[AZ-Observing] "First Light" with a new mount (CGEM) and OTA (Edge-8")

From: "David M. Douglass" <dmdouglass@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 17:11:09 -0700
Well, July has been an interesting astronomy month for me. A few months
back, I had decided to sell my LX200 (8), which was pier mounted in Alt/AZ
in my backyard observatory. I had decided that I was going to go with a
Celestron CGEM (equatorial mount), and perhaps the Celestron EdgeHD 8 OTA.
But  because I was going to be out of town for August and September, I was
not going to get it until the Nov astronomy show in Tucson, hoping to find a
good deal.

It seems that Celestron and OPT had other ideas. They put this precise
configuration on sale for July, and OPT decided to throw a double rewards
sale on during the SCAE event. Throw in free shipping, and I was a goner.
They shipped it!   Of course, almost the entire month of July has been
clouded out    Sorry if I caused some of that.

Of course, a new mount meant pier adjustments. I decided to use Dans Pier
Top plates, because of their excellent reputation. And I needed to do a 10
rise, from the old top. I made a good choice. The results were/are
outstanding!

On July 27th, the weather gave us a break. I spent the entire evening doing
polar alignment (playing as it were...). There was visual setup.
Celestrons All-Star polar alignment. And finally a few hours of PemPro
(V2). I got to within half a minute in both RA and DEC. I really dont know
how close others get, but I think I am pretty happy with that.  When I
re-configure in October, Ill try for better. How close do some of you get
the polar alignment??

Well, on July 28th, I was going to do a new 2+4 alignment, and try a few
images. I figured maybe 1 or 2, as I did not know how well the new ADM
side-by-side saddle was going to work out (Meade 80mm ED APO). Turns out it
was GREAT! GOTOs were right on the money. First tests using a nice star
field produced nice images with 2 minute guided images, and to my surprise,
did more or less the same, unguided !   I was impressed !!

I ended up getting about a dozen images that night. Good thing, as the
clouds moved back in. The mount is now torn down, and stored until October.
But I know it works !!

There are a couple images of the setup on my web homepage:
http://az-douglass.net/astronomy/index.htm

And several of the images from the 28th are shown on the Recent Images
page:
http://az-douglass.net/astronomy/index_5.htm

Feel free to browse around have a look. Any and all comments appreciated.
Clear Skies, and safe summer travels to everyone.

David M. Douglass
dmdouglass@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (secondary)
david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (main)
Cell  (602) 908-9092


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[AZ-Observing] "First Light" with a new mount (CGEM) and OTA (Edge-8")

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