Thanks to you two!

Haven't heard back from CdC. Not surprised though. It's very popular software, so I surmise they're up to their ears in people howling for help. I still can't get over the fact that here I am - pumping-up CdC as the go-to software for asteroid-tracking, and it blows-up!

I wonder if it works on other things.....? Let's see - what else can I break by advocating how good it is.....<KaBOOM!!>

 

CdC tend to fix bugs slowly as it's just a couple of guys in France.

 

That's what I figured. They're probably pulling their hair out currently. I've corrosponded with 'Pat' (i may have the name wrong - so I apologize in advance) before and he's a very nice fellow. I feel sorry for him.

I'll be checking in periodically.

D.

 

It might be a server issue or something anyway.

 

In case you missed it, Neb's reported to me/us this is true from his location in Quebec. And Alex W. wrote to ask if I had the log(s) to this. To my error I didn't - I was too much in a hurry to get a working (32b.) up & running and had shredded the crashed one's.

Since my move to Windoze 10, I have yet to clean out my Stellarium files. Too busy throwing (shredding) things out to clear-up my 'Miles'-O-Files' rather than adding to!

 

I miss a lot of things lol.



On the positive side, indoor 'Velcro' trials with the Astrozap controller look promising ... unlike the weather!

 

I hear that! Only a few breaks in the clouds here last PM. Ah well, I got a lot of things done I'd been putting off - at least. 'Least' being the operative word.....

Here's an approaching Dust-Storm here on Earth closing-in on the Australian coastline. If thought Martian Dust-Storms' were a Pain-In-The-Arse, try this one!

​

<Koff! Koff!>

​

 

That's a big dust storm!

 

Velcro trials with the Vixen Porta ...

 

Looking good, Mak.

Those Vixen Porta II AltAz Mounts are quite good. I use mine for the SW 150mm Maksutov MCT. Works nicely. It's a keeper - at least until I find something better, in a AltAz Mount. Which is little out there in out there - in AltAz at least. The manufacturers' seem to be addicted to EQ-mounts. I'm not to thrilled by the tripod though.


Hey all -

Cartes du Ciel has righted itself. Asteroids - updating is now up & running again!

Yay!!

 

The Porta II is pretty good, although it can have limitations. I've been told that even if you put the mount on a heavier tripod it can apparently suffer instability and vibrations. This very much depends on the size and weight of the scope placed in the mount however. I've never noticed any instability/vibration with an ST80 (even with 2" accessories), a 127mm Mak or the ST102. I first discussed this issue on SGL, but typically the irritating and obtuse Stupid Stu trolled the discussion I was having with stupid remarks, and was basically trying to start a flame war. The person I was talking to had had a lot of vibration problems and I was trying to understand what he was telling me, as it was a bit of an enigma to me as I'd never encountered these problems. He had been using a wooden tripod that was quite heavy and still discovered a long four inch refractor was causing problems. Eventually Stupid Stu made it impossible to have a meaningful conversation with the guy (most discussions are pointless on SGL anyway) so I went to Cloudy Nights and other forums to get more info on this. From what I can gather the Porta II was probably originally intended for Vixen medium length refractors of around 90mm aperture. I'm guessing that it's the length of the OTA that can cause vibrational issues and eventually I talked to a lot of people willing to discuss their experiences with the Porta II. So far I've come to a few conclusions about the Porta II:

1/ It was probably originally intended for Vixen refractors of around 80 ~ 90mm, very likely around f/8 (medium length OTA), hence the lighter supplied tripod.

2/ It can quite happily mount heavier short OTA's; my 127mm Mak is steady as a rock. It doesn't surprise me it holds your 150mm Mak. In fact I've seen a picture of a Porta II (on a heavier tripod) with a 200mm SCT mounted on it!

3/ Short tube refractors of up to 102mm are equally steady, even with relatively heavy eyepieces and diagonals.

4/ Problems only seem to arise when used in conjunction with long focal length refractors around 10cm (or over) in aperture.

CdC is working for me now.

 

Yes - CdC has been fixed!

As for the Porta II - I am intending to put this on what Meade is calling: Giant Field Tripod. If that doesn't render it impervious to ground-vibrations, then nothing will.

 

Meade seem to market really good tripods, Synta could learn from them lol.

 

The Kendrick dew heater has arrived.



Looks promising, although I doubt it will see action tonight.



Kendrick recommend pushing it up to full in temperatures approaching 0°C. I doubt I'll be needing a bigger powertank yet!



The TS Planetary HR arrived. I can't remember why I ordered this.



Maybe because of the FC on the 14mm ES 82°, although it isn't that bad.



It has a Smyth lens drawtube. Seems good in daylight trials, maybe test it Tuesday night? Who knows? lol

 

At least I got to test the rapid deployment 102mm Mak for an hour, before the clouds. I saw the Moon at 50x, 87x and 100x. Alas the transparency wouldn't allow anything higher. Also had a quick peek at Saturn at 100x.



Highlights included the Bay of Rainbows, Riphaeus Mountains and Clavius.

 

We're under the clouds here as well. The forecast has been wrong all week.

Typical.

 

Weather changes so fast here anyway lol.

 

The old New England saying:

"If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute."

It's true.

 

Maybe that's why it's called New England.

 

I have no doubt.