Posts Made By: Fred Lusk

Here's Hetch Hetchy Reservoir…from the south end of the dam that never should have been built. I'm not an environmentalist wacko, but I would like to see the dam removed. It doesn't belong inside a national park (especially one like Yosemite) and it would really tweak San Francisco, which would be worth the price of admission.

The waterfall on the left is Tueeulala (800' ?) and the one on the right is Wapama (1400'…only the bottom is visible). The dome on the right is Kolana Rock. The water in the reservoir ends up as drinking water, so human contact is prohibited. The boat belongs to San Francisco and is probably used for inspections. Of course, the only way to get to the boat is with another boat! Go figure.

Jim…

Excellent reflection. Looks like the mirror to a VERY large scope that needs just a little polishing!

Fred

Here's a wider crescent from July 30.

Darian…

This sounds like a scaled-down version of the Boy Scout's Pinewood Derby race. There is an entire subculture :-) in this country revolving around the Pinewood Derby. A Google search for this term and related ones will yield hundreds of links and probably dozens related to your particular question.

From 1994 to 1999, I organized an ran a similar event for a children's/youth program at my church. After running six races for the church and four for a deaf class from a nearby elementary school, I retired from the event.

We typically ran 100 to 120 cars on an 8-lane, 48-foot-long, wooden track that was made years before by a member of the church (the guy who succeeded me upgraded to a commercially made aluminum track). We ran 4-lane heats--rotating the lanes so each car ran at least four times--and 4-lane and 8-lane semis and finals. The starter blocks consisted of two boards beneath the track with 3/8" dowels that projected up through holes in the track. We could join or split the mechanizsm as needed. The starter blocks were held in place with a pin. Pulling the pin dropped the mechanism and ensured a fair start.

Now to your particular question: My first two races used four adults at the finish line to judge the placings. This was hard with 4-cars and nearly impossible with 8-cars. Officially, our national organization offered a 4-lane finish line light bar, but unofficially they would make custom 6-lane and 8-lane light bars. I obtained an 8-lane light bar just before my third race. The lightbar consisted of an overhead shielded bar with flashlight bulbs pointing down and photocells under holes in the track. This worked well, but was not trouble free, especially when the lights were on the same circuit as the overhead projector we used to post results. The guy who succeeded me upgraded to a laser light bar and circuitry at the start and finish to determine elapsed time and route the data to a race management computer program. The laser light bar was excellent, but the program has a few bugs. I would guess it has now been improved, but I haven't kept up with it.

For a simple race, a simple light bar, similar to the one I started wtih, is probably the way to go. If you don't want to make one, I'm sure they're available via the Internet. There may be a way to do this mechancially, but I don't know how.

Fred (CA)

John…

That's a nice looking lens, as is the 500 mm. I would be interested except I am saving money for another lens for my Oly E-1.

I suggest looking at KEH.com to see what they are asking for used lenses.

Fred

Here is a shot of our observing site in front of the planetarium (out of view to the right). We had four scopes today. A couple of people had plans to come after lunch, but when they showed up, there was nothing to see.

Fred

Murphy's Law of New Toys strikes again: new scope = clouds. It was mostly clear today. It was mostly clear when I got home and had dinner. It was mostly cloudy when I set up the scope outside.

It was so cloudy that I couldn't find three stars to do a SkyAlign. Howeer, I was able to do an Auto 2-Star alignment. Sirius was visible through the clouds and the CPC800 was able to find Rigel by itself (I couldn't see it except through the finder and eyepiece). I centered Rigel and got a perfect alignment. The CPC found Saturn for me and put it almost smack dab in the center of the supplied 40 mm eyepice. The murk made Saturn a bit fuzzy, but Titan was also visible. A thinning of the clouds allowed me to find M42, barely and briefly. The Trapezium was visible and just a bit of the nebula.

The verdict: this promises to be an awesome scope. The tripod is first rate and I like the little touches, like the strap to secure the legs, the captive mounting bolts, etc. The spreader could have a little more storage, but it's OK for my needs. The scope acquired the GPS satellites very quickly and in my short test proved to be very accurate finding things. I can't wait for a usable sky. The optics appear to be excellent, though colimation is off just a tad. Also, the scope is a work of art.

This is going to be fun.

Fred

P.S. One more thing: zero image shift, just like my C5+.

Tonight it finally cleared up. I spent about 15 minutes getting the colimation squared away and it made a noticable improvement. The alignment was off a little more than I had noticed during my short run last Monday.

What a sweat view of Saturn + Titan + Rhea + Dione + Tethys at 200x under light polluted skies. Saw the E star of the Trapezium. Nice view of the Orion Nebula, too. But, I had left the OIII inside and was having too much fun to go get it. Maybe next time. Jumped around to a bunch of open clusters. Couldn't see a galaxy to save my life. Fortunately, we're having a star party/Messier Marathon on Saturday.

One other thing, the focus mechanism is the smoothest I have ever used. I thought my C5 was smooth, this is like butter only not as messy.

Clear skies,
Fred

Jelly #2

Thanks all. The jellies are my favorite thing to shoot over there, but it's not easy. I have a lot of near misses I won't subject y'all to. Next time I'll bring a monopod or tripod.

Fred