TAG Polar Alignment
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 / Optics / Techniques
Rainy weekend, perfect for maintenance
I had a bunch of maintenance piling up in the obvservatory, so I decided to do some of it since it’s raining all weekend. I spent a little time getting the mount […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Small errors for which we pay dearly
As near as I can tell, the mount is within 1 degree of being level. It’s probably within half a degree, but I’m being conservative. That small error, probably a quarter turn […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Gemini Model Parameters
Well, I think I finally nailed the polar alignment. A: 1 E: -1 Here are the rest of the modeling parameters: dH 26′ dD -2′ NE 33′ (Axis non-perpendicularity at the equator) […]
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 […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Polar Alignment. Again.
So I spent some time doing polar alignment today. This has to be my least favorite astronomy activity. It’s so impossible to tell whether you’re dead-on or not, and there is so […]
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 […]
General / Maintenance / Techniques
Zen Autoguiding
What is the sound of no relays clicking? I tried some unguided tracking tonight and captured the data so I could see what’s up with my mount. I had to find a […]
Gear / General / Maintenance
Worm OK, polar alignment needs work
With an hour of The Rosette in the can, I decided to switch to 20m subframes instead of 5m. I only got 2 frames before the mount hit its safety limit. I’m […]
Astro knowledge / General / Maintenance / Optics
Guiding — um, oops?
After speaking with Art tonight about my guiding workflow, it seems that I have been doing things… in a manner which would probably give me problems if I tried to do longish […]
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 […]
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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.