Posts Made By: Judson Mitchell

I used to hunt, and we ate everything that was bagged. But, I have seen quite a bit of activity and technology that seems to circumvent the "sport" of the thing. That is, scouting, finding, and finally bagging the game.

My suggestion is that you should have to kill a wild bore by yourself with a sharp stick before allowed to use advanced technology. Plus, you gotta eat it.

The technique is quite simple. A sharpened pole about 6 feet long. Get the bore (not a pig) to charge you, and at the last moment raise the pole that is anchored by your foot or another inanimate object and skewer the beast throught the chest and heart.

Then you get your technology.

I was asked about why a Hyperion yields a lower magnification in my 1.5X Proxima Barlow than what is listed on the barlow. The attached photo shows that the Hyperion seats deeper in the barlow than the Stratus due to the design. Also, the Stratus has a much shorter 2" portion to stabilize the EP when inserted in any 2" barlow/focusser. The magnification of the Hyperion (or Stratus) can be boosted by inserting it in the 2" barlow using a 2"-1.25" adapter. In my tests I used a flush mounted adapter and one with about 3/8" lift. The 3/8" lift gave the greatest magnification.

Moral, you have some latitude of magnification with a barlow depending how close the EP is to the barlow lens. However, it is not clear to me how this may affect the resultant image.

Can anyone tell me what the size is for the secondary in the Orion 8" XT?

Can anyone lead me to a list of the objects featured in Stephen O'Meara's latest book "Deep Sky Companions: Hidden Treasures"?

It is time to rebuild my dob base (12" steel tube 14"OD) and I am seeking Ideas to incorporate the following: Thousand Oaks Controller, battery pack, wiring (neatly), Dip meter (alt angle indicator). Also, there have been posts on stabilizing the mount, plus recommendations for teflon/ebony star surfaces, etc. Of interest would be items like installing tracking components, location of bubble level, a lock to temporarily freeze the az rotation, increasing the size of the trunions, and other recommendations. See attached photo for above mentioned equipment. All suggestions will be welcome.

A very strange steep funnel shaped high altitude cloud is moving from WSW to ENE over Greenville SC 7pm. There is a long cycle intermittent flashing light associated with this cloud.

Is there a stripped-down hand controlled dual axis drive with clutches for a dob? Seems it should be reasonably easy, less compex, and less expensive than tracking since it would be essentially an on-off system. Perhaps someone has done this from scratch?

Did anyone see the CBS Documentary tonight related to climate change in its entirety? Unfortunately my viewing started about 10-12 minutes late. What I saw was a one sided, no data, presentation citing only political resistance and censorship to the contrary. There was noone interviewed who cited opposing views or evidence. What I did see was snippets of scenery used to "document" the "evidence". My feeling is that Global Warming aficionados should have been squirming with such a presentation. This is not a simple issue that should be brushed aside as a done deal; but that was the approach taken. Yes; I have doubts about data from both sides, but this was unacceptable journalism. Apparently CBS thinks that the general public would be turned off by a more scientific approach. What I saw was rhetorical and alarmistic. Looked like political correctness and journalistic license out of control. Shame on you CBS.

What has bothered me on this forum is that there has been virtually no dialog. Primarily it is GW folks and skeptics, and is does not seem that either are scratching their chins. Most threads include sarcasm, denial, and acquisations with little "explanation". Some skepticism is offered followed by the words of discredited, denier, Oil and Gas Company. Then GW "science" is put forth followed by the words politics, government intervention, agendas, etc. This is hardly a way to find a solution.

Perhaps a better tack would be for us to look at solutions to our energy consumption and work hard on those. This may cause us to work together for a common good without labeling the issue negatively. In reality, many of our communal goals are the same, we can focus on those.

How about listing them and see what becomes of it. The other process as far as the forum is concerned is a deadend.

(1) How do we get businesses to reduce their wasteful consumption of energy? Problem: I see cities lit up like christmas trees. Surely some sanity can be brought into the fray here. A new car lot is going in along I385 with about 5 acres of parking with lightposts every 50 feet. Now how is this helping our "green" attitude? Seems we should be continually lobbying our city, county and state governments for regulations that address the use of light fixtures and their future modifications.

Come on guys/gals, jump in here, lets use this forum productively.

Still haven't seen the Ina Caldera L99. Seems every time it looks like the phase is about right, clouds move in, plus my plans haven't extended to the wee hours cycle. Which time is best to observe Ina; waxing or waning moon? Plus, is there any advice anyone can give; seeing requirements, magnification, amulets, potions?