February 2014 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Out of focus?
by Bruce Hugo 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

Cool! Thanks Dave. I'll be trying out the Bob's Knobs when we have a clear night on a weekend when I have free time... when (if ever) that alignment happens! LOL! Or... it will be with the Hubble artificial star on a weekend when I have free time... hmmm... a bit better chance! Bruce Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:59:01 -0700 From: Dave Gary <davegary(a)me.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Out of focus? Message-ID: <9441B06A-8D65-44FD-BE00-BD61101C2CE2(a)me.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Bruce, I have Bob?s Knobs on the 10-inch Meade. I?ve never collimated with a laser, but with a star you?re out-of-focus when you do the collimation. It takes me about 10 minutes to do a decent collimation with Bob?s Knobs and a star if I think the scope needs it. Before I got Bob?s Knobs it was a pain and took me about 30 minutes, at least. You have to have better finger dexterity than me to mess with those small Allen wrenches in the dark. Dave

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Collimation of SCT with artificial star
by Erik Hansen 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

http://www.leif.org/mikael/collimation.html

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Jean Texereau RIP
by Dale Hooper 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

Another giant of the ATM world, Jean Texereau has passed away. He is the author of, "How to Make a Telescope" which is still being published by Willmann Bell. Mr. Texereau was not quite 95 - so he lived a good long life. Clear skies, Dale.

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Out of focus?
by Dave Gary 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

Bruce, I have Bob’s Knobs on the 10-inch Meade. I’ve never collimated with a laser, but with a star you’re out-of-focus when you do the collimation. It takes me about 10 minutes to do a decent collimation with Bob’s Knobs and a star if I think the scope needs it. Before I got Bob’s Knobs it was a pain and took me about 30 minutes, at least. You have to have better finger dexterity than me to mess with those small Allen wrenches in the dark. Dave

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] congrats to Patrick, featured on tonight's KSL news at 10
by Bruce Hugo 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

Congratulations Patrick! Your SN discovery was also announced on Classical 89 this morning!

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congrats to Patrick, featured on tonight's KSL news at 10
by Richard Tenney 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

It was a nice glimpse at Patrick's observatory and a great tribute to him and his SN discovery. Kudos!

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Not enough backfocus
by Bruce Hugo 09 Feb '14

09 Feb '14

Hahahha! Yes, probably a really good thing it is not on his window! Instead of the artificial star, it would be a full moon! ROFL! >> I installed some Bob's Knobs on the Meade LX200GPS 12" and was going to use the Hubble 5-star artificial star generator for collimation. I did the calculation as to how far away to place it. About 40 feet. So I measured to a tree in the back yard from my home office window. 58 feet. The telescope is set up in that room. Unfortunately... the scope does not focus that close. In fact, about the closest I can focus is my neighbor's back fence about 200 feet away. Guess I'll have to ask him if I can set the Hubble on his fence one of these nights. Hahahaa! >Better on his fence than on his window... :) ------------------------------

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Not enough backfocus
by Bruce Hugo 09 Feb '14

09 Feb '14

I installed some Bob's Knobs on the Meade LX200GPS 12" and was going to use the Hubble 5-star artificial star generator for collimation. I did the calculation as to how far away to place it. About 40 feet. So I measured to a tree in the back yard from my home office window. 58 feet. The telescope is set up in that room. Unfortunately... the scope does not focus that close. In fact, about the closest I can focus is my neighbor's back fence about 200 feet away. Guess I'll have to ask him if I can set the Hubble on his fence one of these nights. Hahahaa! Anyone ever used one of these Hubble 5-star artificial stars? Any tricks I should know of? Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science. - Edwin Powell Hubble

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A great astrophoto -- of us!
by Joe Bauman 09 Feb '14

09 Feb '14

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-stunning-view-earth-99-180616132.html

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Star party Cedar Hills Elem. (N. Utah County) next Thurs. -- need help
by Richard Tenney 07 Feb '14

07 Feb '14

I'm planning to host a "star" party (gonna be mostly moon and bright objects instead) for Cedar Hills Elementary school this coming Thursday the 13th, weather permitting, and could use a couple of extra hands/telescopes if you can spare an hour or two that night, I (and the school) would be grateful. More details later; please RSVP to me if you can help. TIA, /Rich

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