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theropod

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Everything posted by theropod

  1. There is a library out there that turns any digital pin into an interrupt pin (most Arduino chips). Not sure it would help here, but the link is below. tps://github.com/GreyGnome/EnableInterrupt.wiki.git
  2. There should be a “blown off at the knees” emoji!
  3. I find it absolutely amazing what some of y’all are doing. Some of the targets are objects I’ve never seen, or even knew about. Some of these images would have made astronomers from 50 years ago gasp. Imagine if the ancients could see little miracles like this. To think how happy I was to grab M42 with my iPhone and C90 I cannot fathom what it would feel like to post a world class shot like this. I doubt my SV105 would do this well if in orbit.
  4. Here’s the little DIY 60 with dew/light shield attached. Note the V shaped notches/relief cuts in the reduced end of the dew shield* (see below). I may “weld” those closed in situ with my soldering iron, or cover the slots with flocking. After warming over my gas cook stove until pliable I squeezed the scope end down around the objective housing. After clamping down the dovetail, and tightening the cone error screws built into the dovetail, the shield fits like a glove. I notice a marked increase in contrast in daylight observations with the shield, which is painted in the same flat black as the outside. * The sheild is made from thin wall 3” PVC drain pipe, and the swelled end (objective) is closer to 3.5”. This should assure no obstruction and give me a little alignment “play”. My EQM 35, shown, should carry this trinket scope like it wasn’t there. I’d say the scope, dovetail and shield weigh less than 2 pounds. I’m very eager to see how much easier it is to get those 1-2, & 3 star alignments with the greatly wider FOV this scope offers vs my C90 mak. Maybe seeing more than one star at a time will make life easier. Just using the corner of my house to steady me the scope returns an impressive view of M42, but almost any good glass can do that. I’ve less than $25 into the entire scope, sans eyepiece (32 mm that came with C90 and dovetail that came with my mount), focuser is a $17.50 eBay special I’ve tuned up some to lower the slop. Not bad for a pair of binos that had been driven over by a full sized pickup truck. This little cutie is actually intended to ride on my DIY ALT/AZ mount I built to learn about variable speed drive of stepper motors proportional to joystick input using Arduino. The C90 is just a touch heavy for that rigged up mount, but this kite wannabe should float like a dandelion seed on it.
  5. Nevada has some very dark skies away from the cities, and there’s lots of space between those cities. My brother used to work at an open pit gold mine near Golconda, and we spent one evening drinking sour mash and looking up I’ll never forget. Welcome to the forum from mostly cloudy Arkansas.
  6. Now you’re going to have to fight aperture fever! 🤪 I distinctly remember the first time I saw that view through the EP of a decent scope, on a bitter cold night in eastern Oregon, USA. A friend had a nice 4” refractor and we were far from any manmade light source, and it was “one of those nights”. It’s the only time I’ve seen the horse head, directly. Orion has been my favorite ever since. The entire region is full of amazing “stuff”, and I can spend most of a session just cruising around the neighborhood.
  7. I use both a RACI illuminating dual crosshair finder and the same type 12mm EP in my main scope. I found the stock finder on my C90 almost useless, and even a hinderance during stellar alignment. The uber thick single crosshairs in the straight through factory finder are so thick they cover Vega, and many other pinpoint targets, when centered.
  8. Astronomers Without Boarders reflector? There is a rather long thread about this over performing scope right here on this forum. My favorite, the C-90 Mak should also be mentioned, and another long thread exists about the “new version” right here (too lazy to look up and include links). I fully “get it” though, and picking a compact scope worth hauling around is a daunting task. If at all possible look at, and or through, actual examples before you whip out the plastic.
  9. I’ve seen the aurora from our home in north central Arkansas, so they can sometimes be seen well south of their native habitat. During our days in the NW corner of South Dakota we were treated to several episodes of highly active aurora. One of the most cool things I’ve seen in the sky.
