Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

Lunar Eclipse – Portugal January, 2000

I seriously started to doubt my sanity when the alarm clock went off at 2:45am. I found myself pulling on layer after layer of clothing before dragging my tired carcass outside to join the telescope in the crystal clear 4ºC January weather. The moon looks like countless other full moons I’ve seen before. Maybe a little brighter than usual, but maybe that’s just my imagination.

I was starting to doubt that I’d got the right day, when the show finally started. “Looks like somebody’s taken a bite out of the moon”, I said and smiled to myself. Time to get to those pictures! In between pictures I took occasional looks through my binoculars, but what really fascinated me was the environment. The crisp shadows were slowly dissolving, and the stars were beginning to show! A few times I couldn’t help removing the camera and looking at M42, or a cluster or two. Don’t get much chance for that during a full moon!

Turtle! 22/01/2000

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Posted inAstronomy Software

Tuthill Polar Alignment Calculator by Ray Porter

If you own a Tuthill Polar Alignment finder scope then this free little utility written by Ray Porter is something you need. Thanks to this handy utility I have never even had to look at the Tuthill Polar Alignment scope’s rather complicated instructions.

This is a more modern version of an old QuickBasic program also available as freeware on the internet.

Some important modifications have been made such as adjustment for longitude, daylight savings time, and time zone, but is still fast, light weight and very easy to use.

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Posted inAstronomy Webcam Mods & Tips

Mouse Cam – Connectix QuickCam Mods

I finally managed to track down a used Connectix black and white webcam on E-bay, and after a few weeks I was testing and tweaking to my heart’s content.

I quickly realized I was going to need some sort of box to put this thing in so it would attach to the scope more easily.

After rummaging around some old computer equipment at the office I came across an old IBM PS/2 mouse. Hey, the dimensions were right… Its really light, the hole at the bottom seemed the right size… Well why the heck not??

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Posted inAstronomy Webcam Mods & Tips

Converting a WebCam for Astrophotography

Modern webcams are very good at capturing images of the moon and planets as those targets are quite bright, and you do not need a super-sensitive astro camera to get good images. It is also a relatively inexpensive, and fun way to get a start in astrophotography.

The method described here works for most “ball” cameras. Mainly for the old Connectix (now Logitech), and QuickCam VC type.

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Posted inAstronomy Telescope Mods & Repair

Meade LX50 DEC Axis Issues

Hoo boy, did I have a sick DEC axis. I think I only began to notice it when I started guiding long-exposure shots as it was on the most part livable for the visual stuff.

I had a few problems:

  1. Reversing direction quickly back and forth several times would actually “crash” the LX50! The power led would start blinking and all I could do was power off, wait a few seconds and power on to get it to respond. Kind of like an operating system or two that I won’t mention here! 😉

  2. Speed of motion on the DEC axis had nothing to do with the RA axis. Either it was Speedy Gonzalez or the motor would actually come to a grinding (seriously — grinding) halt.

  3. When I reversed direction it would take a long time before whatever was in the FOV actually moved. It was like slack was being picked up somewhere in the tangent arm.

None of this is very good when you’re trying to guide a photo on a guide star you can barely see, and I won’t even go into what an autoguider will try to do…

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