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| March 14, 2005 | Ok...tonight's the night. Phase four is this evening and it looks lke I may have the first break in the clouds for this phase in five months. Let's hope we can get it done. Also, I finally found the Eskimo Nebula over the weekend. I took some decent pictures of it but hope to improve on them in the future. I will post those pics some time this week (if I get a chance). Getting better!! |
| March 7, 2005 | Well...All the equipment is back from the manufacturers and operating correctly - most issues appear resolved. I have had a chance to experiment with the new Scopetronix eyepiece and some deep sky photography. I am starting to get a little better at this. I have gotten some great results with M42 (posted in the gallery) and I tried some star clusters last night that came out very nicely. Also, I only have one moon phase left to complete that project. Let's hope next Sunday or Monday night is at least clear enough to get my last shot. It's time to start creating some goals - maybe all messier objects?? |
| November 22, 2004 | Ugh. It's been a bad month when I had high hopes for achieving some goals. With only three moon phases left to capture, I was optimistic that the first month of standard time would provide me the opportunity to complete my project, and I was right!! I tried to take about 100 pictures last Saturday (phase 1). Unfortunately, The telescope has developed some major tracking problems (gears slipping), and none of the pictures were usable. This has prompted me to return the scope to Meade for repairs. No problem there as Meade has been very helpful with no problems encountered with their customer service group. A pleasant situation given today's apparent lack of concern for customer relations with most companies. Any way, the next day I saw phase 2 glowing in the sky and decided to try to get some pictures with just the digital camera. To my surprise, when I tried to turn the camera on, it starts clacking and coughing and gives me a "System Error" message. It doesn't work anymore either!!! Let's define disappointment!. Now, I have returned the camera to the manufacturer (Nikon) as well. The only good part about this whole fiasco is that both items are still under warranty, so there will not be any big expenses involved with getting my equipment repaired. The bad part is this: without my equipment for the next four to six weeks, the goal of completing my moon project before Christmas is out!!! Several people will be disappointed as I will not be able to provide them their moon poster by then, but oh well. At this point, their happiness is "back of the bus" compared to my desire to get back in the game. I'll let you know when I get my equipment back and what state my capabilites are in afterwards. I am hoping that these repairs will result in improved ability to photograph deep space objects which require longer shutter speeds and accurate tracking that has never been very realistic. I expect the scope repairs to resolve these issues. We'll see!Back To Top Of Page |
| September 20, 2004 | Now that I am almost done taking pictures of eah phase of the moon (four to go), I have plans to redo each shot. When I have them all, I will recreate all the pictures so that they are consistant. In the next couple of months, look for the moon gallery to contain all the phases but with new (hopefully better) versions of the images. Also, when I am finally done with the moon pictures, I plan to take a second crack at the Great Orion Nebula and Saturn. I am hoping for a new eyepiece for Christmas. Combine that with a much better understanding of my camera, and I hope to provide even better images of these and other winter time sky objects. |
| August 2, 2004 | Pictures of the moon are going great. I have decided to try to get a picture of every phase - 5 so far. I have learned some necessary things about the Nikon Coolpix 4500 and I think planet and deep space pictures will be of a much better quality in the future. |
| July 27, 2004 | I took some nice pictures of the moon over the weekend. It leaves me optimisitic that my pictures of planets and deep space objects will improve. I have been playing around with some of the camera parameters, and I think I am getting it close to fine tuned for astrophotography. Now -- if I can get more than 45 minutes of clear night one weekend. |
| May 19, 2004 | It seems like I have lost interest in the scope, but nothing could be further from the truth. I have not had a single clear sky since the last time I used it. The repairs and modifications are still untested and I am looking forward to see if the tracking has improved as a result of the changes I made. DAMNED WEATHER!! L:ast week was a pretty nice weekend, but I was wrapped up in my son and his new motorcycle. Maybe this weekend will provide some clear skies. It doesn't look like it, but we can still hope, eh?Back To Top Of Page |
| March 29, 2004 | I have repaired the telescope. Meade was very expeditious in replacing the clamp handle, and I was able to replace it fairly easily. I also went ahead and opened the base of the scope and performed some recommended adjustments. I hope to perform a fresh training of the scope this weekend. We will see if anything has improved. I am going to do some window shopping this week to see what I can expect to spend on some kind of s-video capable composite monitor - maybe in the 8 - 15" range. A larger monitor will be a major help with focusing compared to my current use of the 1.5" LCD monitor on the camera. |
| March 22, 2004 | Well. I took what I think is an impressive picture of Venus. Some may find this planet a little more boring than others, but I like it because its brightness presents new and different photography issues. I have been experiencing some tracking issues, but avoiding opening the scope up to do some recommended improvements that are supposed to remedy the problem. However, this weekend, I broke the clamp handle that tightens down the Right Ascension clutch. Meade is shipping the new handle (no charge) and I should receive it mid week. I am going to open this thing up and perform all the recommended mechanical enhancements this coming weekend. We will see what, if any, improvements I encounter by doing this while I replace the lock handle. Stay Tuned!! |