  10. As mentioned above paleontology and archeology are rife with exploiting amateurs, and that’s exactly why I have issues. Yes, I understand these are my issues alone. What’s worse is often these amateurs pay to be exploited! I have both been the admin of such and participated as the “volunteer”. Our museum didn’t have a reliable/continuing revenue stream, and the yearly summer dig program was a big boost. We openly fessed-up that this influx of cash was critically vital. Interestingly many of our “volunteers”, although never seeing a dinosaur bone still in the ground, required very little guidance in their techniques. Most had put in the time to learn as much as possible prior to showing up with a rock hammer. In the end my hopes and expectations for each “volunteer” was to come away with the knowledge that they had made a concrete contribution to the efforts. Try to forgive my cynicism. The state of my nation has me skeptical of anything and everything. Covid fatigue is also at play with me. I’m sick and tired of denialist and cultists being the direct cause of needless death and suffering. Yep, I’m angry that uneducated rhetoric is driving critical thinking into the ditch, and that questioning motives is seen as unpatriotic. So, sorry for the spillover here. I’ve challenged authority my entire life, and have the bank account to prove it.
  11. No extra O ring, but You are welcome to the drill and tap I used to add another set of screws to mine so that the O ring is eliminated.
  12. It’s not a matter of agreement with me or not, Andrew. It’s a matter of ignoring my point(s) and acting as if I hadn’t made any. That was what brought about the point sailing high comment. I don’t give a stuffed goose if anyone agrees with me or not. My goal isn’t an anti AAS dismantling. I’m just attempting to point out what should be bloody obvious. Y’all might trust that only good and honorable intentions are at work here, and the world rarely, if ever, works like that. I honestly feel the whole thing is an attempt to sweep in a large hunk of cash in a hurry, and dangling the carrot of pro-am cooperation as an extra incentive. We just couldn’t be blinded by bias because the subject is so close to home, could we?
  13. ...and yet “grown-ups” elected a tyrannt over here... My point, which seems to be sailing well over many heads here, is that I don’t see how paying to be used is a reflection of stupendous judgement skills. Neither am I saying this will be the eventuality. I suppose I should just come out and say it. This looks for all the world to be a money grab attempt. Pay your dues, even though we have excluded you and your ilk for decades, and keep your mouth shut. If there is no room for the notion to be challenged the notion is dogma. Does dogma have a place in science? Has money not motivated many with “good intentions” to screw over the little guy all too often in the past? One wonders why amateurs were ever excluded If they can provide such valuable input. Seriously, nobody else smells the spoilage of fish?
  14. ...and when the outcome is reached it isn’t a larger feather in the cap of the pro? As a retired professional scientist I’ve seen both sides of the door. An eager, talented and knowledgeable amateur, no matter how vital his/her contribution, is nearly always denied the credit due them. Meanwhile the pro gets another bullet point on the resume, and his/her career is furthered. Excuse my cynicism, but I’ve seen this play out in several fields of study. Pros are not immune to human frailty/fault in any field, and nearly all of us are self serving. If the amateur’s ultimate benefit from such collaboration is less than that of the pro how can anyone NOT see the inequality inherit to such relationships? Of course not all pros will exploit amateurs, but the base of the scenario is one where the pro is automatically placed as the leader, and such is rife with opportunity. Unless a partnership of equality is pre-established the pro-am setting automatically becomes one where the pro gains the most. The pro is being paid for his/her time, while the amateur is (usually) self funded. Isn’t that a clear and present advantage, and benefit, only the pro will enjoy? All I’m doing is playing devil’s advocate. Everything is not a bed of roses in the real world, and just wishing for a level playing field isn’t a indictment of professionalism. Professional astronomers are no less prone to human frailty than anyone else. I’ve seen the decades long efforts of amateur paleontologist outright ripped off, belittled and dismissed out of hand. Horner (of egg mountain fame) didn’t do any of the leg work to find what put him “on the map”, and he sure didn’t object when issued an honorary doctorate as a result.
  15. Not looking at this aspect is self serving for those that do get the most out of such a collaborative effort.
  16. I find that more often than not amateurs gain less from collaboration than involved professionals no matter the field of endeavor.
  17. Why more folk don’t build a barn door tracker escapes me. If one keeps working on polar alignment, and tracking speed, some amazing results can be had.
  18. Part of why I am so wound up about meteors is the simple joy of just looking up at the night sky. It’s snowing out so even a quick fix is off the menu. Ah, winter...
