Yesterday was almost productive for me. Got off work early (always good) and got home to sunshine and a new spot from the up and coming Solar Cycle 25. Come on, Solar Cycle 25!! People like me are waiting...
After I hoovered up some dinner, I went back out with a cold beer. After 9PM the sky started to darken, and I could see the setting 13.5% waxing crescent Moon heading toward the horizon. Hmmm... Well, I'm sitting here waiting for NEOWISE. Should I have another beer or be productive? Hey wait, let's multitask and do both!
A while ago, when it was cloudy and lockdown was in effect, I merged two scopes into one with some mods. Let me explain, hopefully in 500 words or less
About 6 years ago now, my daughter and I were at a garage sale. Amongst the other items, there was a Tasco 55VTE, a Safari 60mm at
So, the Tasco 55VTE objective was used to make my Towatron. Love this scope. The Safari I haven't done a thing with. The Skywatcher.... Well, about a year or so ago, I picked up two 76mm's within two weeks of each other. One is a Towa on a nice wooden
That led me to try an experiment. I took the primary mirror and cell, as well as the secondary from the Tasco 3TE. Next, center circled the primary, and mounted it all in the Skywatcher tube. Yup, works fine. I then took out the focuser and used my
I fabricated a tube-ring for it so I could mount the scope on my CG4. When assembled, the whole mess looks like this (the red "light" is actually the reflector on my bicycle):
By now it was 9:30 and the Moon was sinking lower. I took 20 frames with my T2i at ISO 800 and 1/100th sec exposure. For what the scope is, I was happy with the result. Some mild processing in Registax:
For comparison, this was done a few minutes after with my C80-HD, an 80mm
I have to admit, I think the one done with the C80-HD is a little sharper, though the 76mm gives no false "cheesy"
Tonight is supposed to be clear. I have an appointment this afternoon, I'll see how that goes and how the weather holds. Running out of time to see NEOWISE here.
Have a great day/night all!