Hobbies

[nalkin]

Originally Posted by mgellan [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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What program did you use to process that picture? What kind of camera/ccd do you have? And what type of scopes are they? Both on a motorized mount?

[mgellan]

Originally Posted by nalkin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

What program did you use to process that picture? What kind of camera/ccd do you have? And what type of scopes are they? Both on a motorized mount?

I use Nebulosity from Stark labs with a Canon XTi for one shot color and a Meade DSI Pro II for mono (generally photometry because it has linear response, which is important in measuring the brightnesses of stars - in photometry you measure the relative brightnesses of stars in a frame to determine the brightness of a variable star/asteroid to generate a light curve that tells you lots about the star's intrinsic characteristics etc.) The 8" is the workhorse for photography, its a Celestron 8" on an ASGT (goto) mount. There's an 80mm refracter mounted on top of the scope with a Meade DSI Pro for autoguiding using PHD Guiding, also from Stark. The mount isn't all that precise so I have some software from Cyanogen on the observatory computer called MaxPoint that corrects positioning info from a model of the errors that the mount has so GOTO is pretty precise, which is critical when doing photometry since one starfield looks much like another until you learn it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's a pic of my shed with a rolloff roof, with the scope visible. This was before I mounted the 80mm. You can see the hotbox I run the computer in (with a heater, it gets to -40C here in the winter, and I've learned computers don't work well when it's that cold! Then again neither do I - the computer is on the house wireless so I run the scope via VNC in the winter and when the skeeters are really bad in the summer)

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The 12" is a Meade Lightbridge that I use for visual stuff at dark sites - really nice scope. Here's a pic of me rolling it around on a custom cart at a Star Party.

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The Meade is getting remounted on a less heavy mount with new bearings so I can mount a Meade Autostar setup with DS motors to make the scope GOTO and track.

Regards,
Mg

[Zxar]

Disc golf

[Qaedain]

Bodybuilding (coming up on 2.5 years), computers, smartphones, D&D, autos, craft beer.

[Omnimorph]

Runners shatter the nature of what zombies are. The fear supposedly instilled from zombies, isn't that a single zombie will catch you, over power you or any of that. It's that the sheer volume of them, will eventually get you. Lure you into a false sense of security with their slow movements, and before you know it, you're surrounded etc.

I like horror films... and any sports. I'll watch practically anything that can be bet on!

[Lagaidh]

I'm a numistmatist with a focus on three-cent nickels, MS silver Washington quarters, world silver and MS Lincoln wheat cents.

I play with and collect guitars. I'm best at blues but love neoclassical shredding; I've just never made that 100% click. I can squeak out a little classical too.

I follow professional boxing (one of the three fans left) and MLB.

[Harrison]

Last night I made a 30 mile bike trip, which was to a nearby city, and back. (15 there, and 15 back) Edited: I don't need some inbred mouthbreather to misconstrue what I meant and try to turn this into some fagtastic flame war.

Oh, I also watch MMA. (someone mentioned boxing above and it reminded me)

[Tallenn]

motorcycling, shooting, reading, oh, and definitely forum surfing.

[toddfx]

I love tinkering with software and technology. I enjoy testing anything that is new and rediscovering things that are old. I like finding the limits of what is possible with software and hardware, and finding ways to make things work in unison. The term "exploiting" comes to mind.

Growing up my major hobby was digital art: photoshopping, 3D modeling, 3D animating, etc. That has turned into a career though so it's sort of fallen by the wayside as a hobby.

[azeth]

Originally Posted by toddfx [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I love tinkering with software and technology. I enjoy testing anything that is new and rediscovering things that are old. I like finding the limits of what is possible with software and hardware, and finding ways to make things work in unison. The term "exploiting" comes to mind.

Growing up my major hobby was digital art: photoshopping, 3D modeling, 3D animating, etc. That has turned into a career though so it's sort of fallen by the wayside as a hobby.

thumbs up. i was also lucky enough to turn my hobby (daytrading) into a career.