Dew Buster to the Rescue!

Hey guys,
Just thought I'd share a little construction retrofitting project I've been (lazily) working on. It's the Dew Buster from Ron Keating http://www.dewbuster.com/ Twas recommended to me by none other than our very own John Flamini as he's tried just about everything on the market. He's the "goto" guy to validate if you have a brand new invention or if someone has already made that product, lol.



Anyway, so I'm retrofitting this Dew Buster to my 24", so far so good. Last night I finished up the cage, mounted a 4-port RCA jack thing, you can see on the lower right there, very close to where the rear set of trusses join at the cage. That way there will only be a short cable hanging out of my trusses. I plan to thread the wires up through somehow, kinda difficult once you install the threaded inserts. Please click these small pics, larger ones will load allowing you to see the detail.

So, here it is, and here is my little work area showing the tools I'm using. The Weller soldering iron is a GODSEND! I highly recommend throwing away that cheap hunk of $2 iron you typically get at Walmart (no offense Walmart) and investing in one of these babies. From pluggin in to ready to solder in about 2 seconds. Plus the extreme fine tip allows you to get in really tight areas, normally inaccessable wth the other junk.

Again, click the pic for a larger version.

So, one heating wrap done, for the 50mm finder objective, three more to go. I plan to have one for the eyepiece end of the finder, one for the largest EP I own (the 31mm Nagler hand grenade, which will also work on the smaller 1-1/4" EP's) and possibly one for the telrad.

But, the hard part is done, I believe, in building the mount for the 4-port RCA thing and installing it to the cage. Just need the other three wraps and mounting the controller to the mirror box. I am hoping that my currently installed 12Ah SLA battery will handle the extra load. It is currently only powering a Primary fan and the Secondary dew heater from Astrosystems http://www.astrosystems.biz/, which works like a charm btw.

Clear skies and See y'all later!
Bill Mitchell

Tracey's Observing Report for Monday 2/16/09

Well the skies were perfect! The only reason I am done so soon is because my eyepieces all have frost on them and the tel-rad is completely frozen over. It's pretty chilly, but other than that it's just perfect (except for that damn light down at the corner). I'm just going to give a list of what I saw unless there was something special to note about it.

S Cephei - found it in about 10 seconds, which surprised the heck out of me. Looked beautiful of course, not as red as I have seen it before, but still good.
M81/82 galaxies in Ursa Major
M97 the owl nebula - I really must invest in an OIII filter.
NGC 7789 Caroline Herschel's cluster
WZ Cass
Eta Cass - one of my favorite doubles
NGC 457 - he's doing a headstand
Iota Cass - only the first split
M31/32/110 Andromeda
M34 - pretty open appears to be full of doubles
Eta Persei - another favorite double
M35 open cluster in Gemini
NGC 2266 another open in Gemini
NGC 2392 the Eskimo/Clown Face - put high power on this and was actually impressed
NGC 2269 the Cone Nebula
NGC 2237 the Rosette Nebula
M37 - my favorite open in Auriga
M36 - open cluster in Auriga
M38 - open cluster in Auriga
M45 - all the stars had neblosity - it think it was frost on the eyepiece ;-)
M1 - the crab nebula
NGC 2169 the XY chromosome as Tom calls it - my 6" was too small to make it look like that, but this new scope sure does!
M78 - two headlights in the fog
M42/43 - Orion nebula
M41 - open cluster in Canis Major
M46/NGC 2438 - the new scope is big enough to see the planetary in this open cluster!!
M47 - open cluster next to M46
M44 the beehive cluster
M67 - open cluster in Cancer...I think Tom said one of the oldest??
NGC 2903 - one of the brightest galaxies in Leo Major
Gamma Leonis - almost split it tonight, at least I could tell it was two stars, it kinda came and went - maybe an aperature stop would help this one.
Saturn with 4 visible moons
Cor Caroli
NGC 4565 took about 2 minutes to find but worth it!
I saw 2 quick meteors and one that was bright enough to leave a green tail for 3-4 seconds over an area about 6-7 degrees. All meteors were heading from the zenith westward.

I put the scope away around 10:30 due to frost. I need to make a dew shield for the Tel-rad on this scope. I forgot just how necessary this is. I also am going to have to move the Tel-rad on the scope. I need to move it closer to the focuser and back a little bit. It sits too high and too far forward for me to use without leaning on the scope. Next time it's nice I think I am going to try to collimate it too and then I think I will be very happy. Very glad that I purchased this scope, I can tell I am going to have hours of fun this summer!

