A few tidbits from a novice AP Wingnut
With the land purchased, corners found, building site location set, the process of building an observatory and 2nd observing platform begins: First, we had to have a “driveway” cut in up to the observatory location. Getting the foundation for pier I (which is steel) done, and pier II is ready for concrete. My … Read more
I went to go check on this blog to be sure things were Okay so I could show a friend how I built my Observatory. Aaaack!! This blog wouldn’t even open. After much anger, angst, and work, I was able to partially restore it. However I lost several posts….. and I have no record of … Read more
I often read in Astrophotography forums about trouble with guiding in DEC. Folks put in the time to get a great polar alignment and even though only very small adjustments need to be made, the guider seems to have troubles… non-response, then overshoot, periodic corrections that seem to come too late and allow too much … Read more
In mid 2008, I purchased a new CGE to set up as a semi-permanent mount on my backyard pier. I’ve now had about a year and a half of working with the mount and thought I’d list some things I learned about the mount and note some of my likes, dislikes, experiences, and preferences. At … Read more
What are Flats? How do you take them? How are they applied? I keep seeing these questions in novice astrophotography forums. This post is intended to answer this questions in basic terms and not get too bogged down in the details. The concepts of what flats are and how they’re applied are pretty easy, and … Read more