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Galileo probe
by Chuck Hards 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

NASA plans to scuttle the Galileo orbiter next year, by plunging it into Jupiter's atmosphere. This is being planned to avoid a possible crash on Europa, which may contaminate that world and any possible life existing there. I'm thining that a crash into Io may be much more interesting, especially if "safe-mode" shutdowns can be overridden, allowing very high-resolution imagery of the surface. Contamination should not be an issue on Io. Opinions? -Chuck __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

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Darkroom question
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

It occurs to me that there are more than a few astrophotographers on this list so I have a question for those folks. I've decided to get my long neglected Schmidt camera out of mothballs which means I'm also going to have to do the same for my darkroom. So, I ask you, should the walls of a darkroom, to be used for B&W photography, be white or black or something in between? Patrick :-)

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Cool ISS Image site
by Joe Borgione 18 Jan '02

18 Jan '02

A friend of mine passed this URL aon to me. If you haven't been there it's worth the click for some cool images of the ISS. http://www.analemma.de/english/ccdsatel.html Joe Borgione

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You'll get a kick out of this
by Richard Tenney 18 Jan '02

18 Jan '02

This humor is off-topic, but I think many of you will enjoy it as much as I did... Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Digital Setting Circles
by MCrookston＠williams-int.com 18 Jan '02

18 Jan '02

Thanks for the note. It is nice to hear from people I know. Mark -----Original Message----- From: Marilyn Smith [SMTP:bob-marilyn@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 9:11 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Digital Setting Circles I bought a Sky Commander DSC box about a year ago, and have been quite pleased with it. I'd have to credit it with my continued interest in astonomy, for without it I'd feel compelled to spend my time on a more rewarding hobby. I found it difficult to learn the sky through our light pollution when you can't always find the Big Dipper, but when I travelled to truly dark skies the sudden vision of so many stars compelled me to spend most of my available viewing time just trying to identify the constellations, which seemed to be camoflaged by the other stars. Getting a Telrad helped a lot, but here at home I find that even the light loss thru it, or background glare, can sometimes make a directly visable star impossible to find thru the finder. It is even worse now that my neighbor has replaced his two porch lights with two brighter ones (he was kind enough to give me two paper shopping bags to cover them). The Sky Commander isn't always perfect, though, either, but with careful alignment and an occasional "Realign on Object" function, it gets quite accurate. I have located objects with it that would have been far too dim to have identified with certainty without it. Previously, frustration level of using the telescope would have relegated it to a dust collector except for simple objects. I use it almost all the time except for quick observations of the larger objects, or for subsequent nights of tracking asteroids after having used it to find them in the first place. That's how I'm learning the sky. I've afixed the encoders on my Astrola equitorial mount with my 8" Cave from 1955. I've transported the unit at least ten times by car and camper without any problems with the encoders. The only weakness is that the pins and socket extend a bit beyond the case of the encoder where they can be bent in tranport. So far, this has not affected their function. I have used my laptop in unison with the Sky Commander two or three times with their free download planetarium software, but it adds a level of complexity that I haven't yet found to be of much value, perhaps due to the coarse resolution of the software. I have not yet used it with SkyMap Pro, but I think it may be more rewarding. There is an active SkyCommander mailing list on Yahoo where some very ardent fans willingly share their expertise. The archives hold discussions about the qualities of the SkyCommander compared to other DSC's. BTW - I've removed the original setting circles from the Astrola in order to mount the encoders. The original hour circle read backwards when I got the telescope several years ago. I had to remove it, flip it 180 degrees, and remount it on the shaft, even though it obviously wasn't designed to go on that way since the hub was not symmetrical and it was no longer close to the pointer. It made me wonder if I was either in the wrong hemisphere, or using the wrong hemisphere of my brain, but this scope was made and purchased in California. Any ideas on why this appeared to be backwards? Bob Grant ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards(a)yahoo.com> To: "Utah-Astro" <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:07 AM 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 > _______________________________________________ Utah-astronomy mailing list Utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy This email message and any attachment(s) are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain proprietary and/or confidential information which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient(s), please contact the sender by reply email and destroy the original message and any copies of the message as well as any attachment(s) to the original message.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Cool ISS Image site
by RStmarie＠aol.com 17 Jan '02

17 Jan '02

Those are cool images! I doubt the military minds though, remember when the shuttle had a damaged tile, the NASA could evaluate it from the ground. They can probably count rivets...

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Digital Setting Circles
by Chuck Hards 17 Jan '02

17 Jan '02

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/

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Fwd: Fun with a TV-85, TV-102, Tak FS-102, C8 and C11
by Richard Tenney 17 Jan '02

17 Jan '02

Debbie Whitaker (who recently picked up a TV-102 on Astromart) just sent me this post from the TeleVue user group; I thought it was interesting reading and worth passing on... Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/

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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/

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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/

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