More rememberences

Back with a few more shots. First, this seems to be what we see most every year at CSSP, but the weather can fool you, even with the best of forcasting tools. The clear sky clock is the best, but even 24 hours in advance, it couldn't cope with the hurricaine leftovers. Each day, we saw this, and each night, it cleared magnificently, but you had to wait. The take home lesson is to be patient and have a friend with a Blackberry who is willing to upload the CSC for CSSP!!

No, this isn't Bill M's new scope, just a neat display of MoonLite focusers. Beautifully worked with great woodworking. Every year, they have something neat to look at.

No, these aren't Bill M.s either, but miniatures by B. Crist miniatures, who will make an exact duplicate of your scope, for your desk (note quarter on the table). The Damn things even work!

These ARE Bill M's handiwork, with Tom W, proud owner of the 30" and the 18", and Bill's 24" in the background. Beautiful work, all in "Commie Red" stain. Do see these in person whenever you can.

Just had to show another shot of Bill and his Babies!!!

Last but not least, on the left is the fellow who makes the miniatures; on the right, some guy by the name of Al, who I think may make some eyepieces and telescopes.

Yep, Al Nagler, in the flesh. Like I said, really exciting to meet these guys and hear them speak. Next year, I'll try to get Howie Glatter to hold still long enough to get a shot of him or the guys who wrote the Night Sky Observers Guide and AstroCards.

Well, enough for now. If anyone is sick or bored enough to want the JPEGs of any shots, write to me, and I'll be glad to forward them..

TTFN,

JF

Remberences of things past...

With apologies to Marcel Proust, of course. Just a few photos I've taken over the years, and blogs are a great place to send them without "sending" them at all. Just upload and enjoy.

The first picture is Tom W. at CSSP after a heavy rain. His 30" was adequately covered, and suffered no damage from the rainstorms the night before, but the tarp (which fortunately did not leak) held several gallons of water.
This is the first time I ever heard of that listed bailing out as a maintenance item for the dobsonian telescope.

Next is just a shot of beautiful skies and the viewing field at Cherry Springs State Park, home to the Black Forest Star party, held just around Labor day each year. Pristine skies, and great folks to be around, for the most part. You get a few leather-lunged individuals loudly talking throughout the night, but I figure we're there to observe, not sleep. Yep, Tom and I were once HUSHED by a state park ranger around 4 AM after the clouds came in because we were deep in a conversation. My wife tells me my voice carries. So here was proof with a 9mm semiautomatic for proof!!

Speaking of dobsonian telescopes, the man in the green jacket, in front of whom the man in red is performing a salaam, is John Dobson, about 96 now, and still talking. A great privilege to hear his speak, and he was funny, but occasionally a bubble to the left of plumb regarding genesis of the universe. Fun anyway, and always great to see one of the folks who made our hobby that much more accessable. If he didn't do it, someone else would have, but he did.

Just another shot of the field at CSSP showing my "Millenium Falcon" scope, which started life as a Meade Starfinder, God knows what it will end up as, and our bino mount, and in the foreground, the collapsed binocular chair mount called the Couch Potato Telescope. Just had to buy it for the name alone. Works so well as a Bino mount, and is so comfortable, Mary fell asleep in it while viewing. I could tell in the dark because 1) she stopped talking; 2) a faint snoring from the general direction of the bino mount.

The last shot is from our early morning on Presque Isle, for the Transit of Venus a few years back. Tom W, and possibly Mike W. and possibly Bill M in this shot. Of course, Tom is the only one identifiable. A great thing to view, and the paired Venus transit (there are usually 2 a few years apart) would be a great thing to see again. You need a solar-filtered scope to view, but I made my own for about $30 and had enough material left over to make filters for the binoculars also. Baader solar film is a nice thing to work with. I also have pictures of my construction if anyone is interested.

Mike W. has a picture of the transit posted on our website. He got it through a TeleVue 85 with a solar filter. It was really cool to watch the last half of the transit, but no teardrop was seen by anyone there. Make your filters now so you are ready for the next one.

That's all I can post at this point. I'll send another one up soon with a few more pictures.

