Category: Techniques
Chasing suckerholes
I saw an Iridium flare tonight. I checked Heavens-above, and it turns out that Iridium 10 flared over Hilltop at 7:40pm in the SE, which is right where I saw the bright […]
ATM / Gear / Techniques / Telescope
Veronica – collimation problems
Veronica has never quite recovered from the Frankenstein act I pulled on her when I was trying to get the RCC working, and she has one remaining thorn in her side, a […]
Gear / Mount / Techniques
NJP new polar alignment reticle — First in North America!
My NJP is future-proofed. According to Texas Nautical, nobody but me has yet requested the new, updated polar scope reticle for the NJP. The old one is good until 2015, so I […]
Long Exposure Photography / Techniques
Coyote Lake widefields
It is hard to describe how much fun I had shooting widefields from the tripod. A lot of the shots came up out of focus, and several more came up with star […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
WCS lesson
After getting the mount “close” last night but then moving the pier topper and redoing, I took a couple of runs at polar alignment tonight, too. One thing I definitely learned is […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
I want my WCS
Polar alignment still sucks. Once I get the mount aligned, everything will be fine. Until then, it’s a bunch of hooey. I need to get the mount level, because, as usual, it’s […]
General / Maintenance / Mount / Techniques
Which way is up?
I spent the night polar aligning the NJP. Man, I love the sound of the mount as it slews. It’s… hard to describe. The polar scope (and its attendant app) got me […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Trixie in collimation
Ah, maintenance. Things you do on sunny days and cloudy nights. I spent some time getting Trixie in collimation today. It came together pretty well with the Catseye. It’s clear that the […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Bob’s Knobs
I spent a long time collimating Veronica the other day, with the new autocollimator I bought. That experience convinced me to buy Bob’s Knobs for Veronica and Cassie. I knew I would […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques / Technology
PemPro – Guido shows its power
PemPro needed some calibration before things would work today. Nothing major. I got it a little more dialed in. I finally figured out what it was complaining about — it thought it […]
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.