Open: Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 1351 MST Temperature: 84°F

Session: 924 Conditions: Partly cloudy, breezy

I opened the observatory to try out my new full aperture solar filter with the 12" LX600. Although there were a lot of clouds in the sky I wanted to test the filter before Thursday's transit of the Sun by the Hubble Space Telescope (per CalSky). I also wanted to do some more troubleshooting of the Wi-Fi connection issue I've had with the LX600. For today's troubleshooting I switched from the Wireless AutoStar II handcontroller to the wired AutoStar II handcontroller.

I powered on the telescope, turned the StarLock OFF (probably unnecessary since both its lenses were covered), and did a GOTO the Sun using the "Sun as Asteroid". The Sun was placed just outside of the 2" 24mm UWA eyepiece (102X) field-of-view. Once I centered the Sun in the eyepiece the view was OK, although it was seriously hampered by poor seeing. Two small sunspots were visible. I also used a 2" 30mm eyepiece (81X) to view the Sun using the solar filter. I have posted my review of the Thousand Oaks Optical Solar Filter.

Next, I powered on the GC Wi-Fi Adapter and used SkySafari 5 Pro from the iPhone 6s Plus to check the Wi-Fi connection to the LX600. This time it worked. I also checked ScopeBoss and it also connected. The previous failed attempts were with the Meade Wireless AutoStar II connected to the telescope. I don't know why the LX600 can not have both the wireless AutoStar and Wi-Fi when my 8" LX200-ACF could use both at the same time. Maybe there is less circuit isolation on the LX600? Anyway, problem solved.

I then Parked the 12" LX600 using the Custom Park setting. Unfortunately, that uses the current position of the telescope as a "Park" position, which was not what I wanted. I powered the LX600 back on, changed to the default Park position, and Parked the telescope. Although that position is somewhat inconvenient, it would be more inconvenient to always have to slew to the desired position before Parking. So, I'll stick with the default.

I then photographed all my eyepieces and adapters for the Equipment page.

Close: Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 1551 MST Temperature: 70°F

Session Length: 2h 00m Conditions: Partly cloudy

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I have posted my FOV Measurements spreadsheet. This is the LX600 tab:

Click or tap on image for larger version

Other tabs on the spreadsheet have magnification calculations and measurements for the 8" LX200-ACF. You can modify the spreadsheet as needed for your equipment.

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