DROOOOOLLLLLZZZZZZ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
![admire2 [smilie=admire2.gif]](./images/smilies/admire2.gif)
Jupiter i finally saw u~~
expecting another lousy morning, last night i packed the mount which was in the middle of my room to clear up some space.. 630am, alarm went off... looked out the window.. it doesnt seems too cloudy. took a look at Jupiter's direction. there she is!!
![cheer [smilie=cheer.gif]](./images/smilies/cheer.gif)
.. but wait.. where is my 6" newt?!?!?!
never fear~~
![angel [smilie=angel.gif]](./images/smilies/angel.gif)
FirstScope is here!!!
![blocked [smilie=blocked.gif]](./images/smilies/blocked.gif)
in less that 2 minutes it was deployed a 20mm Meade Plossl , a 6mm Televue Plossl and a 2x barlow.
without a finderscope (its not zeroed and being floor level i cant use it anyway), i eyeballed down the tube to gauge roughly where Jupiter is. as it was not focus, it was easy to find a huge fuzzy ball in the field of view. centered the ball n focused. viola~~
![bye2 [smilie=bye2.gif]](./images/smilies/bye2.gif)
JUPITER~~~
from a 3" scope + a 20mm lens, Jupiter was a 1 mm wide ball of light. with no details. however, i could still see the 4 moons. 3 one 1 side, and another 1 on the other side. they were very dim pixels. switching to the 6mm + 2x barlow it was slightly bigger and the 5 objects fill the field of view just nice.. and i have to manually track the objects as their drift was very apparent. with a bigger jupiter, i still could not see any bands. it was still too small for me to make out any details. wanting to see how it fared with its stock lens, i took out the 4mm Hyugen and had a look. the best focus i could have was still a fuzzy ball.. not a sharp image i can achieve with a 6mm + barlow, but its moons are still visible though.
dawn is breaking and fast, how can i let this chance pass by without looking at it thru the 6" newt?!
![dying [smilie=dying.gif]](./images/smilies/dying.gif)
how hard can it be to setup the EQ mount? its not like i need it polar aligned right? hence
![super [smilie=super.gif]](./images/smilies/super.gif)
, i took out the tripod spread the legs, mount the tray and screw in the thumb screw. attached the mount head. lock it in place, screw in the counterweight shaft. attached the counterweight and the stopper screw.next are the flexible tubes for minute adjustment, attached the tube rings, mount the tube and lastly attached the view finder. all done in under 5 minutes. it was like the pitstop crew changing a F1 car's tyre. and all done in under 5 minutes
![cool [smilie=cool.gif]](./images/smilies/cool.gif)
. 5 minutes. fortunate for me i marked on the counterweight shaft where the weight should be and on the OTA where the tube rings should so that the setup is balanced.
Good thing i like about the viewfinder is that it manages to keep its zero quite well. even after repeated mount and dismount. trying to swing the scope to the target is a different issue. in the end, just got the planet into the corner of the viewfinder and used the slow adjustments to centre it. Yup, jupiter is in the field of view of the 20mm slightly off but still good. quickly centered it. jupiter is still a small ball of light with its 4 moons. with a 4mm + 2x barlow...
![hell-yes [smilie=hell-yes.gif]](./images/smilies/hell-yes.gif)
the 2 brown bands are very clear. i can still frame it with its 4 moons.. although the drift is still visible, tracking it was still quite ok. its red eye is not visible this morning.. jupiter is probably still sleeping. had a nice view of jupiter for about 15 minutes, 645am to 7am. as the day got brighter, the planet got fuzzier.. sadly, i had to keep my stuff.. sun is rising..