Month: November 2009

New GM-8 – First Light

by

Aug 2009 – Finally, a night with stars and a chance to test out my new GM-8. I recently bought a brand new Losmandy GM-8. I bought this mount to serve as a portable (almost grab-n-go) to take when I head up into the hills to do imaging. I found that my CGE is just … Read more

DIY Scope Heaters

by

Ever had your scope objective dew up? Frustration eh? After it happened to me I went shopping for ready made heaters. Well… being frugal (i mean really cheap), I just couldn’t bring myself to part with the money they wanted for the heaters. So…. I looked for ways to do it myself. The solution I … Read more

AP Mount Considerations

by

After 3 years in this hobby (I hate calling it a hobby… addiction, passion, endeavor, pursuit…) I’ve formed some opinions about what makes a mount suitable for astrophotography. Choosing a mount for your telescope is a very individual thing. It’s very much dependent on your goals, your current and future telescopes and cameras, whether it’s … Read more

Location, Location, Location

by

What a difference dark skies make. Living in the great Pacific Northwest, opportunities to image under clear skies are rare.  Under dark skies, even rarer. Lately, whenever the weather permits, I grab my gear and head up into the Olympic Mountains.  I enter up by Port Angeles and head up to Hurricane Ridge, which has … Read more

Polar Alignment Scope – Should you have one?

by

This is an interesting question. Lately, with the recently relesed “AllStar” alignment routine for the Celestron GEM mounts, many would say NO. In fact, emphatically NO. I have a different opinion, but I’ll agree that a polar alignment scope (PAS) is not necessary. Further, that a PAS does not typically provide accuracy equivalent to the … Read more