Author Archives: james

Solar PV Generation Update, June 2012

Posted on June 18, 2012 by james

Well, another awful month weather-wise and they say there’s more to come 🙁 Generation for May was, oddly, exactly the same as for April at 395kWh. I was hoping for anything between 500kWh and 650kWh. You’d think all of those … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Projects | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Solar PV Generation Update, May 2012

Posted on June 18, 2012 by james

Well, for the first time since installation we’ve had a poorer-than-expected month. No great surprises there, given how utterly awful the weather has been. Output for April came it at a measly 395kWh when based on past performance I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Projects | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Solar PV Generation Update, April 2012

Posted on June 18, 2012 by james

Somewhat delayed, this, as I’d lost the piece of paper that I wrote the reading down on. Doh! Anyhow, output for March was 383kWh, another good month thanks to the unusually good weather. That takes our generation total since installation … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Projects | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fan-Cooled Xbox Live Camera for Planetary Imaging

Posted on June 17, 2012 by james

The Xbox Live camera has found something of a following as a cheap planetary/lunar imaging camera since the SPC900 (which is undoubtedly a far better camera) started fetching silly prices. I’ve always found it very noisy however. The camera does … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Projects | Leave a comment

50mm Binocular Objective Finder

Posted on June 17, 2012 by james

I wanted a 50mm right-angle finder, but didn’t fancy paying the £90 to £100 they seem to cost, so after someone mentioned it was possible I decided to make my own. I picked up a 50mm binocular objective, cheap diagonal … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Projects | Leave a comment

Pathetic “10 Best Telescopes” Feature in The Independent

Posted on May 18, 2012 by james

I’m not entirely sure why I find myself so incensed over this particular piece of trash journalism (and I use the word in the loosest possible sense). Perhaps because it aptly demonstrates the utter contempt for their readership endemic in … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | 1 Comment

Lifecam Saturn Montage

Posted on May 16, 2012 by james

I spent some time last weekend capturing images of Saturn with my modded Lifecam using different SharpCap settings. This is a very different camera to use compared with the SPC900. There’s no direct control of gain, and the pixel size … Continue reading →

Posted in Astroimaging, Astronomy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Observation Report 15 May 2012

Posted on May 16, 2012 by james

I’ve been doing a lot of planetary imaging recently, so tonight decided that I’d have a dedicated observing session and at about 11:45 took my ST120 into the field in front of the house where I have as clear a … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Installing Grub on MD Disk Partitions

Posted on May 5, 2012 by james

I rarely have to do this, so I can never recall exactly how on those odd occasions when it does come up. Usually it’s when one of the boot disks in a server has been replaced. Anyhow, as much to … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Linux | Leave a comment

Microsoft Lifecam Cinema Planetary Camera Mod

Posted on April 20, 2012 by james

Thanks to the cloud rolling in rather early last night I decided to do the conversion of my Lifecam Cinema for astro use. I was intended to fit it into a Billetparts adapter, but they’re out of stock and I … Continue reading →

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