Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Tue, 2014-09-02 01:27
While doing a time-series on GD 552 (22:50:39.90 +63:28:38.3) around 2014-08-28.33 UT, a bright object entered the 16' x 11' FOV from the west. It took 103 minutes to move 15 arc min. My first guess is a satellite, but its slow movement has me second-guessing.
Look at a movie made from 44 images.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Tue, 2013-08-27 20:30
It started off as a well intended modification, but probably ended up unnecessary.
The two dome rotation motors are 180 degrees apart; east and west side of the observatory. The west motor wheels began to loose their grip on the underside of the dome support ring (
DSR). When I first inspected the trouble, it appeared that there was insufficient tension from the motor chassis tension spring, at the left side of the motor chassis as shown in image below.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Sat, 2012-06-02 23:54
The Van Slyke MegaPort SideWinder has provision for two (2) ports in addition to the off-axis guider port (top) and the main imaging port (rear), were the main QSI 516 ws CCD camera (blue) is located. These two other ports are presently used to accept 2" eyepieces, but because of the back-focus necessary to reach the main CCD imaging plane, the two eyepiece ports in question require extension tubes to bring the eyepieces into focus. I opted for the TeleVue 3.5" long extension tubes (X3C-0009) to accommodate my TeleVue 17 and 31 mm Naglers.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Thu, 2011-10-06 12:19
I saw a D-Link 932L IP Camera on sale at a local computer store, and, after doing a little research, I decided to get one and install it to stream video as well as snapshots of the inside of the dome and telescope. While not a great IP camera, it is good value for the price.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Mon, 2011-09-12 13:06
I don't know how it happened, but I noticed that one of the two stainless steel, braided cables that open and close the dome shutter started to fray at one location along the cable length (about 1 meter from the end of the cable near the bottom of the shutter opening). Technical Innovations supplied a replacement cable, and it took about an hour to replace the cable.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Wed, 2011-07-20 16:56
After speaking with Technical Inovations, I got a new (I think beta) version ofthe Digital Dome Works ASCOM Driver. I'll be testing it in the hopes of finally ridding myself of the "Refresh Timer Exception Phase=5" issue.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Fri, 2011-07-15 15:34
Did some experimenting with ADU targets for flat frames. The full well of the KAF-1603 in the QSI 516 is 100,000e-. Gain is 2.6 e-/ADU. So, full well of a single pixel binned 1x1 will occur about 38,500 ADUs. It is best that ADUs reach about 80% of full well, which is a little over 30,000 ADUs. For higher binning values, full well will be close to 65,000 ADUs. A good target for flats there is about 50,000 ADUs.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Fri, 2011-07-15 07:15
I hooked up with Michael Poxon today who is leading a program to monitor Young Stellar Objects. This looks like a very interesting program, and I hope my observations become useful.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Thu, 2011-07-14 20:04
Afer struggling with some photometry issues, I decided to leverage the AAVSO mentor program. I connected with Mike Simonsen at the AAVSO and he connected me with a knowledgeable AAVSO member who has been a wonderful resource. I'm looking forward to soaking up the knowledge.
Submitted by Michael J. Cook on Wed, 2011-05-18 21:35
DC-3 Dreams released Hot Fix 1 for ACP. I upgraded ACP tonight.
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AAVSO Observer Code CMJA / Minor Planet Centre Observatory Code H61 / Global Telescope Network Partner GTN-33 / Center for Backyard Astrophysics
