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Friday 17th 8.0am [CET] 57/57F, bright sunshine but veiled with thin high cloud.
The AWR drives started up as normal with the new 12V 5A PS. Slewed to the sun and focused.Gong Ha showing splodges in the southern hemisphere but all the images are out of date. The seeing is quite steady behind the thin cloud. Disturbed area found and captured.
Then the sound of the AWR cooling fan suddenly died and it all stopped working. IH2 screen blank. No drives means no tracking. 😢 Switched off and on again and it came back on. I checked the wiring and then dedicated to the new PS. Then I fitted a terminal block to allow me to constantly monitor the current on a large, vintage ammeter on the desk. Saves fiddling with my DMM [Digital multi-meter] and wasting batteries.
10.15 Back in action with the drives working again. Clouds cleared for the moment. The seeing behind the thermal "fuzz" is actually quite good. I am even getting fleeting clarity on the monitor. Gong Ha still hours behind.
11.00 Did a tour of the limb with increased gain to expose any proms.. One small, detached prom at 8 o'clock. Nothing else to write home about.11.30 72/66F, still struggling to capture anything worthwhile through the thermal fuzz. I keep being teased by rare moments of clarity. Fibrils are usually a sign of improved clarity. Whisker-like magnetic lines. With the appearance of directional, iron filings in the presence of a magnet. I have crawled across the disk using the slow motions.
11.40 The drives have been running without a problem for well over an hour now. I have noticed warmth in the stepper motors for the first time. Though the RA motor is in full sunshine. The Dec motor is more in the shade. Showing a steady 3.2A current being drawn from the new PS.
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