Ray: i am at a conference in Gatlinburg, TN today but I live in Nashville area which is in the path of totality. I am wiling to make an outing in either direction on the path of totality depending on the latest weather forecast 12 hours before the eclipse just to make sure I don't miss it . There is a true dark sky viewing location I love at the North Carolina/Tennessee border on the cherohala-skyway. that is at 5600 feet and pretty much a maximum duration location. It has the 360 panoramic views and I was hoping it was the sort of location where one might even see the moon's shadow zooming over the landscape..that would be breathtaking.. www.observingsites.com/ds_nc.htm#Robbinsville There is another nearby called Huckleberry Knob and other spots www.southeasterntraveler.com/travel-guid...ee/cherohala-skyway/

Cligman's Dome is another 1000 feet higher with a 100 mile view...I'm sure you have read up on what a big event its going to be there. Or...it could be a thunderstorm in progress right? It's a daunting task to know how to plan for it.

I suppose I should comment on the stepper info to keep this topical. As I commit some finanical resources to the idea of my own stepper mount control, I am leaning toward some sort of RPI 3 implementation with the phidgets 1067 as these are just products in my comfort zone of previous use. the LX3 I am playing around with does have a wedge already..I was just considering it as a vehicle for learning about mount control. not sure what my mature imaging setup might be. Given Rob's comments about microstepping I was just curious how far a 400 step (.9) with the added torque of the 23 might take someone to be able to avoid using a planetary 15:1 and still move around a good sized load. Clearly microstepping is going to be desirable for low arc-second precision as long as one is clear eyed about the tradeoffs of microstepping. All comments welcome-- I'm just a sponge for now

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