ARCHIVE February2010
General / Maintenance / Techniques / Technology
WCS – second night
suckerholes tonight, so I am going to see if I can get my A:5 E:4 down lower. I’m running just the webcam with 2x Barlow today. The 6x thing from yesterday was […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Polar Alignment. Again.
So I spent some time doing polar alignment today. This has to be my least favorite astronomy activity. It’s so impossible to tell whether you’re dead-on or not, and there is so […]
Making an eFinder
How to make an eFinder from a 9×50 finderscope, in several easy steps.
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 […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Maintenance TBD
I’m believing that there are errors that I haven’t figured out. Polar alignment Orthogonality Collimation Flexure Mount is level But I think that of these: 1) Polar alignment is suspect but I […]
Deep Sky / Long Exposure Photography
IC1848, The Soul Nebula in Casseiopeia
This is the first time that I’ve been able to catch this object. The autumn nebulae are elusive for some reason. But I figured I’d try it before it dips below the […]
Deep Sky / General / Long Exposure Photography / Observing Reports
Pumpkin unguided testing
I hesitate to call this a postable image. It’s really just “what I could get” with “the skies I had” and “the equipment as it sat”. 5 years ago, I would have […]
Gear / General / Maintenance
Orthogonality – Veronica’s rings
I dropped off Veronica’s tube rings at a local machine shop this afternoon. I am trying to make sure that the scope is perfectly parallel to the mount plate. I doubt it […]
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Raining hard tonight
There must be some more maintenance I can do to the scope while it’s raining. I’ll try to get something done this weekend. Polar alignment and RA speed need to be checked […]
Adjusting for Orthogonality
orthogonality HOWTO
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.