Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jul 1, 2010 1:48:37 GMT -6
Chicago Astronomer Mini Star party
Post C11 modification Shake-out session
26 June 2010
Post C11 modification Shake-out session
26 June 2010
I spent three days cleaning and modifying the C11 recently...
...and was anxious to take it out for a test run and see how the collimation held up.
And.....It needs collimation badly...
More on this in a bit...
Fellow Chicago Astronomer John and I set up by Adler site #1 - at our usual spot and found that the skies were not great, but still - always a fun time hanging out together.
It was also the Full Moon rise of the month, but considering the less than optimal skies, I elected to cancel the monthly gathering for the crew and just have this shake out session.
We were not even gonna be close in any "light" observing this evening, as the clouds were just too thick and the sucker holes fleeting.
But, as usual...we had numerous people and groups come up to our scopes, (John brought along his 5" Go-To SCT), and we were delighted in sharing the views of the Moon - which was now rising just at the right line of sight with the C11...
Adrian, who I met years ago in my 4.5" days, stopped by to say hi...along with his new wife.
We also had a nice fireworks show off of Chicago's Navy Pier...
We all stopped to take in the show, and anyway - the cloud cover was fighting us...
On her bike and curious, Bethany stopped by to see what we were doing and enjoyed our brief peeks at the Moon. She enjoyed it greatly and would like to join us in future Chicago Astronomer sessions...
Although no real astronomy was had, we had fun and the visitors enjoyed themselves.
Now...on to the C11 -
The newly installed handles performed wonderfully.
Where in the past, we would use the single handle at the rear and bottom of the beast and push the tube with our hands - now...the handles and guide rails were being used almost as if they were always there...
I used to hoist the OTA from it's cradle and over my head to seat the dovetail rail in the mount's saddle by grasping the single handle and using my fingers to grasp the corrector plate ring. Works, but not a good way...and unsafe. One trip, slip or loss of control would bring the tube crashing to the ground - making for a bad session and a cursing Chicago Astronomer... #shootme#
Now, with a new grasp handle at the bottom of the dovetail and the side rails, secure and sure grips were employed and much more confident in handling the massive 29lb tube.
It handles great and the the new handles are solid.
But...the optics need work...
Cleaned and 98% dust free, I was hoping for some crystal clear views - but even though I registered the position of the Corrector Plate and tried to keep the orientation steady - somewhere...either the secondary or the corrector plate shifted position - bringing "soft" views.
When the clouds allowed, I unfocused on Vega and using it to align the secondary to the primary. John and I had limited success, as the clouds were not allowing us to make the adjustments. And I discovered that the secondary was "rotating" in it's seat in the corrector plate - tightening clockwise and loosening counter-clockwise.
I lost all original optical alignments and will have to start from scratch soon....
Bringing the focus to the sharpest point, stars had bad coma. Adjusting, (with John's help), we were able to shorten the coma tails, but time ran out when thick cloud cover called an end to the test session.
Soon, I will bring the C11 back out and and bring it back to pin point focus, but for now...I have been side tracked.
------------------------
(On the way home from this session, I was T-boned - Hit on the divers side by a SUV that ran a stop light at quite a clip and pushed me across two lanes. I survived with nary a scratch thanks to my solid Chevelle - as she absorbed the energy from the impact...but she sustained a great deal of damage.
The offender, after hitting John's car also, took off. We later tracked the crud down and dealing with the aftermath...but regular star parties I was planning will be altered somewhat and will have to depend on my fellow astronomers for lifts and rides until I repair her and back on the road by September...but needs a lot...of work.
Maybe I'll post the pics...but they depress me...and astronomy is such a great joy - I don't want to associate this horrible event with the stars.
Maybe later.
Great to be alive and well..... ;D )
