Just thought I'd start a solar eclipse thread here. Anyone traveling for it? Weather looks great for Casper, Wyoming where I'm headed. Going to be camping at Green Acres there, where they have a corn maze. Eastern Oregon looks good too, for all my old observing buddies headed that way. And possibly into Nebraska. I'll have my portable heliostat mounted H-alpha filtered telescope with recently replaced blocking and trimming elements, and a newly installed controller for the filter heater with me to watch the four contacts up close. Had it out today in the driveway to configure the controller and verify everything is working properly.
Here's a closeup of the controller. I'll eventually mount it into the electronics box, but in the meantime, look at how well it sits between the rails!
First total eclipse I tried to get to was in '79. My brothers and I piled into a van and headed from Lockport, IL to Minot, ND. We were late, the van broke down on the way, and so we only made it to see the "diamond ring" effect. Second time I tried was to Zambia in 2001. Made it that time, and enjoyed the show while at a trance festival there. Hope to be around for another in 2024.
I've been a solar observer since first seeing the sun through a H-alpha filtered telescope in 2000. The mount I built, and the system around it is described in this Amateur Astronomy article I wrote a few years ago.