Posts Made By: jon yimin

Hello guys/gals (I always put gals but are there any on this forum??)

I need some advice from you learned folks. I want to plan a trip up to Cherry Springs after I get a few paychecks in from the Internship I acquired at Eaton Electrical. My main question is what I need to make it an enjoyable weekend. Obviously I'll need a tent, food, my scope and gear, but what else have you guys brought with you to make the trip more enjoyable/efficient (can you tell I am an aspiring Electrical Engineer?). Thanks for your help and if you could, please let me know if any of you are planning trips to Cherry Springs!!

Clear Skies,

Jon

Hey guys/gals,

I am planning on getting a PDA pretty soon to handle my Dave Eks DSC for my XT8 and I need some advice since this is the first time I am even looking at these things. I'd like to know what kind of things I should look for if my primary use is just going to be the Dave Eks. Stuff like processor speed, memory, brand, ease of use and maybe some good astro-programs?

Thanks,

Jon

Hello Astromart!!!

Ok, I just got my Ipaq and am in need of some software to control my Dave Ek's DSC for my XT8. Does anyone know of any software for Pocket PC, other than ThySky, that does telescope tracking with an interface like TheSky or Cartes, for, how do I say this, FREEEEE, or at least cheaper???

Thanks a lot.

Hello Guys/Gals,

I've been away from observing for far too long (more than 7 months) and I have moved far away from the mountains of State College, PA as I finally graduated in December with my BA in EE (whew!!)

I moved down to Houston to work at NASA as a Flight Controller (Power Resource Officer) and now I finally have some time to do some observing with the XT8. However, I have no idea where to go!!!!!

Are there any Houstonians willing to give me some advice on where I can go to observe...

And BTW, I forgot how awesome you guys/gals are at taking ASTRO photographs...WOW!!!!

I was viewing at around 3:30am EST, so mars was close to zenith. I tried again on saturday night with much better results(200x, 6mm eyepiece). I believe that my scope was definitely at equilibrium this latest time and that gave me buch better results, however, I do not own and filters and I believe that is why I am not seeing too much contrast. My friend and I think we could see some variations in the pale orange-ish red color of the disc but that could have been due to our excitement of seeing a small part of the Orion Nebula for the first time (first nebula ever actually). I think some filters may help me in my plight. Thank you all for the suggestions!!

I just bought a scope from them, some crappy Meade Quasar DS-60 for a secondary travel-type scope. So far, I have a tracking number for UPS ground and no shipping to pay for (not to mention it was less than 50 bucks). As far as I can tell it is run by different people than the ones who answer the phones at Meade, but it's all still the same company. Make sense? I have stopped going to their Ebay site though because I am afraid I won't be able to stop buying stuff. Hope this helps.

Clear Skies!

Sorry if I am bothering you August but I never get to see these things and post-processing is a little hobby of mine. Again, this one is done in Picasa.

Hello All!!

I may be one of the younger ones on the forum here. I turned 22 in February. I finally got my first scope a year ago in the summer. I have always been interested in Astronomy but just never had the money to buy a scope. I am an Electrical Engineering Major at Penn State and I hail from Pittsburgh. I also hapen to be heavily tattooed, something I never see at the star parties, hahaha!!!

Lee,

I find starhopping pretty difficult. I don't have the experience or the gear that a lot of these guys have (or the patience!!) but I would definitely say aperture. I purchased an Orion xt8 last summer and all I could think about after the first month was, "man, I should have gotten the Intelliscope." Until recently. After talking to the guys here I realized that a DSC system for DOB could be an easy add-on. Think about the prices: $360 for the XT8 or $600 for the XT8i or $530 for the XT10. Thats $240 more dollars for a DSC with a limited catalogue or $190 for two more inches. That leaves you with $50 to play around with. I have been doing some research on aftermarket DSC's after the guys here told me about Dave Ek's DSC and I have realized I can do it all for less than $100 with an infinite database!! The only stipulation is that you find some encoders on Ebay for less than $50 a piece. I have all the documentation and prices if you want it in an excel sheet, just let me know.

Dave Ek's DSC project
http://home.earthlink.net/~david.ek/digicircles/build.html

What a night Ken! I never knew what a bolide was until you mentioned it here, I saw one in State College not too long ago and had no idea what would break up orange and purple like that.

I'm curious, what is custom on your XT10?

Clear Skies!