So here are some pictures of one of the two Rufous Hummingbirds (that I know of) in Central Arkansas. Taken Saturday morning 12/12/2015 at Stout House.
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New Astronomy Set Up
I’ve had the 9.25″ Celestron SCT for several months now and have now added a new (to me) CGEM DX mount. I picked that up one week ago today on November 14th. Much like the mouse and the cookie I fund I need more. For example, I had to replace the Vixen style dovetail on my SCT with a Losmandy style dovetail so I could attach it to the mount. I had to get a second one to attach the guide scope and autoguider (bought with mount). I also bought a JMI NGF-S remote focuser and Shoestring Astronomy FCUSB so that I can focus the scope from my laptop. Problem with that is I didn’t count on the motor running into the scope’s focus knob so I’ve had to order an SCT thread extension which has not arrived yet. Once I have that I hope to be able to achieve really good focus. Maybe even autofocus though I’ve encountered a 32 bit v 64 bit driver conflict with that software. I picked up up a 2″ DSLR adapter so I plan to start doing DLSR deep sky photography along with the planetary imaging I occasionally do.
Telescope Redo
You may remember the MDF round I cut last weekend. Today I made two more cuts. First about 2.5″ inside to give me an 18″ OD ring that I will cut in half to make the altitude bearings of the scope and another to make the cell that will hold the mirror. In hindsight the cell doesn’t need to be as precise as the bearings and cutting it with a jigsaw would have been way easier. Also in hindsight I used MDF because I had it lying around and it was a test cut that turned out well but plywood is easier on the router. The ring on the right will be tossed.
