Posts - Page 103 of 242 - JamesDixon.us

September 21, 2018September 22, 2018

11 Inch Elf

I haven’t made a big deal about it yet, not sure why, but a week ago I upgraded my 9.25″ Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope to 11″. That’s right, this one goes to 11. This is a Celestron 11 with Starbright coatings and a carbon tube. Yes, you are correct it is also Fastar compatible. I bought it from my friend Chris and debuted it at the star party last Saturday to many oohs and a few aahs. An 11 inch SCT has been my goal for a while, like years, it’s large but not outrageously expensive or too heavy to tote around. By happy coincidence it barely fits in the lightly padded tub I kept the 9.25″ in. Also, C eleven rolls off the tongue much easier than C nine and a quarter.

The carbon tube is more thermally stable than aluminum so it should retain focus better as a night progresses. I don’t have a Fastar or Hyperstar adapter for it but should I get one I could start imaging at F2. I’ve expended my astronomy credits for the foreseeable future so unless I when a contest I probably won’t get one anytime soon. However, you can expect to be seeing “Elf” (German for Eleven) at a star party near you.

September 16, 2018

Camper Build 9/16/2018

I built the lid shown previously but it was too heavy. I didn’t take the weight of the paint into consideration and I used an entire gallon of paint on it as glue. I was surprised too. I need to be able to lift with one hand while raising a wall and it was too much. So I free cycled it to someone to use as a slightly elevated platform. The new lid will forego the plywood and be Foamular, possibly 2″, skinned with canvas. That should reduce the weight by about 80 lbs maybe more. I hate the wasted material but there was nothing to do about it.

August 11, 2018August 11, 2018

Camper Build 8/11/2018

It’s been a while since I posted about the camper build. Two months to be exact. I kind of had other pits to put my money into for a bit and also had to wait for some back ordered items to come in. Those items were reasonably priced aluminum piano hinges and a low profile roof vent.

So here we see the hinges in action connecting the flip-up panels to the walls. In the first picture they are folded down, like a box, then up in the next. The flip up panels will lift the ceiling by 15 inches so that I can get the camper in and out of the garage and still stand up inside, even if I grow three inches.

Finally the “lid” as everyone agrees it should be called. It’s upside down now, the exterior plywood that will be the top on the floor then 1 inch of rigid foam and then 5 mm interior plywood that will be the ceiling, All glued together with paint. I’ll let that set with cat litter on top for about a week. As it is, the lid is about 90 pounds. If I’ve messed it up and it sags then people who have done this before recommend 2 inch foam and no plywood, just the canvas skin. That would eliminate about 60 pounds.