Every year I use the Skycamp as a testing ground for new equipment and gadgets since it is the best location and skies to test them. This year I had a couple of things I wanted to do. Firstly, to test out a wireless communication system for my telescope and secondly to obtain decent digital images of Jupiter.
Tent fun!
One thing I hadn't considered setting up before travelling up to Skycamp was the tent. Well, basically I forgot how to set up the simplest of toilet tents used to house the laptop and accessory equipment (see last year's pictures) and subsequently shattered two the carbon-fibre rods that provides the general shape and rigidity of the tent. Unfortunately the tent as it 'stood' was not very strong and the shape was such that it looked a little art decor! but thanks to a heavy dose of masking tape kindly donated by a friend (thanks Ken!), the tent held together for the weekend and was still functional. Luckily the weekend was wind-free! The worse case scenario would have been working from out of the back of the car. The tent provides me with a cosy enclave sheltering all equipment and myself from the elements. With a small electric heating fan running at low power I was kept relatively warm in comparison to being exposed in the open most of the night. As a result I lasted much longer than I did last year because I felt the cold less.
Bluetooth Wireless Communication
For quite a while I have been considering to set up a Bluetooth (BT) wireless connection between the telescope and the laptop. The Autostar uses a bog-standard Serial RS232C connection for communication so it wasn't too difficult to find on the internet a gadget that converted any Serial device to a Bluetooth wireless device.
In fact I decided to opt for a cheaper alternative than the so-called 'dedicated' Serial to Bluetooth telescope adaptors that are produced by astronomical product retailers such as Software Bisque, these cost in upwards of $110 dollars.
My cost effective solution is a MaxValue BT to Serial adaptor. It comes with its own USB and +5v power transformer. The price? only £22.
Now since USB power uses +5v DC to power it, I decided to go one better and use a USB travel power battery kit instead of using the power transformer supplied with the adaptor (which would have required yet another AC power socket under the telescope). These travel batteries are designed to charge or power mobile phones and mp3 players etc... Maplins supply such a kit and is supplied with various leads, one which connects the battery to the BT adaptor. The battery is rated at 2200mAh so it provides power to the BT adaptor for many hours. In fact it powered the adaptor for the entire weekend and only used up a small amount of juice. See picture.
The system worked perfectly throughout the weekend. The adaptor and battery was placed inside a small plastic box which also contained two transformers that powered the Dew Heater and LXD mount. The electronics were kept dry and relatively warm.
Touring the Norfolk
With the wireless system up and running it was time to test it out. I decided to take my LXD55 AR-6 6 inch refractor on the LXD75 mount to the camp this year as I want to get the best images of Jupiter and to be honest I prefer it to my 8 inch SCT.
Friday night was exceptionally clear with some of the best transparent skies I have ever seen up at the site. Setup was not without event as my GPS failed so I had to resort to entering site and time details manually into the Autostar handset. Luckily I already stored the lat-long details in the Carte Du Ciel astronomy software. I also synchronised the time on my laptop with the help of a radio controlled clock. With perfect polar alignment achieved the GOTO system worked flawlessly throughout the whole weekend. The GOTO system was running accurately and I managed to observe large a number of objects including those that I don't normally see. I managed to stay up until about 3am, making the most of the clear sies.
Jupiter Imaging
My aim of the weekend was to get images of Jupiter through the refractor both observationally and digitally and I was not disappointed! I got some excellent views through the telescope, the best I have had for many years.
My first imaging attempt was to use an LPI but I found it easier to use the ToUcam Pro II instead. I cannot seem to get on with the LPI software - too time consuming to play around with it whilst out in the field.
The hardest part of the imaging task was trying to focus the Jupiter so I enlisted a friend to help me - in the future I will probably invest in a motor focuser (I am currently looking at an Orion Accufocuser and a Shoestring Autofocus PC interface). I took about five movies of Jupiter and processed the best one with the latest version of Registax v5.
Unprocessed
Processed
The Weekend
Saturday was the main event day. Trade stands lined the yellow field for most of the day and lectures took place in the Kelling Heath bar. Speakers included Bob Mizon and Nik Syzmanek.
There was a telescope tour from Loughton member Alan Marriott demonstrating the various types of telescope design of instruments scattered through the fields.
During the day raffle tickets were available from Loughton Society's stand located on the bandstand in the square. In the early evening the raffle prize draw took place where all prizes were kindly donated from vendors.
The day was sunny and warm with clear skies, but as the Sun went down it began to cloud over and despite some clear random patches, very little observing was done that night.
Sunday was a another bright sunny day. There were more lectures in afternoon, but normally I dont attend them because traditionally my family and I visit Cromer for the afternoon.
By the time the Sun was setting it was looking very likely the night was going to be a clear one. Once again I was not dissapointed. I decided to stick to observing rather than imaging and managed to see more objects than I did on the Friday night including M81, M51, NGC7662 (Blue Snowball) as well as four planets; Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Mars.
On the whole Skycamp was a great success, two out of three nights were clear. Over 1300 people attended on the Saturday and it has become the largest Skycamp in Europe. Looking forward to next year where we have booked a lodge and a pitch for 10 nights.
