Sun spotting. Not!

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The promised sunshine has been swamped by fast moving clouds. I was hoping to try my Neximage5 which hasn't seen any action for ages. Venus and Mars were bright first thing [7am] but soon lost to clouds. I wasted hours being teased by cloud for most of yesterday.

More hours wasted waiting for continuous streams of cloud to clear the sun. Had a few short glimpses. No spots visible in white light. Two prominences on the southern limb in H-a. One tall and bold and one much smaller.

I was using Meade 4000 26mm EPs in the binoviewer using direct view at 46x plus GPC enlargement = 50x. This gave me a solar image well within the field of view but still at a good scale. It was very relaxing to scan the entire surface and limb compared with a single eyepiece. It just feels very natural with effortless merging.

I was also very pleased with the results with the pair of 32mms at a native 37x plus any enlargement = 41x. Though the image was considerably smaller it was still pleasant to the eyes. Then I added the 2.8x GPC and enjoyed a huge sun still using the 32mms. Sadly it was a short-lived view because of the arrival of more cloud.

While I was being teased by endless cloud I opened iCap and had the Neximage5 recognized but the menus are microscopically small on my 4K screen! The sun hasn't shown itself since then. If I reset the screen resolution for iCap then it's all wrong on everything else! Grr!

After an hour of solid cloud I was about to pack up when there was a short clearing. Confirmed another prominence at 8 o'clock. Some nice surface texture too before it all descended back into universal grey gloom of a solid overcast.

Just at dusk the Moon popped out from behind the cloud and danced along the ridge of the house. It was so low it actually went behind the chimney. Back to the observatory to have a peek. Rather soft so I swung round to Mars at around 25° high in the SE. I could see it was oval and a hint of a marking but the planet was surrounded in a colourful halo depending on the exact focus.

I have produced a new table of magnifications with the binoviewer's additional 100mm GPL [glass path length.] The binoviewer increases the magnification by adding its own optical length to the raw focal length of the telescope. T-S claim 100mm so the 7" f/12 increases from 2160mm F/L to 2260mm. While the 6" f/8 has a focal length of 1200mm increased to 1300mm.

I need to make some major changes to my equipment storage now I have an observatory. There being no further need to carry lots of stuff out to the telescope in the open and protect it all from frost and dew. Followed, of course, by packing everything up again. I've tried various storage tubs including clear plastic but these are rather vulnerable and offer no mechanical protection to the items they hold. My eyepiece storage box is now overflowing with two extra low powers for the binoviewer. I need to think in terms of built-in, secure plywood shelf boxes. 

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