January 2002 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: DSC construction details
by Chuck Hards 17 Jan '02

17 Jan '02

Got the pic clear as a bell, thanks, Rich. Fairly clean installation, good job. I'm thinking of designing a mount with the altitude encoder, at least, mounted internally to the rocker, and not seen or exposed to inadvertant damage. We'll see where this leads. Thanks again for the excellent description and commentary! I carboned the list because it's good information, there are others who can benfit from your expereince. Chuck --- Richard Tenney <retenney(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > One more thing... while you can see what looks like > an > exposed circuit board on the top of the encoder, the > guys at Astrosystems told me if any of the little > connector pins were in the way to simply clip them > off > with some wire cutters; that is part of an alternate > interface that isn't used in my case (the RJ-11 jack > is in the end of that rectangular section). > Hopefully > the image isn't too confusing; the telescope is not > set up at all; I simply set the control unit on top > of > the mirror box, sans cables or anything, and snapped > the pic. > > --- Chuck Hards <chuckhards(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > Rich, do your encoders appear to be built > robustly? > > Are they enclosed in their own case? Attached via > a > > threaded collar around the shaft? > > > > Do you think they'd sustain a good bump? > > > > Do you find the resolution adequate? At what > > magnification (FOV) does the resolution become > > inadequate? > > > > Thanks again > > > > Chuck > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! > > http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! > http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

2 1

DSC construction details
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '02

16 Jan '02

Rich, do your encoders appear to be built robustly? Are they enclosed in their own case? Attached via a threaded collar around the shaft? Do you think they'd sustain a good bump? Do you find the resolution adequate? At what magnification (FOV) does the resolution become inadequate? Thanks again Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

1 0

More DSC thoughts
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '02

16 Jan '02

Isn't the use of DSC's prohibited when trying for an A.L. Herschel certificate? When confronted with DSC's, I only use them if A: I've found the object before, the old-fashoined way; B: There's no finder on the main scope, or C: The line is long and I"m getting heckled for taking more than 10 seconds to find an object. Those of you who use them regularly, do you ALWAYS use them? Do you never try and find objects unassisted? I don't mean to dig on you guys who use them habitually, but c'mon, it's kind of like a handicapped sticker on your car, don't you think? (I'm KIDDING! No hate mail!) Thanks! Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

2 3

Clear Skies Last Night
by Steinicke, Brett 15 Jan '02

15 Jan '02

It was pretty clear last night. The seeing was excellent! I took my nexstar5 up to Mountain Green last night. I saw great views of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. It was very cold up there. Brett

4 3

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Digital Setting Circles
by David Dunn 15 Jan '02

15 Jan '02

The one that has been tempting me it the Sky Commander. It looks like it might be a little bulky though. Here is the web link. http://skyeng.com/ Dave -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:07 AM To: Utah-Astro Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Digital Setting Circles While we're on the subject, can anyone recommend a commercial DSC package? Rich? If so, are installation kits available? (Dob, Eq., etc.) Im not interested in kits that require soldering or electronic component assembly. "Plug 'n Play" is preferred. Thanks Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ _______________________________________________ Utah-astronomy mailing list Utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

2 1

In praise of digital setting circles
by Richard Tenney 15 Jan '02

15 Jan '02

After being frustrated by bad weather forecasts that Saturday night (as late as Saturday afternoon, 4pm by the national weather service) "would be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of snow", and consequently making other plans for the evening, I hauled my scope out last night under decent albeit light polluted skies in my back yard in Lindon, and tried out the new digital setting circles for my dob. After over 30 years of observing, paying my dues star hopping and craning my neck with finderscopes, etc., I was finally treated to the experience of spending most of my time at the telescope actually observing instead of hunting. And in the space of about 90 minutes I was able to add 6 more objects to my Herschel 400 log (including eyepeice sketches), something that would have been nearly impossible if I had to star hop some of these faint babies in the wash of the parking lot lights of the church next door. My only regret is that I waited so long to obtain these things. To any "purists" out there that turn their noses up at such, all I can say is, you're missing out! Now I'll be the first to state that all of us should start out by learning our way around the night sky without ANY instrument other than our eyeballs, and start at the telescope by learning to star hop. But after you have mastered that all-too-often-frustrating art, you now have my blessing (for what it's worth!) to go and treat yourself to some digital assistance; life's too short, and these 45-year-old eyes aren't getting any sharper... Anyway, my 2 cent sermon, from a tired but happy suburbanite... Rich __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

4 4

Motivation Survey
by Chuck Hards 14 Jan '02

14 Jan '02

Here are the results of my little survey a few months ago: 1. If you are a member of a local club, why? 83%-Socialization with like-minded people 16%-Interesting speakers & topics 2. What is the "focus" of your club? 67%-Socialization, public out-reach 16%-Group observing 16%-Not sure 3. Has the club experience helped you enjoy astronomy more than if you hadn't joined up? 100%-Yes 4. What do you most want to change about your club, if anything? 67%-More star parties and hands-on activities related to observing, greater member involvement 16%-No changes 16%-Not sure 5. Would you be involved in the hobby if there was no club? 83%-Yes 16%-Probably not Admittedly, the sample was small, but our error range is insignificant. I find it interesting that local clubs are a mostly social excercise, with little or no science being done at a club level. This is strange, since I know personally several people who gather data and do patrol work regularly. I wonder why actually "doing" the science doesn't seem interesting to rank-and-file clubbers? We seem to be predominantly "nature lovers" as far as observational astronomy goes. Thanks to all who replied! Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

1 0

duplicate messages
by Chuck Hards 14 Jan '02

14 Jan '02

Is anyone else getting duplicate posts? Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

3 2

RE: [Utah-astronomy] duplicate messages
by Steinicke, Brett 14 Jan '02

14 Jan '02

I guess I jumped the gun. Brett Brett -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 11:27 AM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] duplicate messages I am. -- Joe I am. -- Joe _______________________________________________ Utah-astronomy mailing list Utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

2 1

RE: [Utah-astronomy] duplicate messages
by Geek 1013 14 Jan '02

14 Jan '02

Yep. -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 11:28 To: Utah-Astro Subject: [Utah-astronomy] duplicate messages Is anyone else getting duplicate posts? Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ _______________________________________________ Utah-astronomy mailing list Utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

1 0