michaelmorris

The build is coming along rather slowly due to work and other commitments. The cooling assembly is now installed with the original pettier cooler and associated heat sink on the outside of the aluminium box and the new heatsink and fan on the inside. The two are clamped with two bolts running through two holes drilled in the outer heat sink and through the aluminium box and fins removed from the inner heat sink. Each hole is lined with a whittled down rawl plug to try to thermally isolate the bolts from the outer heatsink. The gap between the part of the outer heat sink not in contact with the peltier and the aluminium box is filled with some thin sheets of neoprene rubber left over form another project. This is then all sealed in with some liquid gasket left over from another DIY astro project. I've wired it all up to the circuitry taken out of the fridge and it all seems to work okay. (Phew). I've put the circuitry from the fridge into a plastic project box from Maplin (pictures to follow) and bought a replacement 12v lead for the fridge (missing from the original fridge I liberated from the tip).

I've just been down to Jewsons and had a look at some some 25mm polyisocyanate-based wall insulation. It looks good, but it's only available in expensive 8' x 4' sheets, so I'm going to plan B - polystyrene

I am minded to try to get hold of some 25mm polyisocyanate-based wall insulation (Kingspan or Celotex). It should be almost as light as polystyrene, but much stronger.

The aluminium case helps transfer the cold evenly around (and thus in to) the camera. This case will then be clad in insulation.

Further update with progess. I've finished the basic cooler box made out of 1.5mm thick aluminium sheets folded and bolted together to the same design used by Gary Honis. http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d16c.html I slightly mis-measured (1 mm) and ended up having to file down the edges of the interior heat sink (Doh!)

DSLR COOLER FINALLY STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE. A couple of months ago a trip to my local tip to drop off some old batteries resulted in me 'liberating' an old mini beer fridge from the clutches of the 'Used Electrical items' skip. Bringing it home I found out that it worked perfectly, apart from a broken door catch. After a lot of research (links below) I've ripped out the electricals and heat sink and have started constructing a DSLR cooler for my Canon 1100D. I'll keep you posted on progress. http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d16c.html http://www.swashastro.co.uk/peltier_cooler_box.html

I'll second your recommendation. Jay does great work and the place is really interesting. Well worth a visit.

Thanks for the link. Just taken off the front cell to measure the tube diameter - it's 99 mm.

I'm presently working out my options for upgrading the set up in my observatory. Part of this process involves working out how to mount the scopes. I presently have two refractors, a Skywatcher 80ED and a Revelation 66mm ED. One of the possible configuration I want to research is mounting the Revelation 66mm ED on top of the Skywatcher 80ED. To achieve this I would need to mount the Skywatcher 80ED in a pair of squared off tube rings, similar to those offered by William Optics (example below). Does anyone know of any company that make a similar style of tube ring that will work with the Skywatcher 80ED? Thanks

Hi Mountain Skies Your blog is an interesting personal point of view on starting out in astronomy and I think you make some useful points. Personally I don't agree with you regarding getting a cheap refractor as a good first scope. A nice little Newtonian on a decent tracking mount (EQ5 for instance) or on a Dobsonian mount would be my preference. Regarding your comment "The biggest problem you hear in astronomy is that someone got a big 1000 dollar telescope and hated it and stuck it back in his/her closet." Whilst people having "all the gear and no idea" can be an issue, from my experience, a MUCH more common problem is people getting a really cheap scope (with a shoddy mount), and this putting them off the hobby. Members of SGL have between them thousands of years of experience of many aspects of amateur astronomy. Quite a number of members are also professional astronomers. The strength of the forum is that there is a vast range of experience within the membership, yet I somewhat doubt any member would ever claim to be the' ultimate' authority on any single aspect of the hobby. Perhaps billing your blog as an 'Ultimate guide' is over-egging it. Might your blog be more appropriately entitled - 'Starting out in astronomy - a personal view'?

Have you tried using an observing stool? Sitting down whilst observing can completely transform the experience. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/mey-observing-chair.html http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-anti-tip-observing-chair/p1529203?mkwid=ssbfh8c4f_dc&pcrid=89741389979&kword=&match=&plid=&gclid=cj0keqia0sq2brdrt6scrqj71vqbeiqag5bj0_0a8riyds62qevzi3nxl8j6futa4-bpbtgu8krxo2uaaiv78p8haq

After what feels like decades of cloud cover, last night the gods finally forgave me for whatever it was I did to displease them and I had a clear night! I decided to concentrate this rare opportunity on gathering some photons on Comet Catalina. I managed to get 17 x 120 sec guided subs at ISO 1600 (+ flats and darks) with my Canon 1100D shooting through my Orion 80ED. The forecast for tonight looks good again. I think I'll take the opportunity to finally getting around to playing with Plate solving with APT 3.0 http://www.ideiki.com/astro/Default.aspx .

Sorry for the Brevity, but ... WOW!

Celestron 15 x 70s. The best £55 I have spent on astronomy.

I have one of the very early Xagyl wheels which appears to no longer work. I've been told by the manufacturer to try uploading the latest firmware from their website, but this just points to a text file with a long string of letters and numbers on it. I guess this is the firmware. It gives one no idea how to load it or what the risks are if you get it wrong. The manufacturer said they would get back to me about my problem, but that was months ago and I've heard nothing since. My experience of their customer support is very poor to date and at the moment I would find it very difficult recommending these to anyone.

Another set of great resources, thanks.

Great guy. Bought a modified 1100D from him last year and I couldn't be happier with either the camera or the service.

This in the first in an undoubtedly infrequent series of ramblings from Michael Morris, unsuccessful amateur astronomer and prog rock fan. I thought I start off with a success story of sorts (lap it up now as there won't be many of these!). A couple of years ago my youngest daughter upgraded her old Windows Vista (spit) laptop to a Macbook. The old laptop sat around nontionently being a laptop for a few months before, in a desparate attempt to stop having to run Windows Vista, decided to start overheating and turning off after five minutes of running. And for three years it sat at on shelf in the study doing a really good impersonation of a somewhat odd-shaped paperweight. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I decided I could do with a second computer in the observatory for running the all sky camera. I decided that, in my own mind being a minor deity, I would attempt try a Lazarus-like reanimation of the Vista paperweight. Remarkably, I managed to diagnose the problem as a non-functioning fan. After toying with various ideas,including strapping a fan on the outside or throwing it under a train, I decided to go the whole hog and replace the fan. Looking on Youtube I discovered to do this I would have to dismantle the entire laptop! In a fit of uncharacteristic electronic confidence I spent last night dismantling the laptop and fitting a new cooling fan. Putting it back together didn't go entirely to plan as I have four very small screws left over! Then came the moment of truth ... ... it only went and worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've tested every function and socket and all seems okay. So now I have a working second laptop with all my astro programs loaded. Success? Well, NO. I made the mistake of sharing my surprise success with the gorgeous Ilona, my wife of 30 years and mother to my three children, Being the kind, thoughtful and generous sort that she is, her reaction to my good news was "Well done, that's great. Eliza (the older of my two daughters) needs a new laptop as her old one has died. She's a bit broke at the moment so you could give her the one you've just fixed." Drats, foiled again.