caught up

Manuel phoned. Thanked me for sending over the photos. Said he enjoyed reading my blogger profile. Hoped I wasn't a bad hacker.

Was curious the details of the photos I had shot. But I didn't have them in front of me. He noted the trailing in the Pleiades image from Starfest. I concurred. Pointed out they were only test shots to determine the presence of aurora.

Asked if was busy on Saturday. Said Christian, a new RASC member, would be joining him. Told him I was planning to go to the DDO for the public night.

He shared that he's thinking about replacing the 8" SCT with a 5" (127mm) refractor. The Explore Scientific. Carbon Fiber. He liked the images it produces. And he wants to avoid collimation issues. And he wouldn't have to worry about dew.

Said he sorted out the issues with the Atlas mount. Put some grease on the azimuth screws. He said the three star alignment always fails so he's not going to use it anymore.