I performed the odious task of
setting up my CGE Pro in my front yard so I could determine whether it was
still having the same problem with it I had at the star party in September, and
what exactly the behavior was. I started
building it before sunset, but it went faster than I expected, although I did
bruise my knees and almost fell down the stairs carrying the mount head
down.
It was an interesting sight, seeing
that enormous scope set up in my yard! I
attracted a number of passers-by who were curious as to what the heck that
thing was and what I was doing with it.
I showed the Moon and Jupiter to about 10 people!
I slewed the scope all around, and
saw that the behavior was still the same – all kinds of jitteriness in the declination
axis, but buttery smooth in right ascension.
It seemed to be the same all over the sky. I made sure I was balanced as well. I didn’t have time to set up guiding to see
how that was working, but I did take some videos, both of slewing with the
camera attached and using my cell phone to record sounds and motion. I sent these all off to Dr. Clay, who came
back with some advice later in the week to tighten the central shaft and maybe
put some WD-40 down in it. Hopefully I
can get it working at the Texas Star Party.
I took some images on Jupiter while
it was up, but I have a hard time pulling the C11 into focus on planets, since
it’s easily affected by the seeing conditions, and the seeing wasn’t very
good.
Can't wait for the dark skies of Texas!!
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