Phil Leigh

Nothing much to report yet. I've been rather distracted by the 100% cloud cover :-(

However, on the equipment front things are progressing nicely. I have been able to test the SCB-4000 with the Meade 0.33FR and I can achieve focus. All the software is checked and working and I'm all ready to go as soon as the clouds clear.

I've built a wooden tripod dolly (a T-shape) with large locking industrial wheels that my HEQ5 Pro is strapped to. I can wheel this in and out of the 6x6 double-door plastic shed (Keter Gemini) which is arriving on Thursday. This large enough to house the scope on its dolly and a table with all my computers and other gear plus a comfy office chair.
On most nights I expect to be able to leave the scope outside (under a scope coat) parked and aligned ready to go. In the most severe weather I can wheel the scope inside without having to disassemble anything. I have mains power (and will have lighting and heating) to the shed which is 30m from the house. The shed will be alarmed and securely locked. I have enough cable to get the scope approx 5m from the shed.

The wi-fi connection reaches easily from house to shed so I can have live internet access whilst observing which I'm hoping to exploit to broadcast live video - and also interact with this forum of course!. It also lets me upload image files from the shed laptop to a quad-core desktop in my study for post-processing. If necessary I can also operate the shed laptop remotely from inside the house using the desktop or my iPad thanks to a superb piece of software called SplashTop.


Once the shed is up and all the cabling is done, my first challenge will be to get a good polar alignment using AlignMaster and then to try the SCB-4000 on some DSO's.

Once I'm happy with the SCB-4000 and bagged some DSO's (maybe even made a start on my M40?) I'll be giving the modded, cooled 450D a workout when the skies get darker earlier.

Phil

I hope to add some pictures to this blog at the weekend (if all goes well with the shed).