JamesF

I think that's really pretty good. I have always wondered if the Lifecam might work well on bright targets. I think we know now James

It does look like a very nice bit of kit. I love that they cut the teeth for the belt drive into the focuser knob, too. Not that I've actually got around to motorising my (old model) Steeltrack yet, but it's a smart idea. James

Here is probably as good a place to start as any: http://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year James

Congratulations to you both on the prize. There are some outstanding images entered this year by the looks of the winners and runners-up. James

I'll have to give that some thought. However, Steve Richards (steppenwolf) has a thread running at the moment about completely automating his dome observatory, so there may well be information there that would set you on the right track. I think I'd definitely go for separate motors for the two shutters though. Trying to combine the two might look very nice but is quite likely to be asking a lot in terms of engineering. Gonzo has some very neat lid openers on his remote observatory here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/198091-a-remote-unmanned-pico-observatory/page-8 Even just one of those might work for opening the lower section? James

And it even comes with lots of handy little shelves inside for eyepieces or electrical kit James

The problem I forsee with the "two-piece nesting" shutter is the difficulty of controlling it. It's not too hard to come up with a design where the lower section of the shutter would drag a free-running upper section up and down with it so you'd only need to control the lower section. But that would probably lead to the upper section slamming into the stops at either end of its run once gravity took over. Driving them both is somewhat more tricky. Whilst it may not be as "elegant", the two-piece non-nesting solution is probably far easier to implement. James

I'm holding out for the Modified Dall-Kirkham and the Schmidt Camera threads James

That's rather novel. My current favourite however is this one James

I'd have thought you could print the cups and rotor separately and screw them together. James

Closed off cylinders might be easier to mount too, come to think of it. James

My anemometer uses conical "buckets", so I'm not sure shape makes much difference. I guess as long as they're identical then it shouldn't be a problem. They're more tennis ball sized than ping pong ball sized too. I wonder if you couldn't just use closed-off cylinders. James

"There's nothing you can do now that can't be fixed. If you were going to break the mirror you should have done that on day one." To quote John Dobson James

Please do start a thread for the grinding machine. I'd love to see how you get on. James

I used to use IRC a lot for work. Haven't touched it for probably ten years though. James

There are IRC clients for just about everything, but I don't know if they're all free. It might work quite nicely though with multiple channels, one for general chatter and others for more targeted information. There are free IRC server implementations, but I'm only aware of ones that are UNIX/Linux-based. James

A private chat server (IRC-based, perhaps) might do the job. It would need some sort of sign-up validation though. The one advantage radio does have over internet-based services is that you don't tend to get quite so many people joining in who just want to sell you viagra or request your help to transfer millions of dollars from Nigeria. James

Allegedly ethe and ethea are acceptable plurals of ethos, whilst ethoi isn't because it applies the wrong grammatical rules for forming the plural. Personally I'd say it's "one Ethos" and then "too many if you want a quiet life". James

Is it one of those things like being an alcoholic? (In that you never stop actually being an alcoholic, you just become an alcoholic who doesn't drink.) James

I modded my handset so it could take external power from a 9V wall-wart James

For those unfamiliar with this scope, here's more: http://www.wetherellart.co.uk/sculpture_greatwetherellrefractor.html James

I'd love to have seen that scope "in the flesh" as it were. Sadly Tim told me that it has been sold and won't be accomanying him when he moves back to the UK. Still, eyepieces or scopes, you only sell one to make room for another, eh? James

Spend too much time at the optics and you can end up completely parabolised, that's for sure. James

Sees a lot of use, but the views can get badly blurred after long sessions. James

I'm not sure the grass actually stopped growing this winter, it's been that mild. It certainly has been cold this weekend though, particularly today. James