After 1260 Km across Switzerland, France and northern Spain, I met Steve and Peter in Santander on October 16, where we overnighted before we drove the last 800 Km to Freganal de la Sierra. At that point the weather was good and warm … unfortunately it did not last.
Upon arrival, we quickly got to work, and on the 18th already a lot was done. From cleaning optics, “flattening” the camera on Pier14, to exchanging mounts on several Piers, we were off to a good start.
In comparison to what I have been using so far, the ASA mount is massive and weighs around 55 Kg. The installation required drilling 20mm holes into the Pier, to which we fixed the mount plate with 6xM18 bolts. Then Steve and I lifted the mount and installed it.
After some minor level adjustments, I could connect the power supply and control box to the mount. Finally, we drilled several holes in the base plate to connect the OTA, before reconnecting all the cables.
The cable passage through the mount is very well throughout and prevents snagging.
Polar alignment is a bit more tricky in the Alt direction, as screws have to be adjusted on both sides of the mount. Care has to be taken to avoid uneven tension, which we figured out once we had a few moments of clear sky in the polestar direction. We had to try several times due to the weather, but eventually got it aligned well enough for the mount to track M31 without any visible star deformations in 300s frame. This called for a small celebration!
Another goal of the trip was to install Pier15, following much of the same procedure. The Askar ACL200 f/4 APO promises to be a great scope for broad fields of view.
Besides the work at the observatory, which also included a number of updates to computer systems, weather systems and surveillance cameras, we had a really great time. Importantly, the excellent food prepared by Peter was a real treat… not to mention the unique experience of eating roasted black pig at a local restaurant.
While the weather conditions were poor and rainy, they allowed us to see many beautiful toads and salamanders that come out at night. We also had the visit of numerous rhinoceros beetles (genus Oryctes) at the observatory.
In summary, this was an absolutely superb trip, in excellent company, having lots of fun. Steve and Peter are an outstanding team and it was a real privilege to join them! I clearly learned a lot and much enjoyed the long working hours lighten up by lots of (british) humor.
Of course, I can hardly wait for to my next trip to Roboscopes, installing my new 14” Newtonian that Peter is building for me.