In mid/late September, I ventured off for some socially distant observing at the site of the East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous (ECVAR). ECVAR is held at a great campground, Cool Breeze Campground located just outside of Galax, VA just over the North Carolina state border.
The skies at Cool Breeze are quite dark, I measured 21.44 on a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter which puts Cool Breeze at Bortle Class 3 skies or in the blue range of light pollution; not bad for the East Coast of the US! The amenities at Cool Breeze are also quite comfortable. The RV sites all have power with 50 amp, 30 amp and 20 amp connections. All sites also have water connections. With the exception of the sites directly on the rear field, all sites also have sewer connections. The WiFi and internet access is also quite good there. Here is a link to the Cool Breeze Campground web site: https://www.coolbreezecampground.com/cool-breeze-campground/
I encountered a few equipment issues in my outing. My motorized focuser broke so I could not focus via my computer where I observe but rather had to manually adjust focus at the scope and walk back to my computer to confirm focus. I also was plagued with low voltage issues from a less than quality 110v AC to 12v DC power supply converter which kept tripping my low voltage cut off relay thus cause the mount to lose connection with my computer and resulting in me having to perform the realignment routines.
Regardless of the technical problems, I enjoyed some time away from work, camping and doing some observing. Here is a video I shot of my adventure; aerial shots from my JJRC Aurora X12 drone and videos of some solar system objects through my Celestron CPC1100 telescope and ZWO ASI385MC Cooled camera.
Here are links to previous blog posts I did of Cool Breeze Campground:
- 2019 ECVAR (https://astronerd.net/2019/09/2019-ecvar/)
- 2018 ECVAR (https://astronerd.net/2018/10/evcar-2018/)
Clear and Steady Skies!
-Mike
