#Mach2GTO #fieldsetup #mach2gto #Mach2GTO
ernie.mastroianni@...
Earlier this evening (Dec. 20) the Mach2 at a lakefront Milwaukee parking lot, set up to shoot the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. Then clouds.
The good news: daytime field alignment worked.
I leveled the mount, slewed to Home position, then used an iPhone compass app to get a rough direction to the pole. Using the keypad, I slewed to the Moon. With just a little azimuth adjustment and a recal on the moon's center, I spotted Jupiter through a low power eyepiece after a meridian flip.
This was just minutes after sunset.
Unfortunately, I had only 10 or 15 seconds of viewing until the clouds rolled in. I'll try again in 2080. Or maybe Tuesday night.
Bottom line, mount and keypad work great.
Ernie
The good news: daytime field alignment worked.
I leveled the mount, slewed to Home position, then used an iPhone compass app to get a rough direction to the pole. Using the keypad, I slewed to the Moon. With just a little azimuth adjustment and a recal on the moon's center, I spotted Jupiter through a low power eyepiece after a meridian flip.
This was just minutes after sunset.
Unfortunately, I had only 10 or 15 seconds of viewing until the clouds rolled in. I'll try again in 2080. Or maybe Tuesday night.
Bottom line, mount and keypad work great.
Ernie
