| CalStar 2025 Got in a day early, on Tuesday. At first, it was just Al and I. Not long after Al and I got our rigs set up, Randy rolled in (far right). Randy brought a bunch of hamburgers for a community feed. Since the forecast was lousy, he had lots of extra, So we had burgers that first night. |
CalStar 2025 This was the first time out in the field for Al and his new baby, an Astro-Physics 1100. He got it used from a fellow on the East coast. So, on this trip, his new mount got "first light." After working out a few software bugs the first night, Al was happy to report that everything worked as advertised. |
CalStar 2025 On Wednesday, all the regulars began rolling in. Here, my telescope on the left, Al on the right and Steve's RV waaaay back there in the center. |
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| CalStar 2025 During the day it was usually a little cloudy, but pleasant. Tuesday and Wednesday nights the skies were clear with good seeing, but the forecast for the rest of the week was overcast and rain. Mornings were 40 degrees. Combine that with rain, and i figured it just wasn't worth hanging around. In addition, I wasn't too confident in the door seals on the U-haul van, as some of them were missing, so I packed it all up and headed home on Thursday evening. |
CalStar 2025 Steve really enjoys making his own telescopes. Here are two that he made himself - both Dobs. I believe one is 10" and the other 12." He also grinds the mirrors himself, too. |
CalStar 2025 Steve with one of his smaller scopes. The woodwork and the finishes are really outstanding. |
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| CalStar 2025 Al's new rig. The biggest issue that he had was that with the new pier, the legs stick out quite a ways, and since the telescope weighs in at 100 lbs, he needs a lift to get it onto the mount. It took a while to figure out how to get the lift close enough to the mount to get the scope mounted. Eventually he got it all figured out :) Astronomers, if anything, are good at improvising and solving problems out in the field. |
CalStar 2025 Here he is feeling good about his new toy. |
CalStar 2025 Of course, I needed to get my "Hero Shot" in, too. Notice that i've got my camera mounted on the back of the scope. I was planning on doing some imaging this trip, but the main battery I use for my laptop decided that it was tired of working, and failed that first night. Still had a couple of smaller batteries to power the mount, so I wasn't completely DOA for the trip. |
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| CalStar 2025 Steve and Bill's rigs set up and ready for action. |
CalStar 2025 Bill's camping spot. |
CalStar 2025 Bill and another astronomer from Santa Cruz. |
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