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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 3:53:54 GMT
Well, here is today's solar sunset catching setup. Lunt LS60THA/B600, Mallincam Jr. PRO, QFX 16" monitor, Atlas EQ-G for this run (doing double duty; usually carries a 10" Meade SCT while the solar scope and 90mm refractor ride on an Orion EQ-2), Toshiba laptop for imaging when the mood strikes. For video outreach, just the PRO, Lunt, EQ-2, and monitor, or PRO, 10" SCT, EQ-G, and monitor. For bragging outreach, an 18" Teeter Planet Killer truss dob. Already swapped out the Lunt for the Meade for tonight.
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Post by Dragon Man on Jan 3, 2014 8:12:24 GMT
Ah Hah!!! proof that you are worse than me with cable spaghetti and you picked on my cable tangle in the mallincam yahooo Group But it looks like a great setup Jim
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Post by johnno on Jan 3, 2014 13:06:34 GMT
Jim, watch your monitor does not fall off the table
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 14:53:27 GMT
Ah Hah!!! proof that you are worse than me with cable spaghetti and you picked on my cable tangle in the mallincam yahooo Group But it looks like a great setup Jim My employer shuts the plant down for about ten days around the end of year holidays (meaning only three holidays during the year), and our club generally has no outreach requirements in that period, so rather than my gear riding around in my truck, ready for a star party at the drop of an email request, I get to leave it all set up on my pad in the back yard. Today is the day of reckoning...it all needs to be taken down and loaded in the truck, as our first club meeting of the year is tonight, and our first outreach is tomorrow night.
The cables weren't always snaking around, looking for a stray rabbit on which to snack. On days 1-5, the table only a foot from the mount, each cable was in its own coiled loop with a small Velcro tie wrap laying neatly side by side on the table, and only the bare minimum extracted for the power, two data lines, and computer controller line or hand box line. All laying on the table in neat coils, and shut down for the evening was merely stowing the camera and two or three turns on each line to rewrap and stow in a pocket for each in the equipment bag. Throw the cover over the scope, and done in four or five minutes. Days 6-10, some mad man move the table away from the mount, cables got unwrapped, and I learned they have a mating season after I shut down. But all will be stowed in the truck tonight, meaning the next personal observing opportunity will mean a forty five minute unpack, three trips with rolling carts from the front garage to the back yard, some personal time, and repack the truck for the next outreach. All good things pass. At times, since my truck sits in the driveway about two feet off the cul-de-sac, I have been known to ignore the pad and just set up in the street in front of the driveway and use the tailgate as my table and invite the neighbors over for a view.
But my 18" Teeter truss dob is hatching a plot against me, I just know it. Learning the video game, I have not had it out in nearly seven months. He will be cranky next time I just want eyepiece time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 15:04:16 GMT
Jim, watch your monitor does not fall off the table :)Usually it sits facing the scope, so I can sit at that side of the table and reach the solar or 90mm refractor focus knobs and see the large monitor view. But I moved the table well back to get to the 10" SCT while setting up for Jupiter and M42 (from the view in the picture, M42 and Jupiter would both be straight past the mount and about fifty degrees elevation; no room for a human in that quadrant with the star diagonal over the table), so the neat coils got unwound, and the monitor moved around to the side with the electric focuser for the 10". What you don't see are the Velcro patches on the table to mount a Computer Cave so I don't disturb the other observers at group events, and the matching Velcro on the bottom of the monitor base.
So much easier at outreach with scope, mount, and camera next to a table with a monitor.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 22:39:39 GMT
Nice setup Jim, and a fantastic scope. How do you get on with the Jr pro. It is on my list of possible cams.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2014 5:48:44 GMT
Nice setup Jim, and a fantastic scope. How do you get on with the Jr pro. It is on my list of possible cams. I started with the Junior in March, and enjoyed working with it by I wanted more than the maximum 4 seconds of integration time of the Jr. When the PRO was announce, with the same EX HAD Color chip as the MC Extreme but at the Class 2 level, and nearly the same price as the Junior with virtually all the features of the MCEX, I jumped at it.
I've been using it for about two months, mostly the Moon, Venus, and a few open clusters. I only recently branched out into solar and nebulae. It is everything I hoped it could be. The only concern is that documentation has not kept up with the product, and is still in work, so much of the guidance comes from adopting/adapting procedures and setup information from other MC units or guidance from Jack Huerkamp or Rock Mallin directly until a user guide is developed. But performance wise, it is a great performer for the price.
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