Posts Made By: Matthew Ota

The prices differ based n the power level. You get what you pay for. Get the brightest laser you can afford, especially if you are using it in a light-polluted environment.

Check out the green laser that I fired out of the 24 inch TIE obervatory at Mt. Wilson

Matthew Ota

I had some accessory equipment that was stolen from the West parking lot behind Oceanside Photo & Telescope in Oceanside, CA during the early evening of Saturday, July 28. This was during the evening star party. Taken from my table was a plastic bag containing a piece of transparent red plexiglas, 9.5 by 15 inches, and a notebook computer keyboard lamp with a red filter on it. Additionally, there was a smaller piece of translucent red plex that was designed to go over keyboard lights.

The red plex was custom-cut to fit my notebook PC, and was very hard to replace.

It is time once again for the Starry Nights Festival in the high desert of Southern California. This event, sponsored by the town of Yucca Valley and the local
Andromeda Astronomy Club, is a great way to enjoy dark skies in a friendly desert town with crisp clear desert air.

Yucca Valley is located just north of the Joshua Tree National Park, a short two hour drive from Los Angeles.

Admission is free

September 28, Friday afternoon and evening events:

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Lighting Conference
5:00 p.m. Art Opening, Sky Beyond the Sun: Imagining the Universe; Watercolors by Martha Jacobson
7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Stargazing at Machris Park, A free shuttle bus will take you from the city community center to the park.
Many astronomers will have their telescopes set up for you to view the Moon, planets and dark sky objects.

September 29, Saturday afternoon's events focus at the High Desert Nature Museum and the Town of Yucca Valley Community Center.

12:30 p.m. WRAL annual meeting
1:00 p.m. Wayne Johnson a.k.a Mr. Galaxy “Schmoozing with Supernovae"
2:00 pm. Astrogeologist Gary Peterson “Meteorites and other Space Debris"
3:00 p.m. Wally Pacholka, famous astroimager, "America the Beautiful at Night"
4:00 p.m. Dennis Mammana “Seven Wonders of the Cosmos"

From 12:30 pm through 3:45 pm, solar telescopes will be set up in the courtyard for free safe viewing the sun in both visible light (photosphere) and in Hydrogen Alpha (chromosphere).

5:00 p.m. Andromeda Society Raffle - Cool prizes, ranging from telescopes to free dinners in town!

5:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker David Levy, world-renowned astronomy author, lecturer and comet discoverer.

6:30 p.m. Twilight Reception at Hi-Desert Nature Museum; socialize with amateur astronomers and local citizens.

7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Stargazing at Machris Park, Free shuttle for viewers from the Community Center.
Again, many astronomers will have their telescopes set up for your viewing pleasure.

26 frames shot at 400ISO, 2 second exposures. Stacked with Registax. Canon Powershot A620 digital camera set up for remote imaging. Camera attached to Scopetronix 40mm adapter, attached to a Meade 10 inch F10 LX250 SCT.

Read my preview story here:

http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2008/05/14/matts-mars-landing-preview/

The Telrad will be used to help align the replacement Fine Guidance Sensor after it is installed.
Telrads are often used on professional telescopes, such as the two units installed on the Mt Wilson Hooker 100 inch.
Now one goes on the ultimate telescope....

It was 16 degrees F outside.

Did Meade drop the MySky gadget? Did they also give up production of the LX-400 (formerly known as the RCX 400)?

When I was 12 my father bought me a three inch refractor from K-Mart. It was on an alt-az mount and I used it off and on until I was 18. It was made in China and it served me well until I got a larger SCT when I was 45.

Matthew Ota

I bought one four years ago. I consider it the mose useless piece of equipment that I have ever purchased. After getting through the learning curve. I ended up being frustrated when I tried to use it for autoguiding on long duration film exposures. It kept losing lock on the guide star. I tried using 90MM ETX and a 4 inch wide field refractor as guidesopes and in both cases it failed to perform.

I would not recommend the 201xt, better to save the money to get something better.

Matthew Ota