NGC 6960
08/18/2026 -- Finally, after lots of cloudy / rainy nights... an evening with few (if any clouds) and modest moon (setting after 23:20). After such a long gap, testing basics with a familiar narrow band target -- NGC 6960 (West Veil Nebula). With temperatures still in the 70's at 23:00, set the camera chiller to 5C. Seeing forecast for 08/18-19/2026 showing few clouds...and no moon after 23:20. Started with a PHD drift alignment. Remarkably, after weeks sitting idle, the initial polar alignment error was modest at -5'. Turned to the left...noted visible shift in the OTA...and overcompensated at ~9'. Turned back to the right (again, noted significant shift in the OTA) and saw -17. :< Back to the left. After ~an hour of back and forth shenanigans... eventually brought this to ~4'. Then tested the internal guider while running an initial autofocus. Found the current focus for the OTA to be close to optimal...well wi...