Category: General
G-11 Gemini – working out gremlins
I have been troubleshooting the guiding in the mount for a year now, and I think that I have it down to one of a very few remaining possibilities: 1) flex in […]
G-11 Worm adjustment
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Losmandy_users/message/12937 The “win” is clamping the worm blocks in-line, so that they can be adjusted as a unit without hassle.
G-11 Periodic Error analysis
I saved off one of my larger tracking logs last night, and decided to analyze it for Periodic Error in the mount. To help the data, I downloaded PECPrep from SourceForge. After […]
G-11 Guiding Commands: ST-4 relays vs. ASCOM
My autoguiding isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. I have a lot of new gear that I’m trying to figure out; G-11, Gemini, ASCOM, ST-4, MaxIM. Each of these adds […]
S&T article – *way* deep and *way* widefield image
There’s an article by diCicco and Walker in the April 2009 S&T that’s worth checking out online. It’s a 100megapixel image of the area bordered by Canis Major, Auriga, Monoceros, and Eridanus. […]
Observing Reports / Solar System Photography
A rare clear night
This is the second clear night I’ve had since Valentine’s Day. It was clear all night, but obviously it wasn’t really a night for deep sky photography. 🙂 I used the time […]
Spring weather
This is another one of those classic spring days in CA. It was a little rainy this morning, clear and dry at lunch time, and “partly cloudy” in the late afternoon. Usually, […]
It's been cloudy for a month
I’ve had a busy time doing maintenance while it’s been cloudy for the past couple of months. I re-greased the RA axis of the mount. I built a lightbox for taking flat […]
Re: call me crazy
Art Morton wrote: > You hit the cruxes of the matter, the secondary size. The other thing > I remember battling was f/ and being able to see the secondary when > […]
Re: Yes you are crazy
Art Morton wrote: > I do not have data to forward, but what I remember is +- 0.00 to > 0.04~0.15 on each axis. I’m averaging more in the 0.2-0.8 range (I’m […]
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.