11-10-09
-Seems my skycam and observatory scope cam were hacked as well as the
data uplink to NSL. The skycam images are sent to other networks. I am upgrading my wireless network security
and have disabled the skycam temporarily.
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11-07-09
-I've noticed the telescope camera is being moved by someone who has gained acccess
to the controls, which should not be possible. Also noticed increased bandwidth usage...
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07-17-09
-Not much observing lately. Work has kept me very busy & the weather this year has
not cooperated with my time off.
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03-07-09
-The Astrograph choice is narrowed down to two scopes. While I'm taking my time making a decision,
I'm not missing much action in the OB, the weather the past couple of months has been horrible to say the least and I still
have my Mak operational.
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12-28-08
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12-09-08
-The mount waiting time is still an issue. Decison on new scope is made. The C11 will be sold
and replaced by an astrograph devoted to imaging only. The Orion Mak will be for imaging & viewing.
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11-20-08
-CGE mount upgrade complete. Still waiting on the MI mount. A defect in the first one
required a return and I am waiting for a replacement.
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11-07-08
-Its a very sad day......One of my beloved dobermans had to be euthanized. Sophie was
one of the guardians of the observatory & part of the doberman protection system. Her health took a sudden turn downhill
on 11-04-08 for reasons still unexplained. She is greatly missed. Her passing has left a giant hole in my heart......Sophie's Tribute.
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7-10-08
-Not much new to report as of late. I have decided to part with Celestron equipment
do to a falling out over a repair which should have been made without question. The new mounts will be a Mountain MI500 and
an AP Mach1 GTO. Both mounts have a wait time. For the new scopes, since I have time on my hands, I'm still looking
at all the different choices. The new MAK however is a great find and excellent performer.
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4-3-08
-The new Mak was sitting on my porch waiting for me to come home, very nice scope,
now if only the C-11 and GEM would arrive...
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2-9-08
-Installed Bob's Knobs. I've also decided to take scope off the wedge & change
to a GEM. I may de-fork this one or sell & start new.
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2-3-08
-Installed the Astrotech diagonal. Views are much improved. Scope alignment is off,
reason unknown.
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1-31-08
-This camera's ftp protocol unlike my other 2 cameras, is causing a host of problems. One
is getting the images to appear & update on my site pages. While I can see the images on the server side ,others
are seeing the "red x" when accessing my website.
Update: They have obviously changed the camera programming
in some way from the previous models. Changed a bit of code to add images to site and they are refreshing nicely.
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1-29-08
-Web camera is now operational in the OB & uploads to the website via FTP every 60
sec. Needs a better location & I think the diffuse light coming thru the OB walls is playing havoc with the sensor.
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1-24-08
-Testing new OB camera
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1-22-08
-Some old buildings are being torn down on the farm behind my 3 acre field the
OB is sited on. Hopefully its just debris cleanup from a fire back in the fall. The farm house and such have been vacant for
a few years. My fear has always been they are going to subdivide the land . That would ruin my dark skies for sure.
The land is supposed to be in farm preservation, but a farm in preservation a few miles away was turned into a 30
home subdivision.
Low light camera to monitor inside of observatory ordered.
Setting up meteor cam & configuring for eventual data upload to AMS.
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1-21-08
-There is an ongoing Blue Screen issue with the OB main computer. Dell may have
to replace it.
Still waiting for the Canon 350D repair to be completed.
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1-10-08
-UPS left me presents. A new Astrotech 2" Diagonal, Orion 12mm Illuminated Recticle &
Orion Full Aperture Solar filter arrived today. My Canon 350D imaging camera has a program glitch so its "leaving on a jet
plane" today.
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12-27-07
-Ordered red LED lights for the OB deck.
The Weather Station is now part of WXSPOTS weather spotter network operated by HAM
& Amateur Radio.
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12-01-07
-The FARPOINT Weather program software got a needed a code correction. Updated the WeatherLink
software to a newer version.
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11-20-07
-The Mitsubishi AC/Dehumidfier unit was removed for the winter. Seems it made a nice home
to some spiders with an attitude. They seemed rather upset over the whole thing. But since I hate spiders, oh well...
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10-30-07
-Deer got up close and personable with the Weather Cam. No harm done.
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10-12-07
-Replaced the damaged 12v power converter
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10-08-07
-Power surge took out the Pyramid DC power converter.
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08-04-07
-Signal booster from Hawking Technologies arrived today. Weather Cam signal excellent.
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08-01-07
-Installed the new Weather Cam. A Panasonic HCM-371 was mounted northeast of the OB. Signal
back to the network router is extremely weak at 30 ft or more. The OB is 110 Ft away. For the cost, a big disappointment.
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06-30-07
-Humidity and sometimes temps in the OB are a bit high for the computers. A
Mitsubishi AC/Dehumifier is installed. I had to devise a vent opening thru the OB wall. A shuttered dryer vent
louver did the trick. Opens when unit is on , closes when off. Keep out the rain and critters. A variable speed duct
fan was also installed to move air thru the Dome shutters.
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06-10-07
-Coronado PST Solar Scope and Losmandy Dovetail arrived today. Installation went well except
one screw on front of the C11 was not tapped properly and is the wrong size. a trip to Home Depot found a correct size screw,
but as I was finishing up I noticed small bits of shavings from the improperly tapped factory screw on the corrector plate
and one tiny mote on the mirror. This will eventually have to be addressed, as the motes may show up when solar viewing or
imaging.
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05-24-07
-To vent excess heat that collects near the top of the dome, I added a Nicro 4" Solar Vent.
The Davis wireless sensor to monitor conditions inside the OB installed.
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03-20-07
-Changed the Dome seals. The factory seals were so inferior, snow and rain would enter into
the OB. An aftermarket seal from All Rite Seals fit perfectly.
Added StormLab weather software in addition to StormPredator. I've never been happy with StormPredator.
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03-10-07
-Got a Telrad Reflex Sight. This is must have in my opinion. Also installed a BTG Laser.
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03-01-07
-Observatory now fully operational. While it had seen first light Jan 20th 2007, it was not
complete.
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