My first deep sky image using the scopes on the iTelescope remote network. The images were taken over two days on the T14 and T20 scopes in New Mexico. Both scopes use the same Takahashi 106mm refractor and SBIG camera. The great thing about the remote iTelescope network – apart from the obvious dark and clear skies in places like New Mexico and Siding Spring, is that the raw FITS files you receive are…
I’m Back….I think!
It’s been a while since I last posted. The weather here has just been terrible and to be honest I have given up on trying to do Astronomy here in Cornwall. Since my last post I have given variable star observing a go using the remote telescope network in the US. Yes, it’s expensive at about one US dollar a minute, but if added up what I have spent on my observatory over the…
Dairy Doors
Today is dairy door day, but first we had to make the door frames. These were made from 50x 100mm tanalised timber which were bolted into the granite blocks behind with expanding bolts. These were a pain and I now regret not using ‘Thunderbolts’ as these just thread their way into the block just like a woodscrew. To prevent water getting into the dairy, I used a row of brick blocks to form a…
The Beast from the East
The Beast from the East was forecast to hit by lunchtime on Wednesday and on cue, it did. Here it comes….. The forecast was for temperatures to fall to -1C, but we had -5.5C by late evening and the lowest recorded was -10C….Brrrrr. I did venture out and have never experienced high winds coupled with such low temperatures at the same time.
The MkII Bird Feeder.
Mk1 Bird Feeder With the Deluxe MKI bird feeder destroyed during a storm, we decided on one last attempt and resurrecting the ultimate and bomb proof bird feeder, using as many of the original components as possible. First we had to dismantle the MkI. That wasn’t too difficult as it fell apart as the slightest knock. With everything broken down we could then decided how large the new structure could be once we had…
The Dairy Workshop.
We were supposed to have started work on the workshop over the Christmas break, but never seemed to get round to starting. However, with New Year well out of the way and a little bit of settled weather, we got going. First in were the uprights. They are bolted to the roof beams at the top and the wall at the bottom. With not a single flat or straight surface, all we had to…