Ad Astra Observatory

Looking good.
D

— “Jimbo S. Harris” <jimbo@jimbo.net> wrote:

> I thought the Build Team should get the first look

> at the output of the
> fully functional Ad Astra Observatory at Newark.
>
> It took a bit of work to knock the dust off of the
> imaging rig, but
> everything is now in place. Attached is the first
> autoguided image from AAON.

>
> Getting the autoguider hooked back up and working
> took 3 sessions,
> including a daylight session this evening. The mount
> needed a tuneup after
> its long hiatus; an adjustment to the Declination
> axis (that’s the axis

> that does not track the Earth’s rotation) was
> required to tighten up the
> slop in the axis and reduce backlash. The backlash
> was preventing the
> autoguider from being able to calibrate the mount –
> the autoguider

> calibrates the mount by trying to move the guide
> star in both directions on
> the axis, but the mount took so long to change
> directions that the camera
> gave up on it. Tightening up the gears on the DEC
> axis required tearing it

> apart and putting it back together, but the results
> were worth it; after
> the tuneup, the autoguider calibrated the first time
> I fired it up.
>
> The previous sessions had been a little frustrating,
> since the tuneup

> really needed a bit more light than I can currently
> provide out there, but
> I’d had plenty of time to set up all the auxiliary
> doodads that I’ll need,
> such as getting the reticle (crosshair) eyepiece and

> the autoguider to
> focus at the same spot, so I can find and center and
> focus(!) a star with
> the reticle, then just pop in the guide camera and
> basically start
> shooting. In short, once the mount was calibrated, I

> was easily able to get
> started with finding and centering a target (I can
> find M13 without having
> to work too hard at it, so I started with that), and
> I was up and running.
>
> So why just a single 5 minute image? Those who have

> followed my trials and
> tribulations in the past can already guess what I’m
> about to say next.
>
> Yep, you guessed it. Getting my mount working was
> just too much of an

> insult to the astronomy gods, and so they socked me
> in with the New
> Telescope Curse after just a single image. The
> clouds rolled in and parked,
> and I decided to call it a night.
>
> Big success! I’m ready for the next clear night. and

> the one after that,
> and the one after that…
>
> Couldn’t have done it without you, folks. This one’s
> for you.
>
> Regards,

> Jimbo>