Monday, August 23, 2004

New telescope mount makes big difference

Up til now I've been using a very shaky alt-az mount and tripod that came with the 90mm Meade telescope. Now I've got a really solid setup. Just after sunset and until about 8:30 PM I viewed the Moon using various eyepieces, ND filter, with the telescope on the new Orion SkyView Pro mount and tripod. How wonderful to have a sturdy, steady mount that shows little vibration, dampens quickly, and has a RA motor! All worked well but now I have to learn to use the setting circles and sidereal time to locate objects. I've wanted a setup like this since boyhood and it is certainly a joy to work with. The heavy-duty mount also makes my highest-power eyepiece usable -- and I had thought I had reached the telescope's limits! Seeing was mediocre with light pollution from town and Moon and high-altitude haze so I tore down at about 9:30 PM. Second-floor deck is within about 20 degrees of east-west so it works well for blindly orienting the EQ mount -- the view is to the south with all northern sky blocked by the house. That's Chaunticlair Observatory for you!

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