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Astrofriend

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  1. Astrofriend
    Two new pages translated, now the pages 1 to 16 are online. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/swedens-old-observatories/01-swedens-old-observatories.html These two last pages are in a more modern era, the 1930s when they build the new observatory in Stockholm. Merry Christmas to all of you ! /Lars
  2. Astrofriend
    Hi Peter, Good that there are other alternatives if I get stuck in FreeCAD. Today and yesterday I have working on a CAD drawing to a motor fouser bracket. Almost finished I hope. http://www.astrofriend.eu/3d-printing/focus-motor-bracket/01-focus-motor-bracket.html /Lars
  3. Astrofriend
    Hi, Yes It's really exiting. How about Fusion 360 and OpenSCAD, is it possible to create pulleys, worm gears, sour gears and other complicated shapes ? In FreeCAD it's only a macro and some parameters to set. /Lars
  4. Astrofriend
    At last I have started to practicing how to make 3D CAD drawings. I really need these 3D printed parts for my astronomy projects. For you who want some insight I have my first simple drafts of CAD drawings here with some links of information: http://www.astrofriend.eu/3d-printing/cad-drawing/01-cad-drawing.html It will be a revolution for me to be able to make my own special designed parts. /Lars
  5. Astrofriend
    I bought another 300 mm lens as an alternative to the Canon 300 mm L lens I already have. The main reason is to achive a lower vignetting. I have very positive experience from an earlier medium format lens. This is the Pentax 645 300 mm ED f/4 lens with good reputation. If I get some positive results from this lens I maybe replace my Canon 300 mm lens with this one. Here is some photos and data about the lens: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-pentax645-300ed/01-pentax645-300ed.html I bought it mostly because I'm curious about it and want to test it. It's more than ten years older than the Canon lens. Lars
  6. Astrofriend
    Today I noticed something interesting. My mini PC that have an input terminal for 19 Volts can be powered by much lower voltage. I have also installed an instrument with a Volt and Ampere meter. Now I can have more control of which of the devices that consume most power. Important when on battery power. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-300mm-setup/01-300mm-setup.html I need to solve the mechanics of the motor focuser, have ordered some parts for that. /Lars
  7. Astrofriend
    Now I have translated two new pages and page 1 to 12 are online for you who find it interesting. Sweden's old observatories, an 90 years old document by the Swedish astronomer Östen Bergstrand. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/swedens-old-observatories/01-swedens-old-observatories.html /Lars
  8. Astrofriend
    Today I have made a new power cable, I bought a new power full USB Hub and need to do some rewiring. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-300mm-setup/01-300mm-setup.html Now waiting for new components I need to proceed. /Lars
  9. Astrofriend
    @ Magnus, I have always found it a bit strange why some people by a small APO refractor when there are lenses like these. Today they are very cheap on the used market, no need of the expensive stabilizing version. Built into the lens is a field flattener that handle full frame sensors. Not a general flat field flattener. There is also a built in focus motor that maybe can be used. Okay if your economy is unlimited, then you buy the best you can get, but for a normal person that's not the case. By the way, I did some update of the text and added a couple of extra photos. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-300mm-setup/01-300mm-setup.html /Lars
  10. Astrofriend
    @ Alan, It looks to the same as I bought. It will be delivered in February. @ Magnus, Yes I have read about people that have a 500 mm focal length telescope on the Star Adventurer. Sure I can have it perform better, but I will use that mount for shorter lens. For 250 mm and longer focal length I want a GoTo function and better oportunities to autoguide. This evening I have tested out an extender between the guide camera and the Pentax lens. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-300mm-setup/01-300mm-setup.html It's ready now for a first test, I just have to wait for a clear sky. Lars
  11. Astrofriend
    I found a lot of USB heater on Ebay with a power control module. It's almost standard today and cheap too. Lars
  12. Astrofriend
    Earlier when I tested my Canon 300 mm L f/4 lens mounted on my Star Adventurer I found the load on the mount too high. Now I 'm adapting it to fit my EQ6 mount and include an auto guiding camera too. Here are drawings and photos of my rainy day project: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-300mm-setup/01-300mm-setup.html Have anyone seen a power regulator to USB heating bands ? /Lars
  13. Astrofriend
    I uploaded the last work, now 8 pages are finished. I have also on each page put some additional information, including maps if you want to visit some of the old beautiful observatories. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/swedens-old-observatories/01-swedens-old-observatories.html /Lars
  14. Astrofriend
    Hi, The original is in the form of images and OCR program handle it very bad. I have to write down everything in Swedish first, then I use Google translater or similar. Because of the old language it has to be done some corrections in the translation. But very interesting to read, at least for me. How about weather at your place ? Here is very bad with clouds and rain. /Lars
  15. Astrofriend
    When I post photos and stories about old observatories I get a lot of positive reactions. When I wrote about Stockholm's old observatory I found a very nice and interesting story written almost 90 years ago by the Swedish astronomer Östen Bergstrand. It's written in Swedish. I feel I must spend some hours and translate it into English for all of you that don't talk or read Swedish language, the first four pages are now translated. The article's name in English is: Astronomical observatories in Sweden, by Östen Bergstrand: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/swedens-old-observatories/01-swedens-old-observatories.html Let me know if you find it interesting and I translate more of the pages into English. The Swedish language in this article is very old and difficult to translate and my English isn't the best either. But you will understand what's written. /Lars
