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It was mid afternoon before I went over to see if solar imaging was even possible in the gusty winds. As expected, the new 27" monitor was a revelation in ease of use compared with the 15.6" laptop. I found it incredibly easy to focus on surface detail and the limb using the bigger screen.
I noticed that the rippled masking is only visible in the H-alpha telescope. A snap of the screen appears alongside. Showing the huge solar disk even without a Barlow in the ZWO.
I noticed that the rippled masking is only visible in the H-alpha telescope. A snap of the screen appears alongside. Showing the huge solar disk even without a Barlow in the ZWO.There was nothing to see on the disk in H-a so I captured some white light videos of fine surface detail. I used the 180mm and the 90mm refractors in turn to make a valid comparison within a short time frame. Then processed the videos in Registax6. I'll share these videos when I bring them over from the laptop.
The sky has cleared and the wind dropped a little so it may be possible to see the Moon later. The sky remains bright, so late at 55° north, that lunar contrast is always a problem in the summer.
I went over after dinner to try to image Jupiter as it scraped across the southern horizon. The Moon was still below the neighbour's trees. Dimmer Saturn lay in between the two. I fitted the ZWO to the 7" and was shocked at the sheer size of Jupiter on the 27" screen. It was huge and soft and a wildfire of thermal movement was crossing the planet. I took a snap of the screen with SharpCap set to the smallest 320x320 capture window to show the scale.
Capturing some videos was more for fun than seriousness. How could anything come out of that boiling mess? Eventually the Moon cleared the trees but it was no higher than the planets. Another raging bonfire of thermal effects streamed across the worst view I have ever had of the Moon.
I didn't bother to process the videos last night. Today is forecast for more cloudbursts and rain. There will be plenty of time to play. I tried processing them in Registax, this morning, but it was a hopeless task.
Lessons learned: I really need to control the brightness of the new screen. Despite being a duplication of the laptop screen it NEVER responds to Display dimming in Windows. The laptop goes dim while the AOC remains unchanged. Sorted! The rear joystick has started working. It didn't do anything sensible when I tried pressing it last time.
I need more red light at night. I couldn't see the contents of the drawers and banged my head on the telescopes and Dec shaft while moving around in the dark. A red light under the desk should light the drawers. Another red LED bulb overhead on the opposite side of the slit would be useful to reduce shadowing. I bought 1W bulbs last time but slightly brighter ones would be useful. Or more of them.
The 7" focuser can now catch items on the new desktop extension and even the left edge of the screen. I had to turn the white light on to be sure I missed anything important. I can't really move the screen any further west. Removing the diagonal or solar prism helps provide an extra 4" of clearance. This potential collision problem occurred during a meridian flip when Jupiter was very low and right on the Meridian. I don't usually look at such target positions so it was very unfamiliar.
Having Synced on Jupiter I sent AWR to Saturn just a few degrees east on the RA axis. The Mounting immediately set off in completely the wrong direction! Going West! Remote anything is completely impossible with this set-up!
I really do need to fit a proper finder, or three. Several are sitting in a tub on the observatory floor but the various support systems don't fit anywhere useful on any of my three OTAs. There is no clear view between the closely spaced OTAs. Or they don't stand out far enough to see around the OTA. Nor could I reach them if I had any when the 'scopes are pointing low down at the horizon. Do I need a step-up block to reach?
Fitted the little Vixen 90 finder after rotating the entire OTA to clear the view for the finder. Now I have to find the cap to stop myself trying to find the sun! It's a weird size of just less that 1.25". It must be somewhere.
The keyboard and mouse wireless USB sticks don't work at all on USB3 hub on the back of the AOC screen. Nor very well in the USB3 to USB2 hub. I have ordered a USB3.0 to 4x USB3.0 hub which I can also use for file transfer between the indoor PC and the SSD. It took me all morning to transfer all the captured video files on the SSD at 34MB/s. 3 minutes per video! The new hub can go directly into a USB3 laptop port and hopefully manage most of the existing USB duties. The ZWO camera needs its own USB3 port but that might change with the new hub.
I went over after dinner to try to image Jupiter as it scraped across the southern horizon. The Moon was still below the neighbour's trees. Dimmer Saturn lay in between the two. I fitted the ZWO to the 7" and was shocked at the sheer size of Jupiter on the 27" screen. It was huge and soft and a wildfire of thermal movement was crossing the planet. I took a snap of the screen with SharpCap set to the smallest 320x320 capture window to show the scale.Capturing some videos was more for fun than seriousness. How could anything come out of that boiling mess? Eventually the Moon cleared the trees but it was no higher than the planets. Another raging bonfire of thermal effects streamed across the worst view I have ever had of the Moon.
I didn't bother to process the videos last night. Today is forecast for more cloudbursts and rain. There will be plenty of time to play. I tried processing them in Registax, this morning, but it was a hopeless task.
Lessons learned: I really need to control the brightness of the new screen. Despite being a duplication of the laptop screen it NEVER responds to Display dimming in Windows. The laptop goes dim while the AOC remains unchanged. Sorted! The rear joystick has started working. It didn't do anything sensible when I tried pressing it last time.
I need more red light at night. I couldn't see the contents of the drawers and banged my head on the telescopes and Dec shaft while moving around in the dark. A red light under the desk should light the drawers. Another red LED bulb overhead on the opposite side of the slit would be useful to reduce shadowing. I bought 1W bulbs last time but slightly brighter ones would be useful. Or more of them.
The 7" focuser can now catch items on the new desktop extension and even the left edge of the screen. I had to turn the white light on to be sure I missed anything important. I can't really move the screen any further west. Removing the diagonal or solar prism helps provide an extra 4" of clearance. This potential collision problem occurred during a meridian flip when Jupiter was very low and right on the Meridian. I don't usually look at such target positions so it was very unfamiliar.
Having Synced on Jupiter I sent AWR to Saturn just a few degrees east on the RA axis. The Mounting immediately set off in completely the wrong direction! Going West! Remote anything is completely impossible with this set-up!
I really do need to fit a proper finder, or three. Several are sitting in a tub on the observatory floor but the various support systems don't fit anywhere useful on any of my three OTAs. There is no clear view between the closely spaced OTAs. Or they don't stand out far enough to see around the OTA. Nor could I reach them if I had any when the 'scopes are pointing low down at the horizon. Do I need a step-up block to reach?
Fitted the little Vixen 90 finder after rotating the entire OTA to clear the view for the finder. Now I have to find the cap to stop myself trying to find the sun! It's a weird size of just less that 1.25". It must be somewhere.The keyboard and mouse wireless USB sticks don't work at all on USB3 hub on the back of the AOC screen. Nor very well in the USB3 to USB2 hub. I have ordered a USB3.0 to 4x USB3.0 hub which I can also use for file transfer between the indoor PC and the SSD. It took me all morning to transfer all the captured video files on the SSD at 34MB/s. 3 minutes per video! The new hub can go directly into a USB3 laptop port and hopefully manage most of the existing USB duties. The ZWO camera needs its own USB3 port but that might change with the new hub.
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