Astromart

October 6, 2010 10:13 AM Forum: Home Observatories

Astrohaven

Anyone operating an Astrohaven dome. Of all the domes available, I like this one best. Looking for opinions.

January 2, 2011 06:19 AM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

Hey all,

Just to make sure I'm playing by the rules --

I moved and had to get a new ISP. I now have a different email address than the one I previously registered with Astromart with. Knowing that a $12 fee is required when registering an new email address, I attempted to re-register using my original user name. During the registration process, I could not use my original user name because it was already being used, i.e. by me. I did go into my user profile and update my new email address, home address, and phone number.

So the question is, how do I make good with the $12 fee? Or does Herb not require it anymore? Or, how do I re-register and keep my original user name and my old profile and ratings?

February 19, 2011 01:34 PM Forum: Meteorites & Meteors

I Screwed Up!

Posted By Louis Busby

I was moving and I carefully packed my meteorite collection for the trip. I had one specimen, a beautiful 20 pound Campo packed in a separate box from the others. I also had set aside several boxes destined for Goodwill. Somehow, the Goodwill boxes and the box containing the Campo meteorite got mixed up. I have a feeling the the Campo went to Goodwill since I can't find it in the boxes I moved to my new place.. I'm sure the Goodwill folks didn't know what it was and who now knows what happened to it. I hate myself!

March 15, 2011 05:45 AM Forum: Takahashi

Triple Meltdown @ Fukushima

Posted By Louis Busby

Earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant radiation levels spiked Tuesday at a quake-damaged nuclear power plant in north-eastern Japan following a series of explosions and a fire affecting its reactors. Right now the nuclear plant is experiencing a meltdown in three of six reactors at the Fukushima facility. Hope now is that the containment buildings hold the molten reactor cores. Should any one core breach its containment building, we will see a repeat of Chernobyl. In the meantime, I would expect that overpressures and possibly more explosions will result in significant release of radioactive steam into the atmosphere.

As the day's trading unfolded, the losses on European bourses began to mount after stocks in Tokyo plummeted 10.55 per cent. At one point on Tuesday, shares in Japan were down by 14 per cent.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped by 3.69 per cent to 159.94 points after Japanese authorities warned of the rising radioactivity levels.

All Japanese manufacturing will be affected. I suspect significant price increases of most Japanese goods over the next year. I also suspect Takahashi telescopes and accessories will command a premium in the next few years. Of course, prices could go the other way if the Dollar gains against the Yen. Hard to say at this point. Anyone else care to speculate?

June 22, 2011 07:03 AM Forum: Takahashi

EM400 Accident

Posted By Louis Busby

All,

I have an EM400 that I inadvertently left on-tracking for several hours. As
a result, the mount continued to track until it contacted the tripod. I don't
know exactly how long it continued to run in that state. When I found it the
next day, I released the locking clamps to break contact with the tripod, swung
it manually to 00 and used the hand controller to check functions of the DEC and
RA motors. The mount slewed appropriately and it appears to operate normally.
However, I can't say that for tracking until I get it out and checked. In the
tracking mode, I do notice a slight increase in noise from the RA motor which
normally is barely audible.

My questions then are, what damage did I do to the mount, i.e. RA motor,
gears, clutches, etc? Are there any built in safeguards that prevent damage?
What's your spin on the situation?

January 8, 2012 04:22 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

File Sharing Large AVI files

Posted By Louis Busby

Anyone know the best way to exchange large AVI files (100-300Mb) across the internet? Most ISPs limit file sizes to 25Mb or less. Is there a file sharing portal/site somewhere where this can be done?

Thanks

February 5, 2012 04:59 PM Forum: Pictures of Me and My Telescope and........

New Tak in the House

Posted By Louis Busby

I'm building an observatory for this to go in this Spring. Hasn't even seen first light yet.
TOA150 on an EM400 and Pier-Tech 2 pier.

February 19, 2012 08:29 AM Forum: AstroMart FAQ

Which is Better?

Posted By Louis Busby

Is it better to delete an ad and create a new one to rerun an item that didn't sell? Or, create a new ad referring to the old ad number?

Thanks

July 17, 2012 11:27 AM Forum: Home Observatories

Solar Power

Posted By Louis Busby

Has anyone tried solar power for their observatories? I just goy mine built, but haven't run electric to it yet. Seems to me that solar power would be ideal for an application like this.

Here's my observatory

July 24, 2012 08:18 AM Forum: Home Observatories

Environmental Control

Posted By Louis Busby

I intend on either running a small electric fan or getting one of those small room portable air conditioner/de-humidifiers. I'm thinking a small fan would keep air moving on cool humid nights to reduce or eliminate dew issues. The AC/De-humidifier would be used for limited environmental control inside the observatory when its sealed up during the day. Any thoughts on these accessories and their intended use?

Also, what should my real concern be regarding lightening strikes/grounding of my system? I live in N. VA and I get some pretty strong late afternoon T-storms with lightening through here in the summer months. Potential exists for a strike.

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Posts Made By: Louis Busby

Astrohaven

Email Address Change???

I Screwed Up!

Triple Meltdown @ Fukushima

EM400 Accident

File Sharing Large AVI files

New Tak in the House

Which is Better?

Solar Power

Environmental Control

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