Ad Astra Observatory

My journeys among the stars

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ARCHIVE January2011

Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount

NJP repair progress

PD by jimbo
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As I suspected, the RA axis of 04026 had to be sent to Tokyo to get a new reticle installed (and hopefully aligned this time). I expect it’ll take a week for […]

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Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount

NJP in Texas, early update

PD by jimbo
Tagged 2 Comments on NJP in Texas, early update

The NJP arrived at Takahashi America in TX on Friday afternoon. After not hearing from them by today (4 working days later), I gave them a call. They are hard at work […]

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Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount

NJP on the road

PD by jimbo
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I shipped off 04026 today to Texas. It should be there by Thursday. The hopes of Ad Astra Observatory go with you, little NJP. Be well.

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Gear / General / Maintenance / Mount

NJP Polar Scope repair — Preamble

PD by jimbo
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The polar alignment scope in my NJP has never been accurate. It’s been off since I got the mount, and there are a couple of other things that I wonder about, too; […]

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RECENT UPDATE

Techniques

Polar Alignment Calculations

PD by jimbo
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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 […]

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Gear / Observatory / Telescope

Special Guest Star takes the mount at Hilltop O

PD by jimbo
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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 […]

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General / Maintenance / Observatory

Dome shutter is motorized again!

PD by jimbo
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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 […]

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ATM

Trixie 2017 – tube mods

PD by jimbo
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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 […]

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