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H2IKXF

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Blog Entries posted by H2IKXF

  1. H2IKXF
    During the past few weeks of cloudy skies I've been spending some of what would have been observing time learning how to use my Nikon D3000 DSLR.
    After many hours using the camera on the tripod I came to the definite conclusion I should get a 'Right Angle Viewer' for the viewfinder.
    I wasn't sure whether I should get the Nikon DR-6 Right Angle Viewfinder or some other brand that was anywhere between 1/3 to 1/2 the price.
    I phoned the local office of the national photographic chain and immediately after pressing the number to speak with a representative I knew things weren't going to turn out the way I had thought... you see, the 'on hold' music was...
    100 bottles of beer on the wall.
  2. H2IKXF
    In a perverse way cloudy skies can be good. The condition allows you to catch up on your astronomy reading.
    In my case I was intrigued by the title.
    Space Enterprise: Living and Working Offworld in the 21st Century (Philip Harris, Praxis Publishing 2009)
    At first glance one might be tempted to think this fellow was a bit on the squirrely side of crazy using a title which conveyed a meaning of humanity flourishing on planetary and space outposts rather than just barely managing to exist on two space stations not much larger than a couple of school buses glued together.
    Obviously theoretical from start to finish.
    Intrigued at all things on the squirrely side of crazy I decided to request a copy through inter-library loan.
    The author's ability to write well leaves a great gaping chasm for further development. However, if one can manage to flounder through a bog whilst carrying the Titanic's anchor and chain they are in for some very thought provoking hours.
    Far too many books out there deal with the whinging for more public interest and funding. This book is no different in this regard but puts a slightly different spin on it by devoting a chapter to how nations have/are developing what the author calls a "space ethos" (a common public psychological condition or spiritus for going into space).
    Far too many books out there deal with the physical necessaries for going, living and colonizing space. More often than not these books bog down into the minutea or end up being flatulantly pie in the sky. This book takes an entirely different view of going, living and working in space. For instance.
    On Earth as well as on any future colony how will human culture, behaviour, psychology, politics and governance change? What are the implications and possibilities necessarily implied for commerce and the various functions of commerce to exist and flourish?
    These sorts of questions aren't trivial.
    It's one thing to solve the difficulties of relieving oneself in a zero-gravity environment or of producing a gravity environment and then solving the plumbing issues. It's quite another to deal with the issues of pschology, behaviour, law, governance, commerce and the transmission to future generations of our culture. What will it take, what will we need to do, how will these things need to change.
    The book isn't for the layman but then it's not so hyper-technical that the layman cannot grasp the idea's being addressed. Go ahead and pick up a copy. I think you'll enjoy it.
  3. H2IKXF
    I just noticed something today. My membership status in the Star Gazers Lounge has suddenly changed. Having been a 'vacuum' I am now classified as a 'Nebula'.
    With apologies to Descartes does this mean 'I gaseous, therefore I am'?
    p.s. It has now been 65 nights since the purchase of my telescope without ONE night being cloudless enough for observation. I'm beginning to wonder if G-d has remembered me.
  4. H2IKXF
    When I joined the Stargazers Lounge (see http://stargazerslounge.com/welcome/95087-greetings-everyone.html#post1356680 ) I wrote about how I had as a New Years resolution decided to get started on astronomy as a hobby. Well...? The fates have been conspiring against me it seems.
    I set forth in my posting about how I had already purchased a Nikon D3000 D-SLR and Pro-Star (aka Clevo) D900F laptop.
    Well, it seems the drivers (windows or *nix) for Intel WiFi 5300 cards won't allow signing into secured (non-secured work) WiFi networks. So, in order to use my laptop on a network I've got to either cripple the network or not use it. Simply mah-voo-lous daahhhling. :rolleyes:
    I knew about the fact that I would be having trouble with using a Nikon for astrophotography since there's just more software out there for the Cannon. However, I liked this particular Nikon because it used a CCD chip rather than a CMOS chip. True the chip isn't a Full-Frame chip (36mm x 24mm) but rather a APS-chip (23.6 x 15.8 mm) still it's better than a CMOS chip any day. Another issue was having a camera where I could turn off ALL the auto-functions AND I could turn off the viewscreen so it's not sucking electricity the whole night. There was also the issue of the camera having a viewfinder that passed through the camera body to the lense body rather than just over the top of the camera. Finally, there was the issue of cost. Let's face it, if money were no object I wouldn't care as I would spend the ten's-of-thousands to get the specialized CCD camera's the "professional" astronomers use and get another camera for my non-astronomical photo shooting. Taken all together I think I made a good choice for starting out and as I progress I can "upgrade"... and who among us doesn't fall into the 'I wanna new toy' category. ;)
    As I stated in my intro I was trying to decide between the Celestron Omni XLT 150 Reflector OR Celestron Omni XLT 120 Refractor. It was the old Reflector vs Refractor decision game. Or was it?
    In the end it came down to my budget could afford. At this point most would say 'he went for the reflector'. However what I decided was to put a choke hold on my immaturity in astronomy as concerns the aperture fever bug. I opted to go with a refractor but downsize in aperture to offset the cost. I chose the Celestron Omni XLT 102. With the money saved by down-sizing I purchased the Celestron Eye Piece Kit. That way I would have a full-set of Eye Piece's rather than just the one that came with the telescope. Additionally, the extra savings allowed for me to stretch the budget slightly and allow for the purchase of a Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 binoculars. Perhaps my choices weren't so great when it comes to the specific brand or models but all-in-all I think it was much wiser from a beginning to amatuer astronomy as instead of only having a telescope (with a larger aperture) and a single eye-piece I have a much larger set of observational tools. They're not great but they're not too shabby either. Not that I would necessarily know though. You see, since purchasing the equipment I've been getting in A LOT of practice setting up the telescope and breaking it down, hooking up the camera, moving the whole lot around vis-a-vie the mounts control knobs, etc... because there's not been even ONE night without cloud cover over at least 2/3rd's of the night sky. It's been 64 nights now!!! To suggest that 'Cabin fever' has set in would be a gross understatement. :icon_confused:
    Oh, the 'jumping flea' lessons are going quite well. :D
  5. H2IKXF
    I've been reading Eric Chaisson's 'Cosmic Dawn: The Origins of Matter and Life'.
    Reading this book I have to struggle quite a bit. So much so that in writing about my experience I feel the urge to go hillbilly just to make things interesting.
    Okay, this feller knows his stuff. Pro'lly a good perfesser too. But whoooo--weee... the smell comin off'in his writing style jess leaves a person wantin something a biiitttt more on the personable side of things. Fossilized dino dung has more juice in it.
    I'm hoping that the next two books in his series will be better written. No, I'm not a glutten for punishment I just decided I was going to read this fellows trilogy on the subject matter and by golly I'm gonna 'git-er-done'.
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