  16. Astrofriend
    Hi Olly, I knew Per, he had just walking distance to the telescopes. We talked about some ideas to have the astrograph in work again. But lot of work and expensive. /Lars
  17. Astrofriend
    Only the main observatory building is in use today, but amateur astronomers use the two of the other buildings. I have found some old photographs and added more links with information. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/saltsjobaden-observatory/01-stockholms-observatory.html /Lars
  18. Astrofriend
    I continue my reports from observatories I have visited. This one is very special for me, I did my education in astrophysics at this place in the 1990s. My girlfriend and I took the car this weekend and visited Saltsjöbaden for a walk, only 30 km from where we live. We ended the walk up at the Stockholm's Observatory. Some photos from this beautiful place: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/saltsjobaden-observatory/01-stockholms-observatory.html One of the observatories at this photos is the astrograph which I already earlier had written about. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/saltsjobaden-astrograph/saltsjobaden-astrograph.html Lars
  19. Astrofriend
    Hi, Thanks for the comment. I took more photos the last night, I got what I think is an Iridium flash. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/astronomy-photo/meteor-shower/perseids/perseids-2020/perseids-2020.html /Lars
  20. Astrofriend
    When you have a lot of fun stuff you always think, is there another way I can use it ? I bought recently an used GoPro Hero5 Black camera. It's excelent to do time lapse movies with. But could it be used for astrophotography ? I have in mind doing time lapse of meteor showers. When I use my DSLR with a mechanical shutter I use 1/100 of its life time every night I use it for time lapse. With the GoPro camera there is no mechnical shutter, but will it be sensitive enough ? A very rough estimate is that it only have 1/10 of the sensitivity per pixel. But I'm curious, I want to test it. I collected some information here and test that I have done: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-gopro-as-timelapse/01-project-gopro-as-timelapse.html At the end a link to last night Perseid meteor shower. And it really works, but only catch the strongest meteors, but the camera is small and I can have it in my pocket so very easy to bring out in the dark and setup. /Lars
  21. Astrofriend
    I have already earlier written an article about the old observatory at Stockholm in Sweden where I live. Only 30 minutes away from my home by the subway. A friend to me, Nippe, told me that he had written an article about that observatory's history. I got permission to use it on my homepage. I have translated it to english (not perfect but I hope you understand the information) and implemented it among my earlier photos from the observatory. http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/stockholms-observatory/stockholm-observatory.html Nippe's history article is very interesting, a lot of information about the observatory that I wasn't aware about. Enjoy reading ! /Lars
  22. Astrofriend
    Maybe someone here have succeeded to get a Canon 6D and a lens with built in focus motor to work in autofocus? I have asked the question on Indi forum, but no answer. The problem I have to solve with Astroberry: 1. Get the autofocus with Canon 6D lenses built in focus motor to work, now it doesn't or crash 2. Control my EQ6 mount wich have a custom gear ratio, I have updated the sourch code of EQMode (Indi) but not compiled it yet. Much better if it can be implemented direct in EQmode as it is in the Windows version. 3. My guide camera QHY5 (old version) work with windows drivers but not Indi drivers 4. I have not succeed to get the GPS receiver to work yet. It doesn't communicate, otherwise it looks to make connect. If I at least could get the lens motor to auto focus I could start to do some test. /Lars
  23. Astrofriend
    Hi, For sure parts of this is not easy. I got a clear sky and could do some outdoor test of the focuser function. After that I got a better understanding of what is not working. My notes of what is happen when try to do focusing: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-kstars-raspberrypi4/10-project-kstars-raspberrypi4.html I like the KStars and Ekos and how it work, when I get rid of the problem I have it will be a really nice astro control software to use. /Lars
  24. Astrofriend
    Hi, Lot of comments, I think Raspberry is hot ! My mini PC with windows takes about 13 to 26 Watt, it's an upconverter included, convert 13 Volt to 19 Volt. With the Raspberry I only have a load of 5 Watt. That's very positive when planning to be more mobile. And I save weight, less cables. For a mini PC with a Windows licens I have to pay about 500 Euro, for a Raspberry 70 Euro is enough. The money I save I can spend on other equipment, and there are a lot of them I want. But yes, it's complicated now in the beginning, but fun. Now I try to implement a GPS device to the raspberry: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-kstars-raspberrypi4/01-project-kstars-raspberrypi4.html Got some problem and it's not solved yet. By the way, you can run Windows on Raspberry, nothing I have tried. Dave, nice to hear you have it working so good. /Lars
  25. Astrofriend
    Hi, Now I have started my second try to have a Raspberry as an astroserver. My first try didn't perform well because of to weak process power. Now with the new Raspberry Pi4 the situation had changed, and the Indi drivers are more developed too. It's a bit complicated to setup the Raspberry with its Linux operating system. I'm a Window man. I have documented the first steps I have done and my plans here: http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-kstars-raspberrypi4/01-project-kstars-raspberrypi4.html I will go back later and edit the parameters to get it optimized. But if you find it interesting you can read it already now and follow the progress. It will be prefect for my portable equipment. Raspberry also these days annonced a new high resolution camera with Sony chip, maybe something for planethunting. /Lars
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