Category Archives: Astronomy

Star Adventurer Tracking Accuracy Results

Posted on April 27, 2018 by james

After running for 24 hours I stopped the SA running and measured the distance from the finishing point to my initial mark: Looks like it’s gone a bit too far. However, that’s in a solar day, not a sidereal day, … Continue reading →

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

Checking Star Adventurer tracking accuracy

Posted on April 25, 2018 by james

I wanted to get this done now so I can get any problems sorted before actually wanting to use the mount in anger, so I’ve set the entire mount up with the counterweight bar almost touching a wall. I marked … Continue reading →

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

Star Adventuring

Posted on April 25, 2018 by james

My new-to-me, but used, Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount has arrived! As discussed in another post, the plan is to use this on a Neewer Carbon Fiber (sic) 65 tripod to mount a TS Photoline 72mm OTA and Canon 450D, possibly … Continue reading →

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

Baader D-ERF for PST stage 2 mod arrives

Posted on April 22, 2018 by james

A small but nonetheless vital, not to mention expensive, element (*cough* 🙂 of my stage 2 PST mod has now arrived — a 75mm Baader D-ERF that I plan to fit inside my Evostar 100. The filter arrived in a … Continue reading →

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

Tripod for Skywatcher Star Adventurer

Posted on April 22, 2018 by james

Reading around to pull together ideas for a tripod for the Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount (particularly with a view to airline travel), a number of people are apparently using the Zomei Z888C carbon fibre tripod and it did indeed look … Continue reading →

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

PST stage 2 mod

Posted on April 21, 2018 by james

A few years back I modded my Coronado PST solar scope to remove the “black box” and replace it with a proper focuser. Since then a potential “stage 2” mod has always been nagging at the back of my mind, … Continue reading →

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

TS Photoline 72mm OTA unboxing

Posted on April 21, 2018 by james

In a blatant attempt to stop the sunny weather clear in its tracks I recently ordered a 72mm TS Photoline OTA with the intention of being able to take it on holiday flights in my hand luggage. I was therefore … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Leave a comment

First results from the micrometeorite collector

Posted on January 19, 2017 by james

A couple of years ago I posted about making a micrometeorite collector that used a neodymium magnet to capture magnetic material in flow of rainwater from our house roof. Months later we removed the magnet from the collector and collected … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Trouble never comes alone

Posted on November 8, 2014 by james

Just as I thought I had a temporary resolution to the previous problem with oaCapture, another one gets thrown in my face 🙁 Inclusion of the cfitsio library causes binary portability problems left, right and centre because the libraries have … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Computing, Linux | Tagged | Leave a comment

Just when the finishing post is in sight…

Posted on November 8, 2014 by james

I thought I was going to be able to finish off everything for the new release of oaCapture today, but just at the last moment I’ve found a problem with the support for the Starlight Xpress filter wheel. I’ve written … Continue reading →

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