Category: Maintenance
field-stripping the G-11
A, I’m thinking about deconstructing the G-11 once the moon goes around again. I have questions: 1) Do you think that it’s possible to degrease/regrease the mount without killing the polar alignment? […]
Re: Mount is level?
Art Morton wrote: > You are convince that the mount is level? The bubbles on the mount say it’s level, although I can certainly check this again. I did have to re-level […]
Re: Fwd: [CCDCommander] Re: PB with meridian flip
I need to set my safety limits. The problem is, I’m not sure where to set them; too conservative and I can’t reach certain parts of the sky. Too liberal and the […]
Trixie testing
I got some photons on the mirror over the weekend. Still test shots. I think the new shrouds are working OK. It now complains that the pointing is off again (I shouldn’t […]
Gear / Maintenance / Optics
Pumpkin's field flattener — needs work
I bought a WO FF/FR for Pumpking, but I still need to figure out how to tune it. It’s still not quite right. Can’t use it as a widefield lens if the […]
ATM / Maintenance / Observing Reports
Leaving myself in a "broken" state is not good
It’s supposed to be 90° tomorrow. Given past years, I’m expecting about 2 or 2.5 more months of clear before the rainy season. I’m just in “no working telescopes” mode at the […]
ATM / General / Maintenance
Maintenance woes
I didn’t have a good month of photography due to the fires, and I’m a little bummed about that. I’m starting to realize that I have zero fully functional telescopes right now, […]
Pointing model building
I have noticed that I have to run multiple iterations of Polar Axis Correction to get it right. Last time out, I had to run it about 3 or 4 times, plus […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
pointing model building
When I build a pointing model using PAC on the Gemini, I get this strange behavior, where the error numbers are very large and then get smaller and smaller to some fairly […]
Gemini slew speeds
To do a CCD Polar Alignment, you need to run the mount east at 1x sidereal (the motor runs “backwards” at 1x sidereal), then run the mount west at 1x sidereal (the […]
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.