ARCHIVE February2011
ATM / Gear / General / Observing Reports / Telescope
Trixie the Dob – suddenly, everything is like clockwork
Epiphany is a wonderful thing. You thrash around for a long time, trying to figure out the solution to a wooly problem, and then all of a sudden, it comes to you. […]
Trixie the Dob – tweaks towards perfection
As with any other Beta test, taking Trixie out under the stars revealed a few things that still need a little tweaking. In particular, the altitude movement is garbage. So, I spent […]
ATM / Gear / General / Observing Reports / Telescope
Trixie the Dob – first light!
Well, nobody can say I didn’t pay my dues on this one. Between weeks of rain and countless trips to the hardware store, I think I earned myself a little starlight. After […]
Trixie the Dobsonian
Well, I finally completed the Dobsonian mount for Trixie. The idea is that I wanted to have a backup scope for use while the NJP is in use doing photography. I learned […]
Trixie Dob conversion, making progress
I’ve moved into the CNC part of the program on the Dob base. I started with an easy one. The rocker bottom just needed a countersunk hole for the pivot bolt. It […]
Trixie Dob conversion — CNC parts laid out
I did a little bit of cleanup on the parts (I cut the rocker sides down and chopped the bearings in half, and did some sanding). Most of the rest of the […]
Trixie Dob conversion – getting underway
I have been playing around with the numbers on a Dob base for Tirixie. My design requirement was to try to keep the conversion down to stuff that could be cut out […]
Asteroid discovery, 1980-2010
This is a very cool data visualization of the recent advances in astronomy technology. Note that the number of discoveries doubles every 2 years between 1997 and 2003; in 6 years, the […]
ATM / Gear / Mount / Telescope
Veronica Dob conversion
Veronica is now a Dob/Equatorial Newtonian! I have been wanting to do this for years. I am forever sitting around on a nice night, camera cranking away on the mount shooting something, […]
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.