ARCHIVE April2009
G-11 maintenance – new brass worm installed
Some nights I just go a little crazy. My new RA worm showed up today. It is seriously bright and shiny. I can only hope this fixes all my PE problems. I […]
G-11 maintenance – getting serious about worm adjustment
I have a new brass worm gear on the way. I hope that it will make my life better. In anticipation of its arrival, I decided to do some work on the […]
load and balance
I pulled the RA worm, cleaned and regreased it, and reinstalled it with an ammeter hooked up so I could see what the load looks like. In theory, if all is perfect, […]
G-11 Gemini – worms, worms, worms
I’ve never been entirely satisfied with the tracking performance of my G-11 Gemini. The “old” G-11 that I had worked flawlessly, which I now attribute to: – luck, – tuning by a […]
G-11 maintenance – Amperage and worm adjustment
I spent the better part of the weekend trying to get an amperage reading off of the mount. According to a knowledgeable fellow G-11 owner, if the RA worm is properly adjusted, […]
IDAS LPS is a good thing
I’m testing out the new C9.25 tonight. Last night, I’m writing off as a “configuration” night. The sky is a little cloudy tonight, high thin clouds that serve to brighten up an […]
A Very Tough Night
This was one of Those Nights. Everything went wrong. It started with killing power supplies. I am trying to get a reading of the amperage coming out of the mount, which will […]
G-11 Gemini – working out gremlins
I have been troubleshooting the guiding in the mount for a year now, and I think that I have it down to one of a very few remaining possibilities: 1) flex in […]
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.