The first thing we did here was finally getting that ethernet cable cable ran out to the observatory. I have to say, it has been really nice using Remote Desktop from the warmth of my room here in the house. Being able to keep a check on things, or making adjustments to the guiding, without walking out into the cold weather has already made the digging worthwhile. Not to mention the numerous other good things that come with having internet in the observatory.
It was about 180 feet or so out to the observatory from the corner of the house. Thankfully it didnt need to be buried that deep, and we ran the CAT5e cable in some 1/2" pvc conduit.
Merry Christmas to me! :)
Internet is nice, but we want to see to see some new astronomy gear, right? Well, it was supposed to be a new camera, but the Starlight Xpress Trius 694 I bought just didnt work out for me. Soon after buying the camera, I ended up selling my 8" RC to a friend in the Houston area. I have always wanted to go to a larger RC.
Well, it isnt a new larger RC....yet. I feared my Atlas Pro couldnt handle a 10" RC, so with the camera refund, along with the money from the sell of my 8" RC, I decided to go ahead and get the mount I wanted to buy months ago, the EQ8. Or more specifically, the Orion branded HDX110.
Before I could install the mount on my pier, I needed a new pier adapter. I ended up contacting Dave Yates at TPI (Telescope Performance Improvements) in Canada. Dave specializes in custom machining and makes everything from custom pier adapters, to tripod spreaders, battery trays, tripod leg levelers, and several upgrades for CGE, EQ6, and CGEM mounts.
His website is www.tpiastro.com and I'd highly recommend Dave to anyone. He's a super nice guy and his work is top notch.
I had the Starizona pier adapter that I used for both my CGEM DX and Atlas Pro mounts. Dave knew exactly what I had and machined a new top for my Starizona pier adapter. I could not be happier with how it turned out.
Once the new pier topper was in place, it was time to get the beast mounted. I bought the mount only, minus tripod and counterweights. I ended up buying the 21 lb and the 11 lb Losmandy counterweights from Astronomics. These are made for the Losmandy G8, G11, and Titan mounts, and have a 1.25" bore. A perfect fit for the HDX110 mount.
With the new mount back on the pier, I put the Teleskop Service 107mm triplet and the trusty SBIG STF-8300 on the mount and it was time for a test drive!
As I'm typing this, the first night of testing is wrapping up. It has gone well after a few bumps in the road getting started. Guiding has been running between 0.50" and 0.65" with terrible seeing conditions. This isnt too bad for a first night out, all things considered.
I'll continue to work with this combination a while and try to get things fine tuned before galaxy season kicks off this spring. With a little luck, I'll have a new long focal length scope sitting on top of the new mount in a few months. I still havent decided for sure just yet what that scope will be, but with a mount that is capable of carrying 110 lbs, my choices have just expanded greatly!
