November 2010 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Joe's blogs and darkrooms
by Stephen Peterson 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Joe keep it up, I read and enjoy them but on this portal! As a film photographer of almost 60 years I recently moved my darkroom (HC-110B, hypo, Dektol and all) to Hurricane along with the rest of the furniture. Something about the small of fixer!! I have a freezer full of Fuji Quick Loads so hope to keep going for a while. Digital is great for astrophotgraphy but let us all keep film going! I used to write a column for PhotoVision Magazine but it went under 7 years ago due to a lack of interest in film. So Joe keep going as long as you can!! Steve

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Listening in on ISS
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

I'm sitting here at my desk with an old 2 meter handheld transceiver I got years ago and just pulled out of storage a couple of days ago. I noticed the ISS is making a pass at the moment and tuned the radio to 145.800 mHz and was delighted to hear a very busy guy on the station returning calls to hams from Oregon to Tennessee. Very strong signal. Also tried 145.825 which (at least used to be) the frequency used to download packets of coded information but heard nothing. All in all a fun thing to do on a cloudy evening. patrick

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Free Mirror Grinding/Polishing Machine
by Roger Butz 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Hello folks, I just helped Bruce pull his mirror machine up from his basement, he was going to load it into the truck bound for the dump but I suggested he allow me to post this notice in hopes it could serve a better purpose than landfill fill.This Very solidly built Draper style machine is set up to produce up to an 18 inch mirror. FREE for the taking , must be able to load it & haul it away.I've attached a link of a photo of the machine it is... http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/BUTZ01.JPG If you are interested you can email Bruce at bmargrim(a)msn.comPlease pass the word, it will be off to the dump in a week or two.Peace,Roger

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LX Series Repairs and Hypertune
by sfisher01＠comcast.net 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Kim: I'm guessing it was Dr. Clay Shirrod. Here is a link to his site. http://www.arksky.org/supercharge.htm

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ALCON 2011
by Lowell Lyon 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Hello: The SLAS blast was incorrect in leading people to www.astroleague.org to make room reservations for ALCON 2011. The ALCON 2011 website is not up yet and so you need to go to the Ruby's Inn Website at www.rubyinn.com then go to "Reservations" and make your reservations there. RV and tent camping at Ruby's Inn are also available. If you decide to make a reservation for this, just call the main reservation number off of the Ruby's Inn website and mention ALCON 2011 for a discount off of the per person daily rate. I believe that as in the past, if you provide a telescope for public star parties, you may camp inside the park for free and have park admission for free. You may need to double check with Don Colton about this. Thank you. Lowell Lyon, ALCON 2011 Co-Chair

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Opinions on Astro-Tech Refractor
by erikhansen＠thebluezone.net 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

> To me, there are no bad dogs just bad dogs owners, likewise there are no bad refractors just bad refractor owners. I think f6.5 is the way to go as if you get a long focal length refractor a breezy night can be a problem. Alas, back injuries and amblyopia seem the bane of astronomers. I guess that explains the rise in truss tube telescopes, and the reason my scope is permanently mounted in an observatory. > > Ann: > > > > Tell Craig we are sorry about his back. A lot of us know the pain of back > problems. > > I have found that "full on reviews " of the larger Astro-Tech refractors > have been very hard to find. The 130 was listed as a Sky and Telescope > Best Product in 2007 but I doubt if there was a review written. There has > been a great deal of talk and hype on Cloudy Nights dot com about these > scopes but it is hard to get a review. I think it has a lot to do with the > fact that Cloudy Nights is owned and operated by Astronomics and they > import the AT products. That is what I hear anyway. > > We have a local fellow who owns and uses a 106. His name is George and I > am afraid I do not remember his last name. I am not sure if he is a member > of a local club or even a member of the Utah Astronomy list. If all else > fails get hold of Jay Eads as he is the fellow who introduced me to George > one night at Lakeside. I saw the 106 that night but it had a camera hooked > up to it so I never got to look in an eyepiece. > > I have seen several AT scopes and other products. Unfortunately I have > never looked through one. So I can't help you or Craig there. > > Tell Craig that I think he is on the right path. Not only because I am a > refractor "weenie" but I know how much lighter and easier to handle a 5" > refractors with a good mid weight mount can be than a large CAT. > > > > One more thing. Yes, Ann I believe in Santa also. > > Steve > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ann Blanchard" <a. blanchard @ ugs . utah . edu > > To: "Utah Astronomy" < utah -astronomy@mailman. xmission .com> > Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 8:30:55 AM > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Opinions on Astro-Tech Refractor > > Craig has hurt his back lifting our 11" Celestron CPC and is looking at > two Astro-Tech refractors as alternative possibilities for a while > (looking at prices, he still believes in Santa too). Â Anyway, have any of > you owned, used one of these or do you know of a web site that might > trusted that reviews them? Â They are the AT106 106m f/6.5 or the AT130 > 10mm F/6 . Â He found them on page 65 of the Sky and Telescope. Â I really > appreciate any advice on them you can give, thanks! > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy@mailman. xmission .com > http ://mailman. xmission .com/cgi-bin/mailman/ listinfo / utah -astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http :// www . slas .us/gallery2/main. php > Visit the Wiki : http :// www . utahastronomy .com > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php > Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com >

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Solar system imagery
by Patrick Wiggins 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Not fair. :) These were shot with a C-14. I have a C-14 and have never been able to get even close to what these folks have achieved. A few lunar shots: http://astrosurf.com/viladrich/astro/moon/closeup/platon-C14-29octo2010-400… http://astrosurf.com/viladrich/astro/moon/closeup/ptolemee-alphonse-C14-29o… http://astrosurf.com/viladrich/astro/moon/closeup/Tries-Hyg-C14-29octo2010-… And two of Jupiter: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/3/Jup_L_13_11_2010_202338g3_q161-R2G… http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/3/Jup_L_13_11_2010_212635g3_q208-R2G… It's just not fair... patrick

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correction
by Roger Butz 14 Nov '10

14 Nov '10

Bruce's correct email is bmargrim(a)msn.com .sorry.Roger

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Sincere request for feedback
by Canopus56 13 Nov '10

13 Nov '10

Joe, I enjoy them all. They are very well written. I tend to post replies here rather than on the DN site rather than duplicate them. For you last blog on NEOs, I posted a cross-link on Cloudy Nights that got 46 reads. Regards, Kurt P.S. - I suggest that you try for a blog spot on contributor status with S&T.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] [sllug-members]: obama's at it again
by Canopus56 13 Nov '10

13 Nov '10

Dear group, My apologies for this misdirected post. Please ignore. - Kurt

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