It was great!

by Rashad Al-Mansour


I woke up Tuesday morning to blue skies as far as I could see, I was smiling from ear to ear. I would be observing for the next two nights at Fremont Peak State Park. A high pressure system was building off the coast with the promise of clear skies for the next several days. I had made up my mind that I would not miss the opportunity to observe, since we astronomers in the Bay Area have not had a good observing night in 16 weeks. It was as though we were cursed. It might be clear during the week but as soon as the weekend came around, rain was the only thing to observe.

So I packed up my gear, it was 1:00 p.m. and I was headed south to the Peak. The midday traffic was very light and by 2:45 p.m. I was 110 miles from home and 2500 feet above sea level. I was in paradise! I unpacked and set up my tent. I then proceeded to set up my new scope, a 12.5" Truss Tube Dobs that I had made during the past 3 months.

I had bragged about this scope on s.a.a. and had been asked to supply some pictures of it. So I first set the scope up in it’s most compact from and took the first shots. As I stood there admiring my handiwork and thinking of how to frame the next photo, I saw my truss tubes, they were back home in San Francisco! Right next to my 8" Dobs, #@&*%%$@&%#$*^%#@%$##$&*(^%$@!^%(&&^&%$&*^(&))($#@$^ I could not believe it, to have come all this way, and no way to view through my new scope, and not a cloud in the sky!

3:45 p.m. and I’m headed down the mountain back to San Francisco to get the &%$#@&)&(&$#*& truss tubes. There was just no way I was going to miss out on some dark clear skies.

Four and one half hours later I was back. As I approached the spot where I had left all my gear, I was greeted by Mark, Jeff B. and Jeff C. and Mark’ s daughter Mimi I told them what had happened to me and Mark relayed a similar story saying it had happened to him. It didn’t make me feel any better, but the darkening sky did.

By the time I set up my scope it was dark and the temps were mild, which meant that I would have to wait a while for my main mirror to cool down. I passed the time talking to the group and going over the list of objects I want to take a look at. A little later we were joined by a guy named Robert who brought his homemade 10" Truss. It was the smallest 10" scope I had ever seen, the whole thing was setting on his front seat! A very neat design.

After the scope had cool down I was ready, it was observing time! And this new scope is a definite keeper.

Report to follow.