Astronomy? Makes Me Think “Pastranami”
And Now I Am Hungry

What is the appeal of astronomy? In a word… and it’s not 42, astronomy is Hopeful. God put the bulk of the material world, and its vacuum packed aesthetics, out of reach of man so he can’t disturb its beauty and majesty. I am not alone in this man-made mess – God space separation theory. Walt knew.

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
By Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Devoid of all celestial knowledge, astronomy should be a place for me to acquire knowledge, or at least brush shoulders with it, or capture some colorful images of Divinity. There is no need for Aquinas’s Five Proofs. Just looking up, day or night, provides a view that surpasses the competency of man. Yes, the same can be said for watching me attempting to back the long bed out from a tight Walmart parking space.

Hey, astronomers, astrophysicists, astrobiologists, cosmologists, planetary scientists, and astronauts seem to get it. How hard can it be? I already own a telescope. In any event, what follows is what I am learning. I claim no astronomical skills, literally or figuratively.

Fortunately, the progress involves gadgets. Lots and lots of them

Astronomy is a booming hobby that seems to bring people together in a positive fashion. Star parties, where people get together to observe celestial events, do not generally end in getting into a brawl or poured into a cab as a safe ride home. Astronomy can be pursued with the naked eye or an inexpensive pair of binoculars. Astronomy can be pursued with a domed observatory constructed on a manicured backyard lawn and home to a $700,000 PlaneWave Instruments RC1000 Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope System.

While it took roughly 13.8 billion years for the universe to get to its current state, telescope tech and adjacent tools and software obsolescence is in a state of time compression. Some obsolescence is significantly functional, much of it is superfluous. There is a huge difference between equipment that is as functional today as it was twenty years or more ago, and new tech that just identifies the cool kids. An example? Sure.

My 2011 Celestron 8″ Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, sits atop a post 1999 design Celestron Advanced GT CG-5 mount and quite hefty tripod with 2″ stainless steel legs. It is a electric motored/gear driven GoTo mount. Once it is aligned to the North Star as a point of reference, its built in computer will locate +/- any of the 40,000 celestial bodies stored in its database.

It is an equatorial mount, as opposed to an Altitude-Azimuth mount, so it will point to a fixed spot in the sky, automatically holding the telescope’s target as the earth rotates. It follows the arc of stars, Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec).  Altitude-Azimuth mounts move vertically/altitude and horizontally/azimuth only and are principally used for planetary observation and photography.

The CG-5 was superseded by the Celestron Advanced VX mount in 2013. The most significant improvements are Periodic Error Correction which holds better precision for long photographic exposures, it has a built in clock, improved cable connections, and a more robust motor design. The greatest benefit the VX offers over the CG-5 is compatibility with current Celestron and third party enhancements: GPS, WiFi, navigation systems, auto guiders, etc..

My CG-5 has the latest release of motor and hand control firmware for this design; MC 5.16 HC 4.16. The newest hand controller can be utilized, but it will add none of the VX mount’s enhanced functions, because they are not compatible with the CG-5 motors and controller board. Subsequently, the CG-5 with the newer hand controller unchanged as a fully functioning equatorial mount. It will not, however, communicate with any other newer devices from Celestron and others, and it will not be as precise as the newer VX product.

Posing the question of CG-5 device compatibility on social media will typically get a copy and paste vague reference to ASCOM (Astronomy Common Object Model) drivers and N.I.N.A (Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy astrophotography imaging suite). The reference always seems to evaporate when the respondent is pressed for details; driver version and location, hardware control connection, etc. After experimenting with drivers and laptop software, and a variety of cable connections, my mount did no more than stare back at me with disinterest and disdain.

Mounting Concerns

Even though the original mount (pictured) and tripod are good for their specific functions, at 42 lbs without the telescope, balance weights and accessories, it is a lot to haul around. At the “I am too old for this—-! age, I decided to retain the mount for infrequent observation and planetary photography use and search for a more suitable replacement for deep sky photography. Maybe I will fabricate an adapter that will allow the use of the new mount on my old very heavy, stable tripod when appropriate.

The ZWO AM3N Harmonic Drive Equatorial Mount. Selection is like a cape buffalo

No, not a novel selection, but a good one. Cape buffalo outlive the threat of lions by sticking with the herd. The ZWO AM3N Harmonic Drive Equatorial Mount is very popular, receives excellent reviews and tests well. It is also widely accommodated by third party hardware and software ancillary products. It integrates well, its features reflect my applications… it’s bright red and the screened print in the saddle will assure I won’t install my telescope backwards. So for now I feel safe from lions.

The AM3N has 300:1 harmonic drive gearing, so it will handle the weight of my telescope and connected accessories without counterweights. The combined weight of this mount and carbon fiber tripod is only 14 lbs. One fourth of the weight of my CG-5 set up.

The mount can connect via Bluetooth and the ability to generate a WiFi hot spot is built into the hand controller. For those who desire a hard connection, there is a USB C connection. The AM3N can be configured as either a Equatorial or Altitude-Azimuth mount.

The AM3N is PE Curve Performance Guaranteed. I know that has to do with tracking error control, but that’s all I’ve got so far. Still, if ZWO is excited about this feature, surely I will be also.

Power Failure Protection is a useful and practical feature. If power is lost… dead battery or power failure, Right Ascension movement is braked so the telescope and companions don’t free fall and cause damage.

A good way to keep the mount off the ground

A ZWO’s lightweight TC40 tripod, carbon fiber, was added to the configuration. The tripod measures 20″ long when collapsed, as pictured, and 31.5″ with legs extended. it weighs 5 lbs and can support 110 lbs. The mount itself can carry 17.6 lbs as pictured or 28.6 lbs with counter weights. The 8″ Celestron telescope weighs 14 lbs with finder, diagonal and eyepiece in place.

I did a power on check of the mount, downloaded all of the manufacturer’s software to my phone and laptop. I have cables and software to connect to see if this thing has a pulse. At the moment my brain cells are maxed out, so I think a break is in order.