio rang me and wanted an interview right there and then. I politely declined and said I had some imaging to do get me in 20 minutes time. True to their word they called back and I had my 2 minutes of fame with the local ABC.
I also spoke for a little while with KOFM for 5 minutes at 10 to 6, so it ended up a busy morning to start for me.
To their credit Mike and Andrew didn't pull faces or make farting noises while I was speaking
You Sir, are nothing but a Media Tart! Now can I have your autograph oh Famous One.
, if it is any better Mike the Visual sat image shows cloud to the ranges
So I can blame her for my sore red arms, neck and face!
