23 November 2004

I got my binoculars back today. The invoice says they replaced the listed parts but no parts are listed so other than the eyepiece housing, which was broken completely off on the right side, I don't know what was actually replaced. They also cleaned them. I am assuming that the prism on that side was also replaced and I suspect the focusing mechanism as well. There was a "stick note" on my letter stating the problem that had three apparent part numbers on it. None of the replaced parts were returned. I took a look through them at the light on my Wi-Fi access point at the far end of the hall and everything looks fine.

Tonight the asteroid (860) Ursina is going to occult the Mag 7.0 star HIP 11395 in Triangulum. Ben was able to locate the target star in his 7x50s so with my increased magnification and contrast it should have been a good target for the Canons but probably would not have been seen in my 7x35s. Alas, it is cloudy here again tonight, in fact all along the occultation track east of NM, so I will have to wait a while for first light in the repaired optics.

If an occultation occurs and it is cloudy so no one can see, is there a drop in magnitude?