OT: Dumping Thread

[GDMike]

I couldn't get a focus point at full zoom.plus I was being eaten by mosquitos, south Arkansas..

I'll keep Trying. Thx, beautiful picture there

[Omega-TI]

These moon photos inspire me, but last night was standard Pacific Northwest weather, cloudy.  I could not see it. 😪

I'll try again in a few days.

[GDMike]

Well tonight it's a full moon and tommorow the moon will look like yesterday's moon.

And Sept 3 is like a harvest moon or something..not too sure of the name.

But I'm down with a sore back today, but I'll be sure to plan on the 3rd.

 

 

[Omega-TI]

2 hours ago, GDMike said:

Well tonight it's a full moon and tomorrow the moon will look like yesterday's moon.

And Sept 3 is like a harvest moon or something..not too sure of the name.

Yeah, the sky is looking as bleak tonight as last night.  I'm curious to see what my 300mm telephoto lens will do with the 2.2X doubler attached.  With that magnification I better hope for no wind even using the tripod.  And yeah, I'm not gonna even touch the camera, I'll snap everything with the cellphone app.  Hopefully I'll have something decent to show in a few days.

[GDMike]

Would absolutely love to see your outcome.

Today we're cloudy, but I hope to get that corn moon coming up.

I'm not sure why my moon shows small  in the display and when I try to zoom I get outta focus with no focus available. But on the computer I blow it up and it's fine, I wonder if that's normal. 

I can't find too much info on this camera and it's use. I'm not even sure how to handle shutter speed, as there are so many pre made settings to go through to get just the basic settings. I'll keep trying

[wierd_w]

I inherited my dad's DSLR after he passed...  I have never used it.

 

I DO have a camera tripod around here someplace, and I don't work tonight. Maybe I should take it outside, and see what I can do with it.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

On 8/29/2020 at 11:29 PM, GDMike said:

                                           I have of a ROCKET!

 

      

 

...portable, 8-stage SRB design, gantry-less launch pad, w/deployable surveillance radiosonde(cleverly disguised as cheese sauce).

 

Spoiler

                                                 

 

[wierd_w]

Ignition of the booster will greatly devalue property.

 

(Also, Pork N Beans only counts as "Fuel" if you live in a trailer park.)

Edited August 31, 2020 by wierd_w

[mizapf]

This is my best shot of the moon. However, I used a telescope (Meade LX 50) and connected a DSLR of a colleague. This is already 13 years ago (December 2007); I guess it's about time to try again.

 

The telescope acted as the lens of the camera, as such, it has a focus length of 2000mm and with an aperture of 203mm, it is a f/10.

[wierd_w]

I am surprised you got it that clear without atmospheric aberrations.

 

(Or chromatic aberrations for that matter.  Especially if it is an actual lens based telescope, and not a reflector telescope.)

Edited August 31, 2020 by wierd_w

[mizapf]

The telescope is a SC (Schmidt-Cassegrain), i.e. it has a main mirror and a smaller mirror which reflects back, so no lenses. The telescope itself is the "lens"; you can get an adapter for different DSLR types.

 

The sky was quite clear (winter!) and exposure time around 1/320 s, so there were only minimal atmospheric issues. We made 30 shots, kept the best, and stitched them together, since the Moon is too big to fit in one picture. (Meanwhile, I got a focal reducer to 1270mm focal length, so I could try it again without stitching.)

 

Of course, there is always some postprocessing; correcting contrasts, unsharp masking.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

1 hour ago, wierd_w said:

Ignition of the booster will greatly devalue property.

Au contraire mon frère. Although the launch system is portable, I have made accommodations for a stealth site-launch as well. Though the backwash will definitely leave a signature on the furniture, and walls somewhat. If you study the picture carefully, you will notice that there is no ceiling! the walls merely taper-off at a 45-degree angle, allowing for the height of the rocket and easy escapement.

 

While this building was not specifically constructed for me. I knew it's architect, Bob Scull, well enough to gain access to the blue-prints, ...so many years ago.

 

1 hour ago, wierd_w said:

(Also, Pork N Beans only counts as "Fuel" if you live in a trailer park.)

That was only the design prototype!

 

Spoiler

      Hmm. ...I seem to recall, OLD CS1, helping with this somewhat.

