Walter's LogBook
	Sat/Sun, August 16/17, 2003

Automation Notes

During evening twilight, I tried full automation with ACP &co. and have come to the conclusion that my 3½-year-old PII Win98 machine is not up to the task! It has a tendency to crash or lock up under full load. Fortunately, the new 800 MHz FSB machines I've been waiting for since June are now available, so I will be adding a new P4 machine to the arsenal (and Desktop Universe should be amazing on the new machine).

Regular Programming...

As has become my custom of late, I did variables with the MX916 and a Johnson V filter. Session was from 21:00 to 22:36 when clouds moved in. The Clear Sky Clock for South Mountain indicated it would be clear after 2am, so I took a nap until then.

Shortly after 2am, I could see it was all clear in the north where the Big Dipper was. By 3:15 the sky was completely clear, except for a bank of cloud that remained low across the south for the rest of the night. I imaged until the beginning of nautical twilight shortly at 04:54. Exposure on the faint CV's has been gradually increased and now I am getting into 18th magnitude (& usuable S:N) with 30-minutes of exposure.

Now that I have high-speed Sympatico internet (1MB) and a router, I have enjoyed being able to surf the net on the laptop while the desktop runs the observatory. While imaging and surfing tonight, I also listened to Planetary Radio -- highly recommended!

The weather was cool & breezy tonight (TCFS temperature was +23 to +19C tonight). It's nice to have the many days of heat and humidity behind us now!

I visited the following variables: