5:30 pm Rain stop ... Jurong East here i come...
6:30 pm Meet up Albert in Astro, SW installation for digital recording to laptop took a while.
8:00 ++ pm Quick bite and heading for his place.
8:30 - 12:30pm Main scope / piggy back scope alignment etc - Wiring up the GPS, video out to Sony camcorder using the LCD as monitor , focusing the scope, Y out the digital recording in Laptop.
Coffee breaks, listening to the frogs.... A few stars were visible - Procyon ... and moon rising in the east. Tree were blocking the low eleation in the east.
1:30 pm Back to the scope. The scope is slewed to the exact spot to track the rising 4.8 Mag star.
3:30 pm Pack up, heading home. Nice warm feeling the sky didnt let us down and I saw my first occultation and my toy is working since these years.
I brought along my stuff:
Watec 902H ultimate
Kiwi time inserter Box
Sony Camcorder DCR TRV-820E
Cables, extension code ( indoor so no need portable 12V DC batteries)
Occultation Map : Notice the occultation narrow strip heading mostly over non land mass. W Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore lies within this strip.
Just found out the 902H watec i had does not have a 'C' thread so finally swapped to my other newer Watec 902H Ultimate. The watec is coupled to the piggy back white tube Takahashi refractor. Due to the concern of slewing scope tearing the cable the Kiwi time inserter and GPS were later put on the top red column flat surfaces and the AC powercord were tie-wrapped to the main scope handle. The ladder is 7-foot.
The recording is ON. We glue our eyes to the sole star watching the time stamp dances in the footage. Suddenly the star is gone and 6 seconds seem short and the star reappear again.
Star disappears!
Back home i use a P&S and playing back the Sony camcorder, download a player that allows me to frame stepping. This is the frame just after the 4.8 mag star blank off.
The disappearing act lasts 6 seconds or so... here the star reappear.
