Posts - Page 122 of 244 - JamesDixon.us

July 24, 2016

Binocular Mount

I just “finished” this parallelogram binocular mount. I will probably make refinements after using it. The tripod is borrowed from my small Nexstar altazimuth mount. The lumber from leftover bamboo flooring I’ve been holding onto for when I would need it for a project. The counterweights borrowed from a dumbbell set. Those are 7×50 binos you see. I’m going to use this for the Astronomical League’s Binocular Messier Club and maybe more. No idea if I will like binocular astronomy but I will find out. I plan to try the larger binos at the RRO with it as well.

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016

Finale of the Extreme Makeover Telescope Edition

If I had a schedule I guess I’d be about 10 months behind it. You may remember last summer’s Extreme Makeover Telescope Edition. I put a lot of work into turning a 10 inch tube assembly into a working Dobsonian reflector. Then I got a 9.25″ SCT and the 10″ just didn’t seem so important. Well, after working on the Library Telescope Project with CAAS and CALS I got energized again and decided to finish the project. See the picture. We had first light about a week ago and the Moon looked just fine. The yellow elastic band acts as a variable counterweight and seems to be just right.

I plan to use this on my quest for the Astronomical League’s Messier Club which does not allow for the use of goto mounts. I’ve seen them all before, I’ve even photographed them all before (though I’ve lost them) but now I start over. I plan to also work on the binocular version of the same club.

July 18, 2016July 22, 2016

7/17/2016 Mercury and Venus

The two inner planets are very low in the western sky very close together. Last night they were a Moon’s width apart, tonight apparently a little more. I set up at the high point in Wellington Hills near the Fellowship Church at sunset. By 8:28 I spotted Venus in the binoculars. It took another 8 minutes to spot Mercury. Here is one of a bunch of pictures, mostly unsuccessful. Both planets are in the lower right, Venus is the brighter while Mercury is above it at about 11 o’clock.
I decided to show the entire frame instead of cropping so you might have a better idea of scale. This was a 300mm zoom with a DSLR. 1/160s at f/5.6 ISO 3200. Processing in Lightroom.