Monday morning, 27 March 2023, I went to the observatory. There had been a question posted on a Meade group on Facebook about what type screwdriver was needed to remove the four screws on the Stella Wi-Fi Adapter case to access the battery. I checked my Stella Wi-Fi Adapter. Although not a perfect match, a Torx-5 seemed to work.

Unfortunately, all four screws were very tightly screwed on and the heads on two of the screws easily stripped. I had hoped to remove the battery since it no longer charges. I use the Wi-Fi adapter on AC, so hoped the battery was not needed. I use a Leviton Grounded Switch Tap to control power to the adapter, so I do not have to worry about the battery overcharging and potentially overheating.

Monday evening, was mostly clear, but I did not open the observatory as I had been fighting a cold for the past week. Same on Tuesday, 28 March. Wednesday afternoon, I managed to conduct the second Oracle community meeting on re-forming the Oracle Dark Skies Committee to pursue the designation of Oracle as an IDA International Dark Sky Community. Wednesday evening, was windy and partly cloudy; I was still fighting off the cold. Cloudy skies returned on Thursday, 30 March, along with periods of strong wind. Friday, 31 March, was cloudy. That afternoon a POD owner re-visited Cassiopeia Observatory along with the contractor who made my POD Zenith Table (PZT) in 2020. The sky cleared on Saturday, 1 April.

Open: Saturday, 1 March 2023, 1817 MST Temperature: 64°F

Session: 1846 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
1.25" 15mm eyepiece
2" 30mm eyepiece

Camera:
iPhone 13 Pro Max

1822 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

Viewed Venus, 102X and 163X. The gibbous phase was nice in the bright blue sky.

Attached the LiDAR Cover on the iPhone 13 Pro Max and mounted the iPhone on the 15mm eyepiece using the Levenhuk adapter.

Took this afocal 163X image of Venus using NightCap Camera (ISO 40, 1/16000sec, 1X lens).

I then did 30 seconds of video (30 fps) of Venus, 163X, using NightCap Camera (ISO 34, 1/35714sec, 1X lens). This is a stack of the 921 video frames.

1846 MST: Sunset.

1851 MST: Viewed Mercury very low in the western sky, 102X and 163X. Its gibbous phase was visible.

Then viewed the waxing gibbous Moon, 102X and 81X.

Mounted the iPhone on the 30mm eyepiece and took this afocal 81X image using the Camera app (1X lens).

1910 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Saturday, 1 April 2023, 1917 MST Temperature: 57°F

Session Length: 1h 00m Conditions: Clear

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Visit Oracle State Park, International Dark-Sky Association "International Dark Sky Park", Saturday, 22 April 2023, to Celebrate Earth Day & International Dark Sky Week (15-22 April). Astronomers Davy Levy and Tim Hunter are featured speakers. Star party at night with telescopes. Details: https://azstateparks.com/oracle/events/earth-day-event-at-oracle

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