 

[mizapf]

Another mind-boggling fact: The diameter of the Moon is 3474 km. My picture of the Moon is 3500 pixels high (in full size), and the Moon just fits in height. Hence, each pixel (near the equator of the Moon) covers almost one square kilometer.

 

(for you milers: Three pixels are almost 2 miles)

 

[GDMike]

1 hour ago, HOME AUTOMATION said:

Au contraire mon frère. Although the launch system is portable, I have made accommodations for a stealth site-launch as well. Though the backwash will definitely leave a signature on the furniture, and walls somewhat. If you study the picture carefully, you will notice that there is no ceiling! the walls merely taper-off at a 45-degree angle, allowing for the height of the rocket and easy escapement.

 

While this building was not specifically constructed for me. I knew it's architect, Bob Scull, well enough to gain access to the blue-prints, ...so many years ago.

 

That was only the design prototype!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

      Hmm. ...I seem to recall, OLD CS1, helping with this somewhat.

 

Hmmm. Was it canned at the last minute like the EAU launch.

Oh my my. 

 

[+OLD CS1]

My last shot-taking of the moon wound up looking something like this.

 

[wierd_w]

So, what you are trying to suggest, is that people often try to sit on your face?

[+OLD CS1]

14 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

So, what you are trying to suggest, is that people often try to sit on your face?

Chicks just cannot resist a super-villain.

[wierd_w]

2 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Chicks just cannot resist a super-villain.

Of course they can't.  I am truly sorry to hear that your birthday party got crashed like that though. (and by the caterers no less) Maybe next year.

Edited August 31, 2020 by wierd_w

[+OLD CS1]

Just now, wierd_w said:

Of course they can't.  I am truly sorry to hear that your birthday party got crashed like that though.  Maybe next year.

There is always next year.  I just need better guests than a spectacular menagerie of career wrong-doers.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

10 hours ago, GDMike said:

Hmmm. Was it canned at the last minute like the EAU launch.

Oh my my. 

 

 

    Hmmm, more like decanned at the last minute ...for lunch.

 

   

 

BTW, no pork 'n beans... I am a vegetarian... unless a feisty Salmon tries to walk past.

 

[GDMike]

TEXAS LOTTO JACKPOT CLIMBS TO $36.75M, LARGEST PRIZE IN MORE THAN A DECADE

Hmmm... This could buy a few cans

Edited September 1, 2020 by GDMike

[GDMike]

Three mathematicians have resolved a fundamental question about straight paths on the 12-sided Platonic solid

1 that ant really needs to be squashed first

hmmm... Looks like we need a game made!

https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematicians-report-new-discovery-about-the-dodecahedron-20200831/

Edited September 1, 2020 by GDMike

[Omega-TI]

22 hours ago, mizapf said:

This is my best shot of the moon. However, I used a telescope (Meade LX 50) and connected a DSLR of a colleague. This is already 13 years ago (December 2007); I guess it's about time to try again.

 

The telescope acted as the lens of the camera, as such, it has a focus length of 2000mm and with an aperture of 203mm, it is a f/10.

Wow, I don't think I'll be able to get anything near this nice with my low end lens.

[mizapf]

This is a very interesting clip on Youtube that I recently found:

 

 

This video shows that optimal results are a matter of patience and the appropriate tools. Take e.g. Mars, which is just a disappointing red blob unless the seeing is extremely good. Again, by stacking lots of shots, you get much better results. I think this video clip is very encouraging!

[mizapf]

BTW, this is the telescope that I used. (I also have another one, a LX200.)

 

When I bought it, the dealer told me that this is surely an investment that will last for a long time. Last summer I noticed that the declination motor failed (the motor which turns the blue tube inside the fork), and shortly after I had to learn that Meade Instruments (founded 1972) was sold to a Chinese manufacturer in 2013.

 

Update: Just read in the English Wikipedia: In November 2019, Meade Telescopes lost a lawsuit against Orion Telescopes and Binoculars for price fixing and anti-competitive practices costing Meade an estimated 20 million dollars in settlement. Meade shortly after declared bankruptcy.

 

The only dealer in Germany who had Meade components could not help me with replacement parts any longer. Luckily, I was able to find out that a tantal capacitor had a short circuit, and after replacing it, the declination motor works again.

 

So much for "long-lasting investment".