Monday, 21 July 2025, there was a pretty sunset.

On Thursday, 24 July, I went to the observatory to checkout a replacement AutoStar II I had ordered from High Point Scientific. When Orion Telescopes abruptly ceased operations in July 2024, they killed off Meade. As my LX600 AutoStar II (from 2016) has begun exhibiting some display oddities, I had decided to get a backup AutoStar II just in case it totally failed. But with Meade gone, that could be a problem. I have the iOS app ScopeBoss, which is a fully functional AutoStar II handcontroller on the iPhone. But I still wanted a real handcontroller. In January 2025, High Point Scientific purchased all the Meade hardware from Orion and began selling Meade telescopes and other hardware. In mid-July they finally offered the AutoStar II for purchase ($220). I immediately ordered one. The box shows what is probably a manufacture date of July 2023, which is nice. The handcontroller came with the HBX cable.

I checked out the new handcontroller and new cable. Worked perfectly. I did have to adjust the display brightness and contrast to improve readability. I also checked the new AutoStar II with the long ScopeStuff Hand Controller Cable, which is the one I will use in the observatory. Worked fine. Many thanks to High Point Scientific for making Meade products available.

Thursday afternoon, our cat Cato made a new friend, so I just had to share this photo.

Sixteen years ago, 25 July 2009, my SkyShed POD was assembled in Oracle, Arizona.

Although there would be more to do before "First Light" in August 2009, it was an exciting day. Read the full report here: POD is UP!!!!

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