timthelder

Ok, now my second one of these, my latest outdoor pier thingy. I dug down about 18" and water started coming in. Left over from all the rain. Highest water table I've ever seen. So add some concrete and mix it in the hole. Sure would be nice to have a level surface to work off of. Wonder if I could fit an obs on that thing? Cheers, Tim.

How's that for click bait, lol. Been a while. Been a busy beaver, new to me home, new pier, new neighbors security light 30ft away from my 'second' pier installment. Lots of remodeling has passed, but I think I finally have things under control till spring comes back around (for us northern folk anyway.) I'll probably post several updates in their appropriate locations around the forums, but for now here is todays folly. Mercury transit. Got started about 5:45am with getting out 'the required stuff', I used the ole CG-5 mount as I did for the 2017 eclipse. Canon utilities still had my settings for full Sun, (NOT full btw,) and focus was still almost spot on. AFTER mucking around with the mount for about 30min because apparently some of the jacks had corroded since it's last use (only 2yrs ago, wtf?) Finally I got power and a late start. Long story short, clouds, clouds, clouds, and a few lucky captures. Finally, jeeze! S quick GIF of the session. I'll try and catch up with you fellers, sorry about the walk-about/haciades/absence. Tim.

Grabbed a couple of more last night...If I could've got started just a bit sooner, I could have went for Venus as well. Four planets spread out across the sky. Quite awe inspiring.

Planets. Finally, a 'sort of' clear night. Started off shortly after sunset with a nice view of our Earth's shadow projected onto the atmosphere. Then was able to revisit Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Not much detail on the side of Mars that was facing me at the time due to a very large dust storm currently in progress. Cheers, Tim.

Top notch Greg. Both of those are excellent. Tim.

Holy cow! I count 13, possibly 14. Definitely use median combine if you use that sub. I use median anyway to eliminate such anomalies. That's an eye opener for sure. Tim.

Some superb work Daryl. (Even better patience!) Tim.

Alright who are you, to be impersonating Daryll? Lol... Thanks mate. I gave it my best shot! Tim.

Glad you got to enjoy it!

About 72 kilometers. Took an hour to get there, 2 1/2 hours to get home. Traffic was horrendous! I had 2min, 38sec. of totality out of a possible 2.40. Looking forward to 2024. That one will be nearly twice as long!

SWEET Eric! Glad you were able to enjoy it! Tim.

Well, that's it. It's over. AND IT WAS GREAT! I had a good run, but I choked on Baily's beads and the corona. But. Everything I captured was a keeper. I should have a nice sequence of photos leading up to, and away from total eclipse, (first contact, last contact etc...post editing.) Here are my favorites. Tim.

Very impressive. Been following your trials and tribulations on FB. I don't think I have the patience for that thing! Tim.

Sorry for being a bit of a recluse lately, just been a bit preoccupied. But anyhoo.... Eclipse begins in 26hrs and I'm as anxious as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs! It's a little bit nut's here with all the safety warnings, threat of traffic from incoming travelers, etc. People trying to capitalize on this event. I will be on the road about daybreak to my imaging location. A few pics of preliminary stuff. The set-up, exposure settings, etc. I will be about 30 miles from prime location. Current forecast, mostly sunny. First pic, my exposure settings and imaging sequence. Last pic, through the refractor, ISO 100, F/9, 1/160th of a second. Wish me luck! Tim.

Dude!!! Ok, that's all I can say for now. Tim.