  19. Bsshog40, Lucky you! Inserting a precision cut hunk of sandpaper into that tube for both length and circumference, and getting it to lay flat, isn’t a breeze. It took me half a day, but I have stubby inarticulate fingers. I ended up coiling the paper around an arrow shaft tacked with some “snot” glue from junk mail. I slowly uncoiled the paper using the arrow shaft to press the paper to the plastic tube wall. No adhesive holds the paper anywhere, and “springiness” in the paper acts to mechanically hold itself. Eventually the paper ends joined, lay flat against the tube wall and turned the “light at the end of the tunnel” into either inky black or a star field. Used to be that I could get close to Jupiter and use the glare to home in. Now my finder matters, and is one more reason why I just bought, modified and attached a RACI 50x9 dual crosshair illuminating finder to my C90. The narrow FOV and terrible straight through finder with seriously coarse crosshairs was inadequate for the job. I’m thinking of mounting the old C90 finder to my little DIY refractor, although the new scope has a FOV so large a finder isn’t a big concern. Maybe I should buy a mounting wedge for the 60mm DIY scope, and leave the C90 off my mount. Hmmm I bet goto would be easier to get going right.
  20. I have C90 and have owned it almost 5 years. I built a long dew/light shield and flocked the inside. I added the blacked wet/dry sandpaper to the focus tube. With my 2X Barlow and 12 mm EP I can make the Cassini split on a good night. With my 32mm EP Andromeda almost fits in the FOV, and becomes a living monster made of stars. A couple times under great conditions I’ve managed the ring and lagoon nebula. M42 is an evening killer as it’s hard to look away once my C90 has it framed. For the aperture and cost I cannot imagine a better deal. I wonder if two would make uber binoculars?
  21. My Celestron RACI 50 X 9 illuminated dual crosshair reticle is now mounted to my C90. I love it, but haven’t lugged the gear out to really put it to the test, so far it’s a dream come true. Near zenith targets are back on the menu! Nailing those alignment stars is going to be so much easier now. 3 star training of my mount shouldn’t take the more than a few minutes now, knock wood, cross fingers, howl at moon... I had to modify the mounting base a little. The screw slots on the new mount didn’t allow for the narrow hole set found on the C90. A dozen strokes with my chainsaw file per side and the cast metal opened up to a useable point. Otherwise the finder is a dream, and just works. Easy to calibrate with the OTA and a very good optics for its size. I expect to see the moons of Jupiter in its EP when it does eventually get a first light. I used a tree a few K away with my scope’s crosshair EP and the finder match. I’m confident I’m close enough until I can get out and use a real star to nail it. The spring loaded adjusters on this finder are smooth and steady. The crosshairs glides, instead of jumps, in reaction to using the screws. Bumping (test) show some knock resistance, but not a part of my SOP I want to establish. I wish I had replaced the finder with this one years ago.
  22. While not even in the same hemisphere as the other scopes shown here I’m nonetheless proud of the little refractor I just finished today. It’s not really finished. I still need to paint the pipe fittings inside and out in flat black, and add flocking a couple places, but the views are comparable to those via the C90 Mak, but with a MUCH wider FOV. Very crisp, no CA I can detect and not over sensitive to focus maladjustment. I’m going to have to fit a rail so I can clamp it into my EQM 35 Pro. I eventually may use this as a guide scope. The 60mm objective is salvaged from a dead pair of Russian (I think) binos. With the prism stack out of the light path that lens really does the work. I have some all metal/glass EP’s I plan on using with this scope to project the sun. I’ll use a full sheet of foam core poster board for a shield and probably a sun funnel type screen.
  23. I just today finished my 60mm refractor made from a salvaged objective from a dead pair of (I think) Russian binos. With the prism stack removed from the light path, a rack type eBay special focuser and my 12mm EP it nearly matches the view through my C90 Mak. It returns a MUCH wider FOV! I’m going to look at Orion through the “new” scope tonight. All I need is a mounting plate and I can stick it on my mount. At one time I used PVC pipe fittings and a “friction” focuser to view the Orion crowd and got fair results with the same lenses. I’m hoping adding a proper focuser will add another level of enjoyment to a $25 total investment scope. The “goodies” in Orion should be viewable at the very least. I’m seriously considering using this as a guide scope down the road.
  24. http://Google returns a bad link notice for the above.
  25. Another killer image by a SL member! There’s a cadre of y’all that are producing top shelf images. Keep up the great work!!
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