First Attempt at Astrophotography

Posted on by November 11, 2014
Astrophotography Setup

Astrophotography Setup

Intermixed with my ham radio activities this summer I have started to dabble in Astrophotography.    A camera is similar to a very sensitive receiver.  It is able to give very nice views of faint stellar objects that are often barely visible through the telescope’s eyepiece.

This photo was taken at Burkhart Creek County Park, in Morgan County Indiana.  This park is a nice dark site for central Indiana.  It is located about 35 mile Southwest of Indianapolis.

On this particular night the temperature dropped rapidly and dew began to cover everything soon after sunset.  The black strap on the front of the telescope is a dew heater which keeps the dew from condensing on the telescopes optics.

M27_BurkhartCreek

Dumbbell Nebula Messier 27

As a newcomer to astrophotography, I have learned something new during each outing.  On this particular outing I discovered that my setup was not well balanced; thus overloading the Declination drive motor.  I made some temporary adjustments and was at least able to take the following image of the Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27).

 

Once I got home, I corrected the balance issue.  Now if we can just get some clear skies, I will try some more astrophotography.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Some Springtime Observing

Posted on by April 26, 2014
Saturn

Saturn

On Tuesday night the skies were clear so my wife and I got with some others from the Indiana Astronomical Society to do some observing.  I took our Meade LX80 mount and 6 inch Astro Tech refractor to give it a run.  During the winter I added a StarGPS to the LX80 to make the setup a bit easier.  I highly recommend the StarGPS system.  It eliminates many of the potential errors that can lead to poor scope alignment.  If the scope is carefully leveled and set to its home position, the GPS will enable you to get a near perfect alignment every time.

After I assembled  and leveled the LX80 I installed the Astro Tech scope and turned on the power.  In about 2 minutes the StarGPS found our location.  It loaded the correct time and location into the handset and then put the hand controller into the “Easy” align mode.  I did a two star alignment and was pleased to see a “Alignment Successful” message on the hand controller.

The first thing I did was slew to Jupiter to catch it before it dropped below the trees.  I was rewarded with a nice view of Jupiter and four moons. Jupiter’s bands were visible but the Great Red Spot was not visible.

My wife and I spent the rest of the night viewing a number of deep space objects.  One of the nicest DSOs we saw was when my wife got M81 and M82 in the eyepiece at the same time.  We also had a nice view the Sombrero Galaxy (M104).  Later in the evening I tried out Meade’s “What’s Up Tonight” feature to take  a guided tour of the nights best objects.  The hand-controller selected a few objects that were new to me;  so it was time well spent.

We finished up the evening by getting our first view of Saturn this year.  I always enjoy looking at Saturn because it has such a striking appearance.

Fred,  KC9QQ

Indiana QSO Party (May 3rd and 4th)

Posted on by April 22, 2014

The Indiana QSO party will be held May 3rd and 4th.  I have not decided whether I will operate SSB, CW or both during the contest.  I am in Morgan county.  While Morgan County is not the rarest Indiana county it does seem to be needed by many County Hunters.

I hope to work many of you during the IQP.

Here is some information on the Indiana QSO Party:

The purpose of the Indiana QSO Party (INQP) is to encourage contact with Indiana amateur radio stations by other Indiana hams and hams worldwide. Stations outside of Indiana work Indiana stations only. Indiana stations work everybody, including other Indiana stations. See the rules for the rest of the details.

The INQP returns May 3-4, 2014.
The rules for 2014 are unchanged except for the addition of a bonus station (Indianapolis Radio Club 100 year anniversary).

The full rules are available at:  http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/

73,

Fred, KC9QQ