Monday: Observatory reorganisation.

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With new toys arriving tomorrow I decided to tidy up some more and build mock-ups of potential desk arrangements. Cables and equipment attached to the pier had to be rerouted or removed altogether.

A new 4" pulley supporting a counterweight for the heavy trapdoor. This one is mounted inside the right handrail. Nyloc nuts hold the studding securely in place. [Yet to be trimmed to length.] The pulleys are so free running they need more weight applied to fully balance the trapdoor.

A pair of sliding bolts has been my security against the trapdoor falling accidentally. Now it is fitted with cords and weights it cannot fall. The trapdoor balances when it is vertical.

I shall use a pointed plumb bob to mark the floor for the cords to hang the weights below and out of sight. Once the trapdoor is lowered and the veranda doors opened, I will have free access between the pulleys and cords.The Nyloc nuts are nicely rounded so avoid clothing catching on them.

I spent most of yesterday considering different ideas on a new monitor. How big could I get away with? I would browse options online and then return to the observatory to hang cardboard rectangles on the pier.

An L-shaped desk, wrapped around the north and eastern sides of the pier, would protect a larger screen from being nudged in passing. Nicely rounded desk corners will smooth my movements around the observatory in the dark.

A bigger screen could safely overhang the eastern side of the pier while completely avoiding the danger area over the trapdoor cut-out to the west. I never want anything to interfere with my safe ascent to the observatory floor. No matter how many times I climb the ladder I am certain to completely forget any new intrusion into my path.

Thanks to the sloping sides of the pier the "L" could be made slightly deeper while still clearing the pier for isolation. If I bought a new monitor the same size as the indoor, 28" Samsung, then the best screen could be used indoors. With the runner up still perfectly adequate for imaging duties out in the obs. This pared down the screen choices to a far more manageable range but placed stricter picture quality demands on my eventual choice. I eventually decided to avoid 4k altogether.

When I am imaging I usually capture a video between passing clouds. Then start processing immediately in Registax6 while I wait for another sky clearance. The problem with the small screen of the 15.6" laptop was seeing the fine detail. It was so easy to overdo the processing and end up with a crude daub. Though I would quite often be surprised how well I had actually done when I saw the final  image on a proper sized screen.

Scale is everything when it comes to processing. Using my extra strong reading glasses on the laptop was like using a magnifying glass at close quarters. It was very concentrated work instead of being pleasantly relaxed, at arm's length, on the 28" screen indoors. 

When I return indoors after an imaging session the videos and images are all still on the laptop. Which usually meant I posted them online or blogged on the laptop from the observatory first. A proper screen should greatly enhance my processing. I like a full sized keyboard and proper mouse too. The laptop has never been a first choice for anything. Not even when the indoor PC is not immediately available.

I was teased by brief blue skies and went out to image the sun. There was a huge object eclipsing the sun seen through the 7"! Fortunately, for mankind, it turned out to be a very large moth hiding in the Lacerta prism. I pulled out the eyepiece and it emerged sheepishly and flew off. The view in H-a was still very poor and the rippled mask effect had returned.


 

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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