John F.

semi-observing report 2/14-15/09

Well I tried to observe but it didn't work out that well... I couldn't see the comet because I think it was too close to the moon. I was only using binos, but at a mag of about 6 I would have thought I could see it. Guess not. I did catch a glimpse of M3 and M51 I think. I'm not sure if it was really them or I just know they are there so wishful thinking. I did see Albireo, a really bright meteor, a sun pillar right before sunrise and then sun dogs shortly after sunrise. I was waiting for a -7 flare but the clouds rolled in just in time to prevent that. Oh well, at least I stepped out for a few minutes, and it felt great! Better luck next time I guess...not to mention it was 17 degrees and I didn't really want to pull the scope out anyhow ;-)

Observing session past

Since I haven't seen an actual star in a few weeks, I was thinking of observing sessions past, and these pictures from 2006 came to mind.

We were at the cemetery on July 15.

First is Tom Whiting, ECMOG President. He only brought his small 18-inch scope along that night. He might remember why he didn't set up the 30-incher.

Next is John Baker. He is normally on the other side of the camera. Notice how uneasy he looks.

Dave Brine is the last of our astronomers that night. He actually had a night off to look at the sky.

Naked Eye Observing Report

Feb 13, 2009
Doing laundry tonight, I noticed Venus casting a
faint shadow of the laundry basket on the outside wall
of the laundromat. So while the wash was ongoing,
I stepped outside. A passerby remarked about that
bright star in the south (around 9 pm) and I explained
that that is Sirius, the brightest real star
in our sky. Orion was out there too, so we covered
Rigel, Betelgeuse and the Belt. But it was too cold
to stay out there much longer. Hopefully my next
report will be with a telescope.
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting

Tracey's Observing Report last Friday night

So I made the kids shovel a path out of the gargae (where the scope lives) and a square of the driveway big enough to walk around it and I did look at a few things. With the moon as bright as it was I had to go for the really bright objects obviously. I looked at the Orion Nebula and it was a beautiful sight! Not very nebulous but gorgeous none the less, Venus because I wanted to show Chris how the brighter it gets, the less of the planet we actually see, the moon because I had to line up my new TelRad and what brighter object is there?? - and to be honest, I enjoy looking at it, I know it messes up the darkness but it is an amazing thing none the less, Then I looked at Pleiades, my favorite open M37 which was a dissapointment because the moon was so close - I could see the red star in the middle of it tho which is why it's my favorite :-) , the ET cluster NGC 457 which Chris commented "why is it upside down?", because it's not July I said ;-), the double open, Eta Cass, then I tried Andromeda but it was so bright out that it was not very pretty....on the next trip outside I looked at Saturn and couldn't focus it - my husband said it was fine so either he had too much to drink or I did!, and then Gamma Leonis which I could not split either so maybe it was just the seeing i don't know. Anyway the clouds started to roll in so I just put the scope away and will try again in a few days when the moon rises a little later.
Tracey Held

News Information

Two satellites have collided over N. Siberia....this is a first in astronomy, see
www.spaceflightnow.com
Tom Whiting

Well, I made it. First blog ever that I joined.

Viewing conditions are horrible, as it is noon. However, it is overcast, but good transparency up to the cloud ceiling. No stars visible, including Sol (or Ron, if you must). No objects viewed, but hope to see a heavenly body tonight (sniker snicker).

Happy blogging, and clear skies

JF

Welcome to the Erie County Mobile Observers Group Blog!

Welcome!!

We are the Erie County Mobile Observers Group! This blog was set up so that we can build up a repository of members' Observing Reports. Please feel free to contribute your observations so future generations can benefit from our vast knowledge :-)

Although we would like the reports to be free flowing, there are a few bits that should be included in every post. Namely,

• Date and Time: (Tuesday 02/10/09 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM)
• Location: (State Game #162)
• Equipment: (6" f/8 Dob)
• Catalog # and Common Name: (M13/NGC6205 Great Globular Cluster in Hercules)
• Notes: (Spectacular Globular Cluster)
  

It would also be great if our members could estimate the transparency and seeing conditions (transparency was great and seeing was average).

We will take all observations, from all sites, from naked eye comet reports out your back window to a full night's report with the 30". Also please report any "failed sightings" so that we may understand the conditions/equipment necessary to bag that challenge object.

Other than that, toss your inhibitions to the (solar) wind and let your fingers run wild :-)

Clear Skies,
Bill