Updates and Magnets

I have been very proud of my Ultimate Portable Astro Setup. I has worked very well for may trips now and I somehow lost my vigilance. The most recent astro trip was almost a failure. Failure caused by an unattended software update that happened to the Huawei tablet that is used to polar-align the equatorial mount. The update somehow changed how the USB-C port on the tablet interfaces with applications, resulting in the Polemaster camera not being recognized by the mPolemaster app. IOW something that worked beautifully and flawlessly before, no longer does.

Luckily I had my little Blackberry with me and could run the polar alignment procedure using the phone, although due to the small screen that was tedious and not as accurate as when using the tablet.

Going back home I was thinking what to do next. Of course I could wait for Huawei to fix their Android distribution (the EMUI), but considering how things are going between Huawei and the US government, this may take some time. I checked other devices and, for example, the latest Samsung Galaxy phone (running Android 9) works fine, so the problem is probably caused by some changes made by Huawei. I could buy a different tablet, such as Samsung, which may be a long term solution. But short term I decided to get back to using a laptop, namely a 12" MacBook, which I was using for that purpose before.

The issue with the MacBook was the tripod mount. I tried variety of approaches and each was adding significant bulk (and floppiness) to the setup. With the goal for this setup to remain the ultimate, I could not opt for adding bulk nor floppiness....  Almost at the same time a package from a little known company called Small Rig arrived. Some stuff I ordered several months ago (yes it took them long to ship and deliver - they operate from China). and almost forgot I did. After unpacking I found a small tripod clamp that sparked an idea to use a magnet as a mount for the tablet. That promised to fit into the concept of the "ultimate" setup. After some Dremel actions and when the glue dried I found this to be working extremely well. Of course the MacBook is the ultimately light laptop. Still I was not sure if the magnet would hold, but it does. This little clamp has now replaced a whole bulk of laptop / tablet mounts I had been trying from different vendors. Small Rig is definitely to be recommended as a photo - video accessory provider (if you are patient enough to wait for the shipments). The stuff they offer is of a great quality and variety. Just in case you needed something...