Posts Made By: Alan French

Gary Parent said:

Anyone out there who has found a way to keep warm in 30 degree observing weather?

What are the best thermals to purchase?

Thanks,
Gary

Gary,

Here in upstate NY we wear t-shirts when it warms up to 30!

Seriously though, the first thing you need is a nice warm winter hat. Forty percent of you heat loss it through your head, and you will never be warm in cold weather without a hat. The brain manages heat control in your body, and if your head is cold it will sacrifice blood flow (heat) to the fingers and toes, and neither will be warm even with gloves and insulated boots. One very cold night I was warmly dressed, including a hat, but my toes were still cold. A second layer over my head solved the problem.

Next, you need to keep your upper body warm. Layers are a good idea. When it gets really cold, I put on a thermal top, heavy shirt, sweater, and heavy jacket. Sometimes I add lined coveralls under the jacket.

On the legs, thermal pants and pants, with sweatpants over that when it gets very cold or windy.

The feet get heavy socks and insulated boots, and I wear mittens or gloves on my hands. Sometimes we put handwarmers in our pockets, and also have heated gloves and socks. You can also buy heated thermal vests and jackets.

With windy conditions, a scarf around the neck can be a nice addition, and a hat that covers everything but your face.

Some people like to put somethings insulated down to stand on, rather than standing on the cold ground.

What I describe may be more than you need at 30, but I think it should give you the general idea.

If you set up at a remote site don't overdress to start with. If you work up a sweat it will be hard to stay warm.

Clear skies, Alan

I found this photo while playing with my new scanner, and thought you might want to see the help I had on this new scope.

Happy holidays, and clear skies for 2008, Alan

Just taken at a distance of at least 120 yards. Swarovski ATS 65 HD with 20-60 zoom set at 60x and Canon S230 set at 2x. Afocal shot. Camera was handheld.

Clear skies, Alan

This forgotten photo resurfaced during my slide scanning project. It was taken with a Canon AE1 with a Canon 300mm f/5.6 lens, probably on Extachrome 400. I don't see Northern Waterthrush often, and was very pleased to get a reasonable photo of one.

Clear skies, Alan

The New York Times Science section today (Tuesday, 1/8) had a nice article on the melting of Greenland's ice.

Clear skies, Alan

One of my favorite science fiction authors is Larry Niven, especially his "Known Space" stories.

Clear skies, Alan

Perhaps this site is known to folks here, but, if not, I suggest a visit to Jeff Nadler's photography site at http://www.jnphoto.net/

He is the expert bird photographer in my area, and I always enjoy it when he posts new photos.

Clear skies, Alan

I was always a huge fan of short stories, and many seem ideal for movies. What short stories would you like to see on the big screen?

Generally, novels get trimmed down a bit too much to make a good movie, at least in my view.

Clear skies, Alan

I am surprised not to find any reports here of observations of TU24 as it zipped by Earth. Sue and I observed it Monday night around 9:00 PM in her Traveler. Did anyone else get out and see it? Perhaps it simply didn't catch observer's interest, but I enjoyed seeing it moving against the starry background.

I did see some photos and a couple of reports elsewhere.

Clear skies, Alan

Are there any general guidelines for the dimensions on conical mirrors? I've seen diagrams in cross section, but none included dimensions.

Thanks.

Clear skies, Alan