Category: ATM
Trixie takes a test drive
It was a gorgeous sunny day today in Seattle (very strange for mid February), and the clear skies held up until nearly 11pm. Kismet or dumb luck, I knew that this was […]
Astro knowledge / ATM / Gear / General / Maintenance / Telescope
Trixie gets the laser test
My astro-Jedi friend Art came over to kick Trixie’s tires a little. He brought a laser, did a rough collimation, and then hung some weight off the focuser (in the form of […]
ATM / Gear / General / Maintenance / Telescope
Trixie comes out of hibernation
When I left CA, I had just finished doing a pretty major rebuild of Trixie, which as you recall is my attempt at a 13″ Newtonian Astrograph. The newly-trussed frame seems very […]
Prosthetic limb for the mount
The NJP doesn’t like high northern latitudes. Because of the way the altitude axis is adjusted, if you live north of about 40º latitude, you start being unable to adjust the mount […]
Trying to get back under the stars
It’s been a long time since I’ve had the telescope out. I’ve considered selling all the gear and picking up some other hobby. Between spotty access to clear skies, a new latitude […]
Musing on the possibility of Observatory 2.0
Seattle weather is not really what I remembered. From past memory, I recall Seattle weather being solid rain and clouds from October 15 (how many times have I picked a skimpy Halloween […]
Trixie Rebuild 2011 — mounted up at last!
Trixie needed a new mounting plate in order to get installed and balanced on the NJP. The Triad bar took a little finagling to get in place; I had to build a […]
ATM / Gear / Mount / Telescope
Trixie Rebuild 2011 – Mounting plates need work
WIth the NJP back in the observatory, I spent a little time trying to get Trixie mounted up, to test out the rebuild. I was a little worried about how the mounting […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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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.