| March 4, 2004 | Well...I am starting to get the hang of this. I have taken my first deep space picture (Orion Nebula) and look forward to better results as I try new things. I have discovered just how difficult focusing can be on a 1.5' LCD monitor. I am going to try running the s video out of the camera into a TV to see if a larger screen will help improve focus. We'll see soon enough.Back To Top Of Page |
| February 10, 2004 | Ok! Camera and remote cable have arrived. I decided to get a Scopetronix Digi-T System for use with my eyepieces instead of the 18mm eyepiece made for the camera (maybe later), and it has arrived as well. I have all the hardware I intend to buy for awhile. Now I need an opportunity to use it. Let's hope for clear skies this weekend so I can give it a shot. Can't wait!!! |
| February 5, 2004 | The camera is on it's way!!! I ordered the Nikon Coolpix 4500 with two (2) extra 128 meg memory cards and a remote cable. The only thing left to buy is a couple of eyepieces made specifically for threading into the camera lens. The camera should be here by Monday and I plan to order the lenses in about 10 days. We're almost there! |
| January 28, 2004 | Pretty clear night. I went out and took some more pictures of the Moon and got my first picture of Saturn. It's not much but it gives me alot of optimism for the future when I get the appropriate camera gear. It won't be long. Check out the latest pictures in My Pictures |
| January 22, 2004 | Alright...getting down to the technical side of things now. I have created three different locations and a database of about forty space objects. Today I am learning to connect the autostar to a PC and backing up my user info (autostar defaults when reset and I don't feel like rebuilding this user database everytime I reset the scope). The required interface cable would have been about $25, but I was able to build my own without spending a penny. Gotta Love it!!Back To Top Of Page |
| January 6, 2004 | Today was the first clear sky in a week so I went out to try the first photographs. It was cold so I was only out for about 15 minutes and simply pointing the camera in the eyepiece and clicking the shutter. I think they are pretty good and it gives me a very optimistic feeling about the future of our astrophotography.Check them out in My Pictures |
| December 31, 2003 | I had to spend New Year's Eve in Chattanooga but had great skies that night, so I decided to try my first "polar alignment". It went better than expected. I was able to center Saturn for over an hour, The tracking is a great feature. Checked out some nebulae and galaxies thanks to the Autofind features. Great feature considering I could never find these things on my own. |
| December 28, 2003 | I'm home now. Pulled the scope out to show everyone the moon and Saturn (still incredible). I also located Jupiter and Mars and a couple of other planets although I cannot identify them yet. I have ordered the Meade eyepiece set and I am looking forward to getting those as soon as possible. I am currently only able to use about 33% of the scopes power with a 26mm plossil and a barlow. I am looking forward to being able to use the maximum magnification. I am taking the scope with me to Chattanooga this week to learn the alignment process. I don't expect any problems and should be able to give the family a pretty good show this coming weekend. I'll let ya' know how it goes. THIS IS GREAT STUFF!Back To Top Of Page |
| December 27, 2003 | Christmas is over and we have our telescope! Now that it is front of me, I am very impressed with the workmanship of the unit. We took it out on Christmas night and did the obvious moon gazing. I was also able to locate a star I had registered on my mother's behalf and show it to her. On the 27th, I took it out again and familiarized myself with the hand controller. We looked at the moon again and showed mom her star again with better results this time as the skies were much clearer than before. I was in a hurry to get it packed up for travel the next morning but wanted to take a look at a couple of the brighter objects before I stopped. I pointed at the brightest object I could find and focused in. WOW!!!! Saturn and it's rings!!! Unbelievable! It doesn't matter how many pictures of Saturn you see. Nothing prepares you for the first viewing through a telescope. |
| November 20, 2003 | I called Shutan to order a moon filter but they managed to talk me into a 4 pack of filters. So...now I have the moon filter and four planet filters. I am sure these will come in handy. The ETXs were in back order and I was worried that they may not get here by Christmas but that is not a worry anymore. It's wrapped and ready. Can't wait!!! |
| October 29, 2003 | I forgot to tell you that I ordered a Barlow lens for the scope (even though we won't have the scope until Christmas). It came today. It is a Celestron Ultima 2X Barlow Lens (apochromatic). In case you are not familiar, a barlow is used in conjuction with an eyepiece and is able to multiply your magnification, in this instance, by two! Should make the first use more enjoyable. Shhhh...I'll give it to someone as a Christmas present.Back To Top Of Page |
| October 28, 2003 | Well...some decisions have been made for us. I went to buy some accessories for the 35mm and found that, while it is a good older unit, it does not have the manual control of the shutter required for proper astrophotography. Looks like the digital will be coming sooner than expected. I will probably buy it from Shutan's as well being that they have a good package deal on the camera/eyepiece combo. |
| October 13, 2003 | We have been mulling over camera equipment and have decided to be patient and first learn to use the scope and its goto system before jumping into the photography. One thing at a time, right? Right now we will be using a Canon T-50 35mm camera but we will eventually add a Nikon Coolpix 4300 with the Scopetronix 18mm ultrawide eyepiece made for use with the Nikon cameras. |
| October 5, 2003 | Decided on the Meade ETX-105AT. This is the middle size of the three (90mm, 105mm and 125mm). The important thing is although it's the smaller aperture of the two high end models, it has the better gear and motor system that was not provided on the low end aperture. Buying from Shutan's Camera and Video in Chicago. Good reputation and good price. Can't Wait!! |