The morning of the 20th started with a snow shower. We ended up with several centimeters of light powder snow and then the sky cleared as the sun was setting. At the same time the temperatures dropped fast. Ohio in the middle of February can get pretty cold. In fact, it was cold enough to cause the batteries on my digital camera to run down at an extreme speed (they had to be recharged on a regular basis) and then frost covered the lens making photography impossible. I selected a few of the pictures that came out pretty good. Although it is possible to place the blame on the equipment at the low temperature, I actually think the majority of blame can be placed on the operator, me. I packed it in just before totality was over with depleted batteries, a frosty telescope and zoom lens, and was pleased to find hot chocolate waiting for me inside. - Bill Kramer

I setup in the driveway using my car as a warm room with the ETX90 setup outside the passenger side near the laptop. So I could check photos as I downloaded. Later I figured out some of my focus problems came from my USB cable hung out the window across to the scope. I should have used a extension cable down to the ground and back up to the camera to isolate vibration by car and me moving around. The USB cord was like a solid wire in 6deg winter night. Later about 10:30 some how I pulled out the power jack from the mount so that turned out to a good time to finish. The corrector plate was starting to frost. The 1.6 lager frame size using DSLR makes the need for very good polar alignment to get tracking. Not a lot of top and bottom frame to work with. - Vic Stover