Posts Made By: James Brown

My wife and I were out to eat last night and eavesdropped on a pair of middle aged women talking about Bloomberg being the last hope to defeat Trump.  I wonder about that.  Bernie has amassed about 25% of the primary vote so far, and is now leading in national polls.  Why would a genuine supporter of Bernie's policies vote for a former Republican billionaire, a law-and-order white male, a Wall Street plutocrat who is self-financing (buying) votes?

Bloomberg seems to me, at least at this point in time, to be much more like a polished and reserved Donald Trump than he is like Bernie Sanders.  

So, I think it comes down to this - if Bloomberg gets the nomination because Bernie is too radical, Mayor Pete is too young, Amy Klobuchar is too frumpy (I guess, I think she is the D's best choice) can he win by attracting moderate Rs away from Trump even if Bernie's 25% of the base revolt and stay home or vote for Trump out of pique?  Seems risky to me.

Jim

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

So what do you say about Bloomberg's comments?

Hi Richard:

Just got back from a nice visit with my folks.  Sorry for the delay.  Bloomberg's comments don't bother me that much, but I'm a law-and-order Republican white guy.  The issue is whether the Bernie contingent can stomach Bloomberg if he wins the nomination.  I kind of doubt it, which might put D voters in a real pickle if the convention is contested. 

Jim

First light at my observatory this weekend!  My lovely wife and I built this over the summer and fall of 2019.  I've been fighting the weather to get things like the electrical, flooring, paint and mounting done this winter.  This is a pretty typical roll off roof - 12' x 12' with a bench and desk, so the telescope area is 10' x 10'.  One thing is different, I built short side walls - to preserve the view.  Neighbor lights are not an issue.  So, to drop the telescope to storage height, I built an electronic lift with 3 lifting columns from Progressive Automations.  A lot like a big Pier Tech, but about 12% of the cost!  The lift seems to work really well.  It was pretty cold Saturday night and it worked fine.  All three columns are controlled by one Hall-effect driver and power supply.  The view was very stable at the eyepiece, and it is great to be able to set eyepiece height up and down to suit the object.  When I get my ccd gear installed, I'll use the lift at the lowest setting.  That will be the real test, but I don't anticipate problems since it was stable for visual observing.

I'll post something in observatories here and also they'll love the lift at CN - but you guys heard about it first!

Jim

   

Storage height.

Storage bench.

I think I'll go for a stealthy transparent grey stain  this spring, but for now it is natural cedar.

Beautiful assistant.  Couldn't have done it without that track barrow either.  Lots of stuff to haul up and down a 300' trail from our place.

Your's truly 

Originally Posted by Brian McFarland

Really cool! Do you find that you maintain polar alignment after raising and lowering the pier? I heard from a Pier Tech owner that his doesn't.

Cheers,

Brian

Hi Brian:

I'm not sure that it would maintain precise polar alignment, as in precise enough for imaging.  That would be asking a lot!  I plan on setting an imaging alignment later, at a set height and hopefully it will be stable if I always image at that pier height.  The controller lets you set height pre-sets.

For visual, I used the AP polar alignment scope once and then looked at several objects - some at the zenith (M35) with the lift way up and some objects down low (Venus) with the lift low too.  Everything was in the field of view with go-to, so it seems to hold alignment well enough for go-to visual.  I forgot to check to see how much the alignment changed at different heights, using the alignment scope.  I'll do that next time.

Jim

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Spectacular work Jim!  And yes, your beautiful daughter acting as an assistant looks like she put in the sweat equity as well.

Congrats!  

Linda will be pleased!