Well, here I am again.

The original cloud cover forecast was 100% but now it’s about 20 to 30 percent. this really gives APT a workout with target locking and using PHD2 for cloud control. I’ll try and get some more Ha data for the LBN 298 project.

PA, only clouds in the sky at the time, the starting point.  Then gremlins run around, unable to plate solve, the mount now seems to be stuck in Alt/Az mode. Lost the axes data.  Easy enough to manually slew using the Pegasus Unity software on my tablet. I’ll have to look at the app for it for Android.  

Once I had the mount back in the correct home position, I reran Polar Alignment and a 6-point alignment plan, everything worked, other than plate solving with PS3 is now taking upwards of 45 seconds to solve.  However, I think that may have been caused by initial misalignment in Alt/Az mode, however that happened.  I’ve also had to recalibrate the guiding data every night now.  Puzzles to solve, however, I for whatever reason unknown yet.  Once calibration is redone, I get sub pixel drift.

For whatever reason, plate solving while now working is taking upwards of 45 seconds to solve, new issue to puzzle.  Solving during Session Craft recentering only taking about 12 seconds.  All said and done, realign PA, recalibrate guide camera. Now, on to the target.

Since the Mistress of the Night is out in almost her full glory I decided to go straight Ha again, there is about an hours’ worth of DSD tonight that might allow me to capture some more RGB for LBN 298 project if everything goes at that point in time, unlike last night when after the flip, noting worked until the target was about 69 degrees height. Either way, once all the gremlins were squashed, about two hours after Astro Twilight End. Hopefully no gremlins tonight.  Not going to flip, just let it ride until it’s time to move on to the RGB plan for it and we’ll see what happens.

Started getting some clouds come in around 12:45. APT counted the star loss count and reset almost immediately after stopping fir about a second. That lasted maybe fifteen minutes.

So, as I suspected, guiding goes to crap past the meridian and requires a calibration. This is new to the NYX, I don’t hat problem with the Sky Watcher mounts. I watch guiding working fine until it passed through.  Recalibration didn’t take long.  Needed to calibrate on the western side and guiding was back to within sub pixel

Plate solving fails around the meridian as well, how odd.  I do believe it’s somewhere between 65 and 70 degrees when it starts to fail. Something about that target LBN 298, still wasn’t solving when around 65 degrees altitude.  Not sure if it’s just that target or what yet.

Running 30 second darks then calling it a night.  I’ll have one last task to do after brining in the gear is to take flat and bias calibration frames.  Something new to learn with the monochrome, cool.  And I have decent data to boot. 

Clear Skies