Monthly Archives: June 2019

Swimming, 3rd June 2019

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

New month, old set. Struggled a bit today and I’m not sure why, but I did make it to fifteen reps before my first fail and then failed again on twenty-one before swimming the set out. USRPT distance this year: … Continue reading →

Posted in Swimming | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Maplins XM21X PSU failure

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

I’ve used a couple of these power supplies for a few years for powering my NEQ6 and HEQ5 telescope mounts, but recently one of them just stopped working. It has been sitting in the workshop for a fair while waiting … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Swimming, 31st May 2019

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

Last swim of the month and it was completely chaotic. No lanes in the pool, people getting in the way everywhere, all a bit messy. I think I had two failed reps, but it was honestly hard to count it … Continue reading →

Posted in Swimming | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Repairs to a cheap illuminated reticle eyepiece

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

Hopefully when the sky is next clear at night I can get around to polar aligning my mounts, but before that I wanted to align the finders and main telescopes so I dug out an illuminated reticle eyepiece that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Leave a comment

Swimming, 30th May 2019

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

A more interesting day today, as whilst I was warming up someone who used to be a member of the club appeared on poolside and asked if she could join me and do my set (there was only one lane … Continue reading →

Posted in Swimming | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Building an observatory. Design #7

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

An addendum to my previous design post. The builder dropped the motor units off for the stair lifts that he thought might be butchered to make an automated roof mechanism. This first is the lighter weight one for the rack … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Observatory, Projects | Leave a comment

Swimming, 28th May 2019

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

No swimming on the Monday thanks to the bank holiday, but same set again today. For the time being I think I’m going to keep these postings short unless there’s something new and interesting to report. So, fails on reps … Continue reading →

Posted in Swimming | Tagged , | Leave a comment

My first meteor image

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

Ok, so this was accidental, but I’m sure it counts 🙂 I found it whilst reviewing frames for my last star trails image. I’d seen a meteor that night and wondered if it was caught on camera, but didn’t initially … Continue reading →

Posted in Astroimaging, Astronomy | Leave a comment

Another star trail photo and something “unidentified”

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

I got a couple of hours out in the observatory after dark and set up the 450D again to capture some subs to make a star trail image. This is better than the previous night, but I’d cut the exposure … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | Leave a comment

Star fails

Posted on June 4, 2019 by james

As the rest of the family has been seeing the observatory slowly being constructed over the last year and we had some clear sky I thought I’d have a go at something fun to show them now I’ve reached the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astroimaging, Astronomy | Leave a comment