Posts Made By: Ron Hranac

Thanks for sharing, Floyd. I have a roll-up table that appears to be identical--or nearly so--to yours. The differences are the make (Slumberjack) and color (green). I picked mine up at a local sporting goods store a year or so ago, and have found it to be ideal for star parties and general observing sessions. More than likely this style of table is manufactured by one company, but sold under a variety of labels.

Ron

I have a Coronado MaxScope 60 that produces some very nice images. I've been considering double-stacking it, especially after seeing the improvement that occurred when a friend here in Denver double-stacked his PST. The before-and-after difference was significant.

Ron

Thanks for the report, Floyd, I've been noodling on getting one, and your comments pretty much helped finalized the decision.

Ron

Has your group had a chance to do a "this is who we are and what we can do" training session for the town officials, dispatchers and others? Maybe a nice PowerPoint presentation, a few well-equipped vehicles in the parking lot, some pass-around-the-room examples of radios and such, examples of training the group's members go through (ICS, ARRL...), and the requisite free donuts & coffee would help out.

Ron

I have a Tele Vue Gibraltar az-el mount with the Sky Tour. That setup works well for getting most objects in the eyepiece.

I've been planning to install digital setting circles (Losmandy encoders) on my Losmandy G-11 mount, and they finally came in after being on order since July of last year. :S The DSCs should be installed in the next few days, and assuming the weather cooperates I'll likely give them first light at the next Denver Astronomical Society monthly open house in a couple weeks. I'll pass along some initial comments after having a chance to play with the DSCs on the mount.

Ron

I found that a Kaiser 39mm lens cap fits the top end of the Tak 5mm LE eyepiece just fine. Check with ATWB to see if they carry them; if not, a local camera store might carry them or be able to get them for you.

FYI, the Kaiser lebs caps are made in Germany.

Ron

Gary,
I have a Coronado MaxScope 60 (dedicated 60mm H-alpha scope), and also have white light solar filters for my Tele Vue TV85 and Takahashi TOA-130 refractors.

While at first glance it might be easy to compare the sun to the moon--the sun and moon are both just "one object", after all--it's not really a valid comparison. This is largely because features on the sun are in a constant state of change. One could even argue that while features on the moon are fixed, the view of those features can change radically from one day to the next. This is because of the way light and shadow fall upon lunar features.

True, a white light filter limits to a degree what one can see in the sun's photosphere (especially during solar minimums), but there is still variability among sunspots and other features visible with white light setups.

The real action is in H-alpha light. A good H-alpha scope or filter allows one to see the sun's chromosphere, where the view can change from day to day, and even during the same day. One day there may not be much to see, the next day may yield a large prominance on the limb.

Solar viewing is limited by seeing conditions, too, but much of that comes from the fact that one is observing in the daytime when the Earth's surface and atmospheric heating tends to affect seeing the most. I've never tried looking at the sun at up to 50x per inch. It's doubtful that conditions most of the time would permit a steady view (others may have different experience to share here). I find most of the time that low to medium power views of the sun are more than adequate and usually quite pleasing.

Bored? Not a chance.

Ron

Amazing how well that old "analog" radio technology works.

73,
Ron, N0IVN

Batteries America (www.batteriesamerica.com) has 2500 mAh nickel metal hydride cells in AA size, and various chargers. I didn't check to see what they have in lithium ion. I've used this company's replacement batteries for some of my ham radio gear, and have had no problems.

Ron

Hurricane formation and severity is a lot more complicated than solar activity a couple weeks before a given storm. Researchers evaluate a lot of data before a hurricanse season even begins to determine forecasts, and the season affecting North America is predicted to have--as I recall--21 named storms.

Long-term ocean temperatures, weather patterns and many other factors impact the quantity and severity of storms. While solar activity may play a role, it's likely long-term activity that is a factor, not short-term activity.

For more information, visit the National Hurricane Center's Web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Ron