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Saturday 64/61F The Altazimuth figures on the AWR IH2 screen were completely wrong again when I powered up the system. So I changed to Equatorial coordinates and Synced on the easterly horizon. Changing back to Altazimuth coordinates now found them to be correct despite being warned of yet another "Perimeter Exceeded." I pressed SETPK in the hope that the Home button would send it back to the correct parking position later on.
Much too cloudy today for any serious solar observation let alone imaging. So I played with a variety of GPCs [and without] in the binoviewer.
For low power, white light views of the whole disk then the 44mm Meade 4000s are very pleasing without a GPC in the 2160mm focal length, 7" refractor. When two streams of cloud are crossing the field of view at 45° to each other, this is an almost magical set-up. Rather like a camera obscura. I had to remove the 80mm x 2" extension tube to reach inward focus without a GPC.
Changing to 32mm eyepieces increased the power to about 70x. This is far more impressive as a closer view. With a much larger disk to admire while still leaving a useful annulus of sky. Though now it requires that I roll my eyes to study the entire limb for sunspots. Or view half a disk at a time. So not so relaxing as the 44mms despite the much smaller field of view than the 32mms.
Adding the 2x WO Barlow nose to the binoviewers provides a huge solar disk but now needs the telescope to be driven around. To see the whole of the solar disk in small sections.
BTW: The 100mm/4" friction wheel and 7" bicycle crank continue to give excellent service in effortless dome rotation. A day's enjoyment of the sun requires quite regular cranking to cover 90 degrees of sky. The industrial PU trolley wheel works well against the bare underside of the birch plywood base ring. The secret ingredient being the 5kg counterweight on the far end of the compensating see-saw. The weight rises and falls to match variations in ring height. Though I am completely unaware of any slight vertical movements of the crank bearing during operation.
Finally it was time to pack up. So I hit "Home" on the IH2 paddle to park the telescope. Being an eternal optimist I was fully expecting facing east, weights down to the north, as requested. Then I watched bemused as the telescope decided it was much more fun to face east but with the weights right up to the south. I kid you not! I had to vacate my computer seat as the telescopes swung by in exceeeedingly slow motion.
Being of an experimental nature I decided to let it have its head. Just to see how many turns of declination motor cable it could manage to wrap around the mounting before something broke. [I'm joking of course.] The thin white lead is i the image for the overhead, LED work light but is quite slack so in no danger.
Quite unbelievably the telescopes finally stopped precisely at the Eastern pointing position but "upside down." I was told I had crossed the meridian several times on its journey with a loud bleep and curt message.
Not to mention several excursions into "Perimeter Exceeded" land. I still haven't a clue as to the whys or wherefores of this message. I hope you appreciate thelengths heights I had to get to just to capture the moment for posterity. It involved an empty beer crate and stretching upwards with the camera over the yawning gap in the floor just to get it all in!
I seem to have obtained a nice view of the free blacking of the birch plywood dome interior as the winter mould gains a nice suntan. If I wait long enough for the mould to take over I shouldn't ever need a paintbrush! The same can't be said for the rusty counterweights. I have a tin of smooth, white Hammerite just waiting but need the right conditions to proceed. Preferably with the weights down where I can actually reach them without needing a stepladder!
Eventually I was able to sit down to drive the telescopes all the way back again on the paddle. The AWR IH2 handset ignored all attempts at a "Flip." PERIMETER EXCEEDED!!!" Perhaps I should get an outboard motor just for speeding up the parking? Or I could fix a clamp on the paddle buttons to save pressing them for several minutes on end? I could easily get RSI at this rate and that would never do!
BTW: The 100mm/4" friction wheel and 7" bicycle crank continue to give excellent service in effortless dome rotation. A day's enjoyment of the sun requires quite regular cranking to cover 90 degrees of sky. The industrial PU trolley wheel works well against the bare underside of the birch plywood base ring. The secret ingredient being the 5kg counterweight on the far end of the compensating see-saw. The weight rises and falls to match variations in ring height. Though I am completely unaware of any slight vertical movements of the crank bearing during operation.
Finally it was time to pack up. So I hit "Home" on the IH2 paddle to park the telescope. Being an eternal optimist I was fully expecting facing east, weights down to the north, as requested. Then I watched bemused as the telescope decided it was much more fun to face east but with the weights right up to the south. I kid you not! I had to vacate my computer seat as the telescopes swung by in exceeeedingly slow motion.
Being of an experimental nature I decided to let it have its head. Just to see how many turns of declination motor cable it could manage to wrap around the mounting before something broke. [I'm joking of course.] The thin white lead is i the image for the overhead, LED work light but is quite slack so in no danger.Quite unbelievably the telescopes finally stopped precisely at the Eastern pointing position but "upside down." I was told I had crossed the meridian several times on its journey with a loud bleep and curt message.
Not to mention several excursions into "Perimeter Exceeded" land. I still haven't a clue as to the whys or wherefores of this message. I hope you appreciate the
I seem to have obtained a nice view of the free blacking of the birch plywood dome interior as the winter mould gains a nice suntan. If I wait long enough for the mould to take over I shouldn't ever need a paintbrush! The same can't be said for the rusty counterweights. I have a tin of smooth, white Hammerite just waiting but need the right conditions to proceed. Preferably with the weights down where I can actually reach them without needing a stepladder!
Eventually I was able to sit down to drive the telescopes all the way back again on the paddle. The AWR IH2 handset ignored all attempts at a "Flip." PERIMETER EXCEEDED!!!" Perhaps I should get an outboard motor just for speeding up the parking? Or I could fix a clamp on the paddle buttons to save pressing them for several minutes on end? I could easily get RSI at this rate and that would never do!
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