Short Session: iPhone 5s Adapter Tests
Posted: 30 September 2013
The observatory was opened on Sunday, 29 September 2013, at 2014 MST, 73°F. The sky was clear. This would be a short session to test a modification I made to my homemade iPhone afocal adapter. The modification (moving two wires to tighten up loop on adapter) was done to reduce shifting of the camera-eyepiece optical alignment.
At 2022 MST, viewed Neptune, 83X. It appeared as a small blue dot.
I switched to the 1.25" 26mm eyepiece (77X) and added a 2X Barlow Lens (yielding 154X). I slewed the 8" LX200-ACF to the star Fomalhaut and focused the star to my eye using the Bahtinov Mask. I locked the telescope focus. I attached the iPhone 5s (with the earbuds remote shutter release) to the afocal adapter. With some difficulty, I managed to get the star nearly centered in the camera and took a photo using the iOS 7 Camera app:
Next, slewed to Neptune. Nothing was visible on the phone display. Slewed back to Fomalhaut. Again, nothing was visible. Obviously the optical alignment had shifted during the slewing as the camera moved in the adapter. I need to do more work on my homemade adapter.
At 2048 MST, took a quick look at Neptune at 222X. Nice view of the planet.
On my previous report, I had mentioned a bright light that was on at the home of a new neighbor. This night it was off. Thanks neighbor!
The observatory was closed at 2058 MST, 69°F.
I recently mentioned that HughesNet would be installing their satellite Internet access system here on Monday, 30 September. Installation has been rescheduled to Wednesday, 2 October.
Comments are welcome; use the Comments section below, or you can Email Me. Thanks.
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