Posts Made By: Mike Dedon

I'm calling myself stupid first so I don't need that.

I bought a new C8 Advanced SGT with CG5 EQ mount in Sep 2003. I assembled it and pointed it at Polaris and started the 2 star alignment. It pointed to the ground on the first star (towards the west). I tried a couple of more times and the same thing happened. It has been stored for almost a year. I thought I would figure it out later.

Recently I bought a polar alignment scope for the mount ( it was cheap ). When installing it I saw the mount appeared to be 90 degrees out of alignment based on the positioning of the RA alignment arrows pasted on the mount. Looking through the polar alignment hole (pointing toward Polaris) I have to move the RA position 90 degrees to the east (or west) to get a clear view through the mount hole.

Besides not dealing with this when I bought the scope, am I just an idiot and cannot align my scope or is there something I'm doing wrong. Right now I'm not worried about the polar scope but I want to start using my C8 for observation an I can't get it aligned to start with.

My PST is supposed to be delivered tomorrow and the forecast through Monday is for overcast and/or cloudy/raining skies. I suppose I could drive to AZ in three days but I hear it's really hot there. And I suppose I could go to Jamaica but I hear the humidity and sand would kill the seeing conditions. I will probably just cuddle up with my new PST on the couch and watch Solaris (a really bad movie) until the sky clears and hope I can get a part of a vacation day to actually stare at the sun.

Got my PST. First light completely convinced me that the sun is exploding as we speak. IF we survive until the 2012-2014 peak cycle, I don't know if my heart can take it.

I've never seen, except in pictures, prominences, filaments, etc. This has got to be the best value in optics since my bifocals.

My TV 1.8x barlow will not come to focus in my PST. Any suggestions that work for you. I expect the CEMAX works fine but not many used ones on the market that I've seen.

Who has a link to a website(s) where I can ask really stupid phyics questions and get mostly real answers? Just got some things rolling over in my mind and was wondering if........

P.S. I never really got the education I never studied for.

I just can't spring for the full version of Photoshop. How does Adobe Elements stack up for things like channel separation, stacking, etc. Thanks, Mike...

Received my ToUCam 840 on Friday. Loaded CD according to instructions. Plugged in USB, all else went okay. Problem is the camera isn't in focus. I'm not on the telescope yet. I can unscrew the lens and play with it until it focuses. This doesn't sound like the right thing to do. Should I return the camera or is this something everyone goes through.

When on the scope, I expect it will come to focus through the scope's focuser and that will be my primary use of the camera. Any comments are appreciated.

I plan to use K3CCDTOOLS, any thoughts on this or other image software.

Thanks, Mike...

Is there a simple way to use two computers on AM, like my home and work computer. I know it's just a login issue on my secondary, but was just wondering.

Will the Huygens data be posted so "maybe" we can process it. NOT that I would think my processing would be better, but could we get access to it. Maybe not tonight but later. Just wondering, I'm bored with all the clouds/rain/ice/snow.

Let me try this again outside of the equipment forum.

I do not have a Kendrick or otherwise dew heater. I need somthing like this, I think, to attach to my weather center rain gauge to "temper" snow into a liquid so I can measure relative precipition. I don't know the specs or limitations of a scope heater.

Does a Kendrick or other, provide enough wattage to keep frost and "small" amounts of snow from frezing up the gauge.

I would think those of you who actually brave the zero and sub zero nights have a solution that keeps your optics clear.

Any help here or, direct me elsewhere, is appreciated.