Gina

This is a very difficult thing to design empirically so it's a matter of trial and error. Fortunately filament is cheap - even the best quality and reduced fill density keeps both cost and time down

That design had a few problems so yet another.

I'm glad I never sold or got rid of any of my vinyl records But I did change over to CDs when the came out and I have more of them. The sound is definitely harsher. I found I can play them in my Blu-Ray player. ATM I'm playing through the television set then to my Hi-Fi amplifier but I shall connect the audio directly - need to buy a stereo phono cable. I have ordered 3 more vinyl records from Amazon - all organ music - one new and two used in good condition. Bach Organ Music from Soissons Cathedral - Marie-Madeleine and Maurice Durufle - New - I had the last one. Organ music from Canterbury Cathedral - Bach, Mendelssohn and Francks - Used - they only had one copy. Liszt: The Organ Of Salisbury Cathedral - Used - they only had one copy.

Printing a trial month advance lever to see how it fits the rest.

Another idea - simpler (I think).

Another redesign to reduce clutter.

Woke up in the early hours for a "call of nature" and decided to see what I could find. The sky had cleared and there were plenty of stars. After a bit of slewing I found Orion Left it imaging and went back to bed. I need to find out why the tracking didn't work before any more imaging!

Lots of clouds coming through now.

Another sub. Mount slewed eastwards to bring the Cygnus Loop into the frame (near the bottom).

I've found Cygnus This is a 30s exposure, gain of 600 (60dB). Astrodon 3nm Ha filter. 28mm f3.5 lens. Screenshot from KStars.

Now I've seen an aircraft - quite different - three traces from the navigation lights. The other trace was single. I don't think the mount is tracking Getting elongated stars. No sign of nebulosity but I may be in the wrong area of the sky. Haven't sorted out plate solving with this system yet. OTOH it may be high level cloud. This is a 120s sub with gain at 600 (maximum). This would normally show nebulosity.

Think I've just seen the ISS pass through the FOV Too fast for an aircraft.

Observatory roof opened and rig pointed roughly towards Cygnus or Cassiopeia.

Now I have to find out why the mount isn't working EDIT - Fixed - mount plugged into a different USB port Mount mow working

Have remote focus working fine and have focused on far tree. Here's a blowup.

Using the 28mm f3.5 lens I have now sorted out the focussing. This is the most critical with its short focal length. Used the Baader 20-16mm adjustable extension tube plus a 5mm extension ring. The lens will now focus on the distant horizon well within its focus range.

Priorities... nuts!!! Need a break from all the hard stuff Decided the month advance bar that turns the days-in-the-month wheel looks wrong across the 31 days wheel so I'm thinking of taking it across the bottom, clear of the 31d wheel. Here is a rough diagram.

I quite fancy getting back to this project but unfortunately it has a lower priority...

Looking at thingiverse the other day I came across an illuminated moon globe that looked just the thing for the moon phase globe for this clock. It's 140mm diameter with craters etc. This would be a bit bigger than the moon in my moon phase clock which is 100mm diameter and should suit the bigger clock. Glowing Moon Worth a try, I think. Probably try natural or white PETG or ABS. It would be nice to have a moon globe with a bit of detail on the surface if I can get it to work

With this fascinating mechanism it seems a shame that it will be stationary most of the time - only operating at midnight and only doing "clever" things at the end of 30 day months or Februaries. And it will only be me that sees it. It seems a lot of work just for that! A practical perpetual calendar could be much simpler - all the "perpetual calendar" data is already in the RTC module and it only needs stepper motors to drive the drums. With the Arduino RTC library all the data is easily read out and could simply be arranged to control the stepper motors that drive the drums. It seems to me that my time might be much better spent on other things. While the perpetual calendar was going to be part of the longcase clock it made sense as everything would be mechanical but on its own I don't think it does. OTOH I guess this mechanical perpetual calendar is almost finished and may take less time and effort to finish than starting again.

Well I didn't but I have done a bit of thinking...

Since I have the back focus sorted out for the 55mm lenses I think I shall go with those for my first dual imaging rig. I need to have the minimum to do so as to be ready ASAP in case of a clear night (oh the optimism!! ). I'm hoping I shall feel well enough to get on with things soon. ATM I'm only doing what's necessary. I keep looking at my projects to see if I feel up to making any progress.

For extending the bass response this would do me nicely :- The Epicenter 500 Subwoofer

Having a job to shift this cold and still not up to doing much which is making me feel depressed. It's better than it was but still have a bad cough and just can't manage much

Assembly of turntable. Here's the photo series from assembling the turntable. The drive belt is supplied installed around the platter pulley (underneath) and a red ribbon is tucked under it. This ribbon is used to pull the belt out and onto the motor pulley.