First of all, I finally got off my ass and sent the TrueTrack back to Orion. Hopefully, I'll get that back in a few weeks and be able to do some observing before the snow flies. Not that I'll have any time.
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A couple of weeks ago I bought an iSight for my mac. I needed a webcam and mic for some client work, and it seemed like a nice unit.
It was sitting here on my desk, when I though "i bet someone has connected this to their telescope." A quick turn of google and this came up.
Interesting. I always get disappointed, however, when I see the phrase "my buddy machined a few parts..." I don't have a buddy that can machine custom parts easily.
I took a look at what he was doing, and then thought about what I have kicking around that could also work.
First thing I've got is an Orion 35mm camera adapter - the one that can be set up for eyepiece projection. So there is a start, I could put the eyepiece in that. The opening of the eyepiece projection is too big for the camera, so when the camera is in and up against the eyepiece it flops around, which would not due.
My simple solution was to wind a strip of paper around the end of the camera, then secure it with some tape. That is the small ring in the above photo. By using paper, I could then slip the ring on and off the end of the camera.
The o-ring isn't really necessary and it was just on their from an earlier experiment.
I tried all this out with my 125mm Mak-Cas, and (during the day, at least) it worked quite well. For an eyepiece I used a 20mm Televue Plossl.
The camera tended to over-saturate, however, but i was able to compensate somewhat for this by loading a little program called iGlasses which allows a lot of control over the camera. Especially nice was the ability to turn off the auto-focus. I also tried putting my neutral-density filter on it, and that helped a bit, too.
I'm not sure how well this will work after dark, mind you, so that is the next experiment. My main target will be the moon. The point of this was to shoot a short movie (series of stills, actually, is what i want) that I can use for reference when doing sketches.
I do really like to be able to put my stuff together and make additional use out of all of it. In the grand scheme, I doubt that this is of much use as an astronomical set up, but it should be fun on bright targets.
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I got the mak out for the first time in a long time last night. It was a beautiful day and very pleasant evening - pretty ideal for observing. I was tired, though, so i wasn't sure how long i'd last. I was hoping to have a go at comet 73P SW as well as a lunar sketch.
After getting the stuff outside and set up at about 9:30, with a rough polar align, I realized right away that tracking wasn't working right. It appears that my RA motor is running backward, and I've got no idea why. I tried all kinds of things, then gave up and came inside and played with it more there until 11:30.
Playing with it inside, I'm somewhat what convinced that something is faulty. No matter what setting - north or south - or which button i push on the controller, the motor runs CCW when facing the gear. If I set it to 8x, it goes 8x CCW. If I set it to 2x, it goes 2x. But both buttons turn the motor CCW no matter the N/S switch position.
I have a couple other things to test, but it might be a call to Orion tomorrow to see what they have to say. At least the drives are under warranty still.
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In the past I've toughed out winter observing. Now, I can always find something else that is equally important. So I'm just kind of waiting for winter to end. I thought we were going to be rid of it a couple of weeks ago, as sometimes by mid march the snow is gone and the temps begin to moderate. However, last week we got 17 inches of snow.
Since then, it's been cool - not cold but not the kind of warm it needs to really knock the snow down. So the snow lingers and everything is kind of in a state of drippy wetness.
My goal at this point is to try to wrap up some development projects and updates so that when the nicer weather does roll around I don't have to be chained to the machine, as it were. For example, I loaded a couple of new templates to the blog system, as well as got the categories working (see the little folders at right). I've got most posts sorted, but i need to go through them again... There are other things as well.
I was thwarted in my efforts to take a drawing class again. Once again it conflicts with Tae Kwon Do, so no joy in the spring (TKD gets priority).
I am looking forward to some nights outside as it gets warmer, sketching craters and comets, and getting back to the farm. I need to fix the observing pad (get it pointed north) and maybe set up some wind breaks. Get on with a few of those construction projects like the astro-potting table and an observing chair.
The snow can melt now.
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Keith asks about the swing set/scope tower. Above is a current pic almost 9 years later. When my kids (kid at the time with another on the way) were little, we had made a plan for a backyard play set, similar to those Rainbow Systems sets that were super popular.
After some investigation of those sets, I realized that they were too expensive and that I could probably build one myself. In addition, the "tower" was going to be planted right in the only dark corner of the yard. So I figured that I could engineer something that might work for the kids as well as myself for observing.
Now I knew then that planting a scope on a wood deck was a horrible way to observe. Any vibration is sent right to the image. However, I wasn't too concerned because at the time my primary interest was sweeping for comets. This activity didn't require rock steady viewing since the scope was in motion most of the time anyway.
So i took a step ladder out to the back yard and walked up it until the street light at the end of the alley was hitting me in the eyes over the neighbor's garage. I settled on a "floor" height for the platform a few inches below that.
I also measures the "swing" of the scope (and 8" f/6 dob) and settled on 5' square - slightly larger than your typical backyard playset. Railing height was based on my ability to level the tube when on it's milk crate pedestal.
From there, I added the "kid stuff" - the swing header, the sandbox, slide, ladder, etc. Under it all is 4" of pea gravel - much better on a fall than wood chips and they don't rot.
All in all I spent a lot of sessions up there, mostly in 97 and 98, but by the end of 98 I was driving out of town for nearly all of my sessions. It was somewhat difficult working up there; stuff would roll off, or drop through the cracks in the deck boards; it was cramped for space (no option of sitting); it was a chore heaving everything up there. But it did provide for a much wider view of the sky.
I'm not sure how much I'll use it any more. With my current interest in lunar sketches, I need the scope to be on a solid foundation and not jiggle at all. I think I'm more likely to be on the ground with the screen up to block the lights and a chair to observe.
It still works great as a pirate ship, though...
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I spent much of last weekend working on the gallery system, and have put up a gallery in association with this blog (Gallery Link).
What was fun was the process of collecting all my astronomy images that have been scattered far and wide through many and varied computers. While most of these images have turned up in the blog, I'd not really appreciated the volume and variety of images that I've collected throughout my astronomy hobby. I think there might still be a few missing, but what is there certainly represents the bulk of my images. For example, I know there are more comet sketches someplace (though I may not have scanned them...).
Enjoy.
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