The LX600 tripod shipment was delayed and now should arrive on Tuesday, 16 February 2016.

Friday evening, 12 February, I did some more Moon photography using the Nikon D7200 DSLR, Tamron 150-600mm lens, and my new Barska Professional photographic tripod.

f/8, 1/320sec, ISO 640, FL 600mm:


Earthshine & stars, f/8, 1 sec, ISO 1600, FL 600mm:

Both photos above were cropped from the full-frame version. For comparison here is the full-frame version of the top photo above:

Click or tap on image for larger version

If you view the larger version (by clicking or tapping on the photo) you can see just how detailed Moon photos can be using this 600mm lens.

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Saturday morning, 13 February, 0900 MST, I went to the observatory to do a repair on a large area of the carpet on the patio:

Three years ago I had to do a smaller repair on the same area due to wearing from all my entries and exits through the observatory door. Three years later it needed to be repaired again.

I first brought everything needed to the patio: vacuum cleaner, scissors, leftover carpet from the original professional installation in August 2009, wood (for pressing on the carpet), trowel, stripper, and carpet glue.

I then measured the size of the needed replacement section, cut it, and placed it where it would eventually be glued to the concrete pad:

Next, I cutout the bad area and removed it. Well, I removed most of it. The repair I had done three years ago would not come off; apparently the glue was really strong! I decided I would just glue the new carpet over this old piece and hope it sticks. Here is the area cleaned off and ready for the carpet glue to be applied:

I was using the leftover glue from three years ago. It said it had a shelf life of 1 year after being opened. Again, I hope it sticks. As I began applying the glue I quickly realized that I would run out before completing the job. I became very judicious in applying the remainder. Once the glue was troweled on I placed the new carpet section down on the patio, put the boards on it, and began pressing the carpet down by walking on the boards. After a total job time of 2.5 hours, here is the final result:

I will check the repaired carpet over the next two days to see how well it is sticking.

I suspect that the next time the observatory patio carpet needs repairing I will use a professional installer and have the entire area re-carpeted.

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