ARCHIVE June2008
Trixie – really coming together
I got a small amount of ATM time this weekend. It was enough to round off the edges of some of the wood pieces that I need to handle, make a much-needed […]
Trixie Construction photos
Now that the woodcutting is done, I moved on to varnish. Varnish turns out to be a bit tricky to work with. Bugs and bubbles are two enemies that I did not […]
Trixie – woodcutting complete and hardware test-fit
I was so close to being finished with the hardware installation that I made sure I didn’t skip a week this time, despite 2 birthdays this week (Happy Birthday to me and […]
Pumpkin field flattener / reducer?
I’m trying to decide if the curved field on the AT66ED is going to bug me or not. I think that it is. But the field flattener unit is also a focal […]
Photographic Polar Alignment
PHOTOGRAPHIC POLAR ALIGNMENT by Greg Beach The one, often elusive requirement for any astrophotographer and telescope owner is proper polar alignment. This allows long-exposure photographs to be taken in order to build-up […]
Trixie – all coming together
The tube inserts arrived yesterday, so I now have all the parts I need to put the scope together. My only fear is that I’ll mis-attach the focuser board. Everything else will […]
Astro knowledge / General / Observing Reports
Chinese zodiac
If you get a chance, take a look at the sky tonight (June 26, 2008). Jupiter is in about the same position it was when I was born (it takes 12 years […]
Trixie – more cutting and splicing over the weekend
The spider and secondary holder turned up on Friday. It’s a *big* secondary holder. All of my previous ones have been “glue to the back” style, this is a “mirror goes inside” […]
Pumpkin's huge FOV
It was clear last night, but the forest fires put up so much smoke that I couldn’t see anything in the way of stars. I just calculated Pumpkin’s FOV and compared that […]
Trixie – cutting the vents and test-fitting the hardware
It was another couple of weeks before I could get back to the project. I thought about doing circular holes for the vents, but decided to stick with the design, and laid […]
RECENT UPDATE
Polar Alignment Calculations
Here’s a page that derives Polar Alignment Calculations. (update 5/2020: the original site is gone, so I found the text on Wayback and am inserting it below. This is by the original […]
Gear / Observatory / Telescope
Special Guest Star takes the mount at Hilltop O
The Astro Jedi needed somewhere to store his light sab—- I mean, bucket, and I was only too happy to accommodate him. I have decided that I need to come to a […]
General / Maintenance / Observatory
Dome shutter is motorized again!
I finally decided to bite the bullet and fix the shutter motor. Things went sideways last winter, and I’ve been opening the shutter manually (and tying it shut with rope, so we […]
Trixie 2017 – tube mods
I finally got around to cutting the MTA-UTA tubes to length; the only eyepiece that would come to focus with the focuser spacer in place is the Televue 55mm Plossl. If I […]
MOST COMMENTED
Observatory
Observatory 2.0 – Time has come today!
General / Maintenance
First Light, a deeper look
Mount / Observatory / Telescope
Observatory 2.0 – Result!
Observatory
Observatory 2.0 – The Pier goes in
Gear / General / Maintenance
Martin Farmer Wormblock installation notes
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
NGC2244, The Rosette Nebula
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
Another beautiful night.