Random Things - New Telescope
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| The Celestron Equatorial Head CGXL is larger than the entire C9.25" OTA. The massive and heavy system is being removed from the observatory balcony to make room for the new Unistellar eVscope for both planetary and deep sky work. |
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| The eVscope app will compensate for light pollution when "City" is chosen. Other options include Suburb and Countryside. |
The new Unistellar evscope is close to working but not there yet. I'm waiting for tonight when our international times match up for a phone call between OPT in California and here in Taiwan. In the meantime, I'm making more space by removing the massive Celestron telescope and mount from the patio and storing it inside. The high resolution planets will need to wait for another opposition during another year.
The focus is now on the eVscope. In fleeting moments, the live unenhanced screen in a random section of the sky showed 12 stars when the light pollution was so heavy I could not see one star by unaided eyes. The telescope has real potential in cutting through a Bortle 9-10 sky.
TIP: I have confirmed the telescope won't boot up when the house wifi is dominating the signal. You must turn off the house wifi and the telescope will boot properly in about 5 seconds.
TIP: The fastest telescope in Asia! - I keep the eVscope inside assembled with the tube on the opened tripod. Then before observing, carry the telescope outside through the opened sliding glass patio door and set it there. It takes about 3 seconds to do that! I use the iPhone flashlight to look at the level bubble and confirm it's centered - about 10 seconds. Then the telescope can set there, with the tube cover removed, for about a half hour to reach thermal equilibrium.
TIP: Mercury vapor lights from the ballpark, shining directly on the front of the telescope tube, will cause image noise and pink color stripes. Make sure there are no lights shining on the telescope.
I had pressed a GOTO button and before the new scope disconnected it slewed directly to Neptune and placed it in the center field of view! The potential for this telescope is tremendous!
In removing the Celestron, once again there is confirmation about this system being too large and heavy to handle. Just breaking it down into the basic pieces to bring inside took around an hour. On the other hand, the eVscope is just hand carried outdoors and ready to go in three minutes.
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| The room has become a jungle of telescope. The 3-inch Dob is moved to the shelf. The 9.25 is on the floor by the desk. The C14 is in the closet. The mount is in pieces by the doors and shelves. The eVscope takes center attraction, is charging while waiting for another night under the sky, only this time it will have the entire patio to itself. This should increase the size of the available sky towards the East, Southeast, and Northeast. |
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| When you have an image you like, you can save it with this "save image" or "download photo" icon. You can also use a screen capture, or pinch enlarge the image and then screen capture it. |
TIP: I have confirmed the telescope won't boot up when the house wifi is dominating the signal. You must turn off the house wifi and the telescope will boot properly in about 5 seconds.
TIP: The fastest telescope in Asia! - I keep the eVscope inside assembled with the tube on the opened tripod. Then before observing, carry the telescope outside through the opened sliding glass patio door and set it there. It takes about 3 seconds to do that! I use the iPhone flashlight to look at the level bubble and confirm it's centered - about 10 seconds. Then the telescope can set there, with the tube cover removed, for about a half hour to reach thermal equilibrium.
TIP: Mercury vapor lights from the ballpark, shining directly on the front of the telescope tube, will cause image noise and pink color stripes. Make sure there are no lights shining on the telescope.
I had pressed a GOTO button and before the new scope disconnected it slewed directly to Neptune and placed it in the center field of view! The potential for this telescope is tremendous!
In removing the Celestron, once again there is confirmation about this system being too large and heavy to handle. Just breaking it down into the basic pieces to bring inside took around an hour. On the other hand, the eVscope is just hand carried outdoors and ready to go in three minutes.
