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VdB 141 Ghost Nebula

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Posts Made By: Paul Walsh

September 3, 2004 04:48 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

airline compatible refractor setup?

Posted By Paul Walsh
My portable observatory set-up is as follows:

1 piece of overhead-legal carry-on luggage

in to which fits:

1 one inch pad of camera foam to cover bottom of case.
1 Tak Sky 90 w/ clamshell attached.
1 Extender-Q
1 Velbon 640 Carbon Fiber tripod.
1 Bogen 410 geared head.
1 Takahashi Sky Patrol II mount w/ polar scope.
3 eyepieces.
1 copy of "The Observers Sky Atlas" by E. Karkoschka.
1 red light.
1 tiny tool pouch.

Works for me and am always happy with the views.

Were I to want to image, I would pack camera in smaller hard case repacked in with checked clothing and carry laptop separately.

-Paul S. Walsh

October 29, 2004 06:10 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Which bit 'o kit gave you the best eclipse view?

Posted By Paul Walsh
I started with Orion 15x70 and then switched to my 80mm Ultrascan and, switching between a 26mm Meade and an 18mm TakLE, I alternated between viewing and shooting using an older 2.1mp Leica Digilux. It doesn't realy offer any exposure overide but I got a fair shot of the initial shadow phase (see attached)

-Paul S. Walsh

November 5, 2004 10:08 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn 11-05-04 First Light 18 Starmaster

Posted By Paul Walsh
Platform Tracking? Motorized mount? Hand Guided??

Curious Starmaster 18 owners want to know!

-Paul S. Walsh

December 8, 2004 07:02 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Advice: Before I take the pluck

Posted By Paul Walsh
As a relatively inexpensive alternative to the pluckfoam approach, I unholstered my hand drill and hole-saw bits and came up with a solution I like a lot.

I started with a $30 Harbor Freight upright aluminum case ( http://tinyurl.com/6v86r ) and then I hit the local Home Depot for some planking and dowling.

see accompanying pic.

The real beauty of this rig for me is that when sitting on the ground next to me, the eyepieces are all at a very comfortable grabbing height and the half-lid opens and closes with just a single unoccupied finger. Also, when I bring it in, I just leave the lid loosely overlapped on teh latches for an hour for a complete "dry-out".


-Paul S. Walsh

January 13, 2005 08:40 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Making Moovie from Images

Posted By Paul Walsh
Paint Shop Pro by www.jasc.com comes bundled with the very easy to use Animation Shop 3


-Paul S. Walsh

January 18, 2005 02:46 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Returning to hobby, information on CCD appreciated

Posted By Paul Walsh
You will have a little catching up to do. An excellent place to start would be Ron Wodaski's book, "The New CCD Astronomy" available from numerous sources, including ATWB:

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=&pid=3997&m=87

As for using your Pentax lenses, you will need an adapter and one of the best known can be found here:

http://members.rogers.com/bradydjohnson/widefield.htm

The Brady/Johnson adapters work with several of the SBIG CCD cameras.

A simple example of the results can be seen here in my first attempt at using the adapter, my Olympus M-1n and one of my Zuiko lenses (see attached image). I have pointed out the Swan nebula in the FOV.

-Paul S. Walsh

February 2, 2005 09:55 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Common Objects converted to Astro Use

Posted By Paul Walsh
I have a digital camera with a lens that's impossible for find an adapter for (a Leica, based on a finepix design). I tried one of those "Universal" adapters but found it really cumbersome to use so I took a trip to the Home Depot plumbing department and blew a whole $2.65 on a rubber coupler (in which I cut a slot to accomodate the set screws in my 2" diagonal), screw clamp, and a PVC connector.

I've attached pix showing the unit with an inset pic of my camera and an inset where you can peer down into the eyepiece. As you can imagine, the lens sits centered nice and close to the eyelens.

I have found this a breeze to use and very effective
(see: http://www.pswalsh.com/astropages/one.htm taken through my F/6.25 80mm achromat using the "plumbing adapter")

I really like it because I can remove the camera and just observe for a while, watching the seeing, and when I see the shot I want, It just takes a second to insert the camera, set the 10 second timer, lift my hands away and voila.

March 14, 2005 07:59 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Sky 90 reducer Question

Posted By Paul Walsh
Much thanks to Tyler and Stuart for your responses - I now have the right adapter on it's way.

I went the non-$Tak route on this one 8)

-PSW

March 16, 2005 06:23 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Sky 90 reducer Question

Posted By Paul Walsh
After thinking about it, I realized that I had a 2" CCD nosepiece buried somewhere. Sure enough. Using that, along with the low profile 2" compression ring that came with the Sky 90, I can snug the camera in nice and close and secure.

Can't recall exactly how I came to own the 2" nosepiece, though. Those weren't an original accessory with the ST-7 were they?

-PSW

April 4, 2005 10:28 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

91 Days to Deep Impact … and Counting

Posted By Paul Walsh
Some of you imagers might be interested in todays News story http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=245 wherein the U of Maryland is looking for amateur input in this comet.

-Paul S. Walsh

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