Restless . . .

July 25.

For the last few weeks, I've been bookmarking ultimate darksky acreage out west. Then I started looking for a cheap pickup I could outfit as a mobile observatory. Either as an adjunct to the former or not (there's a lot of BLM land out there that would do fine). Then I remembered that either of those options, together or separate, would cost more than I could afford without wrecking the IRA. (Still... the right acres, the right truck, the right level of fidget...) So I bought something cheapish to tide me over.

Stellar Technologies shipped a Stiletto-IV focusser for Canon EOS mounts on Monday. I got it this morning (Wednesday). This is the latest gadget added to my toybox toolbox devoted to making astrophotography as straightforward as possible and to not wasting valuable time when I do get a chance to get out under the stars. Nothing is much more frustrating than spending 10-12 hours collecting slightly fuzzy data.

Got to say: Tom's endorsement of this devise seems spot on so far. (So far is 20 minutes just fiddling with it.) It's a very nice piece of hardware, has wonderful documentation on the CD, was sanely packaged, and included a surprisingly nice Plossl as its focusing eyepiece. Exudes confidence, which is an important feature for hardware offered in support of difficult and arcane avocations. In fact, it's such a nice piece of gear, I am sure I've called in days of rain (or at least clouds) before I'll get to try it out.

 

Tried out the Stilleto while
shooting a lunar eclipse at sunrise.
Worked great.

See pix here.

 

 

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Text & Photos by David Cortner
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