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M27 - Dumbell Nebula

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Posts Made By: James Brown

November 17, 2009 04:39 PM Forum: Religion

Something to think about

Posted By James Brown
Rob Wiederrich said:

Indeed..this is worth thinking over.

(author unknown)


Rob:

I am puzzled about the "author unknown." I presume that this was sent to you as an email by someone in a long chain. Apparently someone in the chain decided to strip the author's name out. I wonder why?

No snarkiness is intended from me (this time wink ). It is puzzling though. 1 second on Google was all it took to determine that this was written by Paul E. Marek in Feb. 2006:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/6996

http://inrepair.net/2008/01/20/why-the-peaceful-majority-is-irrelevant/


Jim

November 18, 2009 03:52 PM Forum: Takahashi

Tak Teegul Lapides useful load?

Posted By James Brown
Ivan Ong said:

What is the heaviest useful load you have mounted a Tak teegul Lapides modified alt az mount? I have heard of someone using a TOA-130 on one..but that must be a tad over the top? I am thinking of mounting 18lbs. Will that work?
Thanks
Ivan

Hi Ivan:

I think 18 lbs would be pushing it on a stock modified Teegul. I have seen pictures of Evan Chan using a Teegul with his 130mm AP refractor though.

A few years ago I further modified my already modified Teegul to use with a TEC 140. It works really well, and I still use this combination sometimes. I have never found an alt/az that I like better. I haven't tried any of the modern offerings like Discmount however.

Here is what I did:

http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=255

It's not too hard if you have a router table and drill press.

Jim

November 18, 2009 03:57 PM Forum: Takahashi

Tak Teegul Lapides useful load?

Posted By James Brown
Ivan Ong said:

What is the heaviest useful load you have mounted a Tak teegul Lapides modified alt az mount? I have heard of someone using a TOA-130 on one..but that must be a tad over the top? I am thinking of mounting 18lbs. Will that work?
Thanks
Ivan

Here is the old thread I was remembering:

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=148170&poll_id=&news_id=&page=

Also check this out; Evan has used a Teegul with an 8" TEC Mak. I'm not sure how heavy that is, but it looks big!

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=411844&poll_id=&news_id=&page=

Evan says later in the thread that the Mak is pushing the Teegul's limits. I'd send Evan a p.m. to get his opinion on the suitability of the scope you have in mind for a Teegul.

Jim

November 20, 2009 03:53 PM Forum: Insects - Flowers and Other Small Stuff - Photos

Backyard salamander

Posted By James Brown
John Agnew said:

While these little guys seem pretty insignificant at first glance, they are so abundant that they are a major portion of the animal biomass in the forests where they live, equal to the weight of all the mammals in the same habitat.

Cool shots John. I had no idea that these guys were abundant. I wonder how they are able to thrive when generally amphibian populations are doing so poorly?

Jim

December 6, 2009 05:01 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Tom Davis - one of 2009 competition winners

Posted By James Brown
Roland Christen said:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries/6169034/Astronomy-Photographer-of-the-Year-2009-competition-winners.html?image=4

Way to go Tom!! grin

Congratulations!

J

December 7, 2009 03:18 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

My web site up and running, plus new image (M34)

Posted By James Brown
Hi Eric:

It looks like your web site is going to be very nice indeed. I like the top banner "Skies By Africa" quite a bit. The linked pages and images work quite well. The home page image M34 is maybe initially too big. At least on my computer you have to scroll left and right to see the sides, before you click on it. I personally like to see the whole image on one screen first and then scrolling is expected when you click on the image to get a full sized view. That's only my preference of course.

What package are you using to develop the web page? Is it a lot of work? I'd like to follow in your footsteps and put together something nice one of these days...

Jim

December 9, 2009 05:19 PM Forum: Politics

The invisible hand -- LOL

Posted By James Brown
Jim McSheehy said:

President Obama said today that the bailouts to General Motors and Chrysler would probably cost taxpayers $30 billion. In effect they received $30B gratis, just for being failures. These companies sell vehicles, and we can do some simple calculations. Divide the $30B loss by the number of cars they expect to sell in 2009, about 3 million, and you get a subsidy equal to $100,000 per vehicle!

I don't think this is the same "invisible hand" Adam Smith had in mind. 8)

Hi Jim:

I think that 30E9/3E6 is only $10,000.00 per vehicle. Still...

Jim

December 10, 2009 04:38 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

Leaving Andromeda

Posted By James Brown
That's really cool!

Jim

December 18, 2009 03:30 PM Forum: Mounts

MACH1 - What do you get

Posted By James Brown
Hans Tucker said:

G'day All,

I came across the Anacortes ad for the Mach 1 mount and was wondering what do you get for your $5950.00. I know you don't get a complete mount and that you have to spend a bit of extra $$$'s for counter-weights, tripod etc.
Toying with the idea of getting a lighter mount and the Mach 1 looks like an ideal choice, just doing the maths to see what more I have to spend to get a complete mount

Also, before someone points out the obvious..yes I know you have to go on a waiting list and yes I know that I cannot buy from Anacortes because I live outside CONUS.

Cheers,

Hans


Hi Hans:

With a Mach 1, you don't get counterweights, a tripod or the top mounting dovetail clamp. These items are sold by Astro-Physics and other vendors too. I am using a Robin Casady Dovetail Saddle with mine. A large assortment of stainless steel hardware came with the mount, to attach whatever mounting plate works for your telescope. Also, the top of the Dec axis has a wide range of threaded holes to work with just about anything.

I bought appropriate counterweights for my system from AP. I also use mine on a homemade pier, so I bought a pier adapter from AP.

The Mach 1 is expensive. Mine has absolutely enabled me to move to a "next level" of astrophotography though. I have just started using CCD Commander and The Sky software to image multiple targets all night long. The Mach 1 is one thing that I do not have to worry about at all. I am pretty sure that the wait time for mounts is very short too. I think A-P is selling some mounts from stock.

Jim


December 21, 2009 03:52 PM Forum: Politics

PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" Award

Posted By James Brown
Rod Kaufman said:

Goes to the queen of the idiots: Sarah Palin!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/dec/18/politifact-lie-year-death-panels/
She can add that one to her list of "accomplishments"...

That'a a pretty good lie by Sarah. If I were voting on this though, I would have voted for Obama's lies that health care reform will pay for itself and not add one dime to the deficit as the lie of the year. Heck, at one point he said that the plan would reduce the budget by 2.2 trillion dollars.

Sure, Sarah's lie is flashy and the press ran with it big time because of their own bias, but Obama's lie will actually affect every man woman and child in the United States for many years to come if sweeping health care reform passes.

The cost to us of Sarah's lie: $0.00

The cost of Obama's lie: $5,000,000,000,000.00 according to the CBO and FactCheck.org, could be a lot more.

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/07/obamas-health-care-news-conference/

Jim

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