Category: Technology
Accessory / Focuser / Gear / Maintenance / Observing Reports / Techniques / Technology
FocusMax – relearning the V-curve
Things have changed a lot since the last time that I ran Focusmax. Among other things, I have built up a whole new astro-PC, and I never really understood FM well enough […]
Accessory / Focuser / Gear / Maintenance / Technology
Pumpkin focuser characteristics
ASCOM driver: EasyFocus Min steps: 0 Max steps: 30000 Speed: 250/Full Pumpkin + 300d + FF/FR + no Ha + IDAS LPS = position 23456
General / Maintenance / Observing Reports / Technology
Hazy shade of winter
It was not really clear out, and not for long, but it was enough to get some good stuff done. I got Guido focused and gathered a bunch of guiding data, including […]
ATM / Camera / Gear / Technology
“Little” is the new “guidescope”
I love it when a plan comes together. I picked up a new autoguider over the weekend. I also picked up a second 9×50 finder about 2 weeks ago. I only needed […]
Camera / Gear / Technology
A Brave New World
I picked up a new autoguider on Saturday. If the mount is the basis of the imaging rig, then the autoguider is its closest ally. The autoguider is responsible for making a […]
Guiding.
My autoguiding system is so broken right now. The OAG really complicates the task of finding a guidestar, because among other things, the OAG is very difficult to get to, so I […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques / Technology
WCS – second night
suckerholes tonight, so I am going to see if I can get my A:5 E:4 down lower. I’m running just the webcam with 2x Barlow today. The 6x thing from yesterday was […]
ATM / Electronics / Focuser / Gear / General / Maintenance / Observing Reports / Optics / Techniques / Technology
Murphy was an optimist.
Clear Sky Clock said it would be cloudy all night, so of course it stayed 90% clear until about midnight, when it socked in. But I’m getting ahead of myself… I decided […]
Astro knowledge / General / Maintenance / Optics / Technology
G-11 – Guiding Oscillation
I stacked the 16 frames shot last night into a single GIF animation. There is a very strange “retrograde motion” thing going on during the course of an evening. I don’t know […]
Solar System Photography / Techniques / Technology
Re: swore I was going to put out an image tonight
J, Registax always spools out that I have bad frames. That is unless one uses a source program from Logitec to make the avi. So, I use: http://divfixpp.sourceforge.net/ Works wonders and I […]
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.