We’re planning a short trip to Casitas de Gila just outside Silver City, New Mexico to do some astrophotography. I’ve learned from prior astrophotography trips that it is a good idea to assemble and test all the equipment before leaving home. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee that nothing will go awry, but it does greatly increase the chances of success. So, I have assembled one of the two telescopes that I plan to take on our trip, and I am testing all the connections among the various components and the laptop computer. Susan caught this image of me tinkering with my gear in the living room earlier this afternoon.
This little scope is a 3 1/4″ widefield, APO astrograph. When I connected the laptop to the mount, I discovered that communications software that talks to the mount is not the correct version for this mount. So, I have updated the software in hopes that it will work correctly this time. Sigh, it’s always something. 🙁
This reminds me that I read an email from LG today; the company sends me updates and various offers on their products because I have bought two 65″ OLED TVs of their brand in recent years. This particular email showcased their new 97″ OLED flat-screen TV. It’s only $24,999. They are practically giving it away. I bet Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the American oligarchs have several in their homes.