15.10.19 More solar alignment.

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Tuesday 15th: Warmer 55F, but more breezy. Unexpected brightness despite a grey forecast. Nice
crisp image today after yesterday's struggle with cloud. The sun is visible but the sky is very milky.

Pointed at the sun and set the Solar drive going same as yesterday. Already made a small adjustment to the right and down. The wind is moving the telescopes very slightly.

11:00 Image still sinking so more westerly PA pointing required. Decreased PA altitude angle.

I am now monitoring the slight physical changes on the screen to avoid overcompensating. This ensures I am actually moving the mounting. Bringing the disk back into the circular reticule afterwards.

11:20 Image still sinking slowly and moving right. Still reducing PA altitude and turning west. Movement out of the circle is becoming slower and slower.

11:25 Image on the screen now seems stable within the reticule after 5 minutes.

There  is a slight complication if the mounting baseplate is not perfectly level. Rotation in azimuth will slightly alter the PA altitude angle and vice versa.

11:30 Alignment very close now. No drift after five more minutes. I'll leave it running to confirm. The wind is "exercising" the image by a couple of millimetres in each direction. Makes it feel much cooler than yesterday's almost calm conditions. Edge of sun's image visibly "boiling."

Can't do any imaging in these conditions anyway. Visible cloud arriving now. Breeze is teasing by moving the image over a centimetre each way. Blowing around my ears too.

12:00 Clearing again. Fitted two long roofing screws between the mounting's cantilevered base plate and the pier. Tension on the screws is confirmed on the screen as pulling the PA down. So the asymmetric weight distribution on the base plate is having an effect. Do I really want to strip everything down just to drill a new hole in the base plate? I'll see how the screws perform first.

12:30 I think I have the alignment as close as is likely in these breezy conditions.

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