Getting Signs Right

[Tom Droege <tdroege2@earthlink.net>]

There are clouds around and the moon will soon wipe things out.  I am using 
this opportunity to get the signs straight on the corrections.  I am almost 
there.  Sigh!  I always seem to put in the wrong correction when I see that 
.fits says the star is in one position and the atlas says another.  There 
must be some helps to get this right like "Timid Virgins Make Dull 
Companions" to correct between compass and true headings.  Hmmmm!  I was 
taught that in the Navy 49 years ago and still remember it though I never 
used it.

In any case,  I am almost there.  Then the next clear night I should be 
able to take 6 x 6 calibration data.   This means that I should then be 
able to move to any position in range with some confidence that the 
telescope will actually point there.

The new Dec. drive seems to be working just fine.  No sign of any slippage 
or non linearity.  There are  roughly 38 steps per degree.  This gives the 
resolution of setting the dec, and means that it slews a couple of degrees 
a second.

After struggling to get the focus to work smoothly, I tried WD-40 on it.  A 
big improvement.  Much easier to get a focus and no funny jags as it hangs 
and tilts.

Tom Droege