Jim,

They're not bad at all out my way, during the day there are a few blackflies
but so far mozzies are not up to last years levels.


-Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Hayko <jim.hayko@...>
To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003 4:05 PM
Subject: [OAFs] Mike/Pat/Other Rurals - How are the skeeters out there?


>It's been a wet spring - just wondering what the population of our
>national bird (mosquito) is looking like out your way?
>thnx
>-j.
>
>
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Rol,
The animation is a great idea.

Richard,
I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a sequence
to Mike Earl.

Cheers,
Albert.

--- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...> wrote:
> My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you have
just
> the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
somehow
> make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
great!
> Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3 rows
of
> 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
>
> However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit of
a
> hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
that's
> what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I has
> expected.  Nice sequence!
>
> Rol

We have a paltry number of mozzies this year on our rural property in
Spencerville.  Minor blackfly numbers, but their level of interest also seems to
be down and not much attempt at biting.
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Mike Wirths
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:29 AM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Mike/Pat/Other Rurals - How are the skeeters out there?


   Jim,

   They're not bad at all out my way, during the day there are a few blackflies
   but so far mozzies are not up to last years levels.


   -Mike
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Jim Hayko <jim.hayko@...>
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
   Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003 4:05 PM
   Subject: [OAFs] Mike/Pat/Other Rurals - How are the skeeters out there?


   >It's been a wet spring - just wondering what the population of our
   >national bird (mosquito) is looking like out your way?
   >thnx
   >-j.
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
   >
   >



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80 shots for no
particular reason other than they were picked at various stages.  Would you like
some of the others to make the sequence smoother?
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Albert Saikaley
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


   Rol,
   The animation is a great idea.

   Richard,
   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a sequence
   to Mike Earl.

   Cheers,
   Albert.

   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...> wrote:
   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you have
   just
   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
   somehow
   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
   great!
   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3 rows
   of
   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
   >
   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit of
   a
   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
   that's
   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I has
   > expected.  Nice sequence!
   >
   > Rol


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Ricard,
The more the merrier.  However it's gonna to be tough over email or
the web.  Any chance of you dropping off a CD or bring your laptop
here some night on the way home?

Cheers,
Albert.

--- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Harding" <harding1@s...> wrote:
> Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80
shots for no particular reason other than they were picked at
various stages.  Would you like some of the others to make the
sequence smoother?
> Richard
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Albert Saikaley
>   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
>   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
>
>
>   Rol,
>   The animation is a great idea.
>
>   Richard,
>   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a
sequence
>   to Mike Earl.
>
>   Cheers,
>   Albert.
>
>   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...>
wrote:
>   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you
have
>   just
>   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
>   somehow
>   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
>   great!
>   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3
rows
>   of
>   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
>   >
>   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit
of
>   a
>   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
>   that's
>   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I
has
>   > expected.  Nice sequence!
>   >
>   > Rol
>
>
>         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
>
>
>   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I can burn the other images onto a disc and drop it off tomorrow.  It might be
during the day, so where would I leave it?
Richard

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Albert Saikaley
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:27 AM
   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


   Ricard,
   The more the merrier.  However it's gonna to be tough over email or
   the web.  Any chance of you dropping off a CD or bring your laptop
   here some night on the way home?

   Cheers,
   Albert.

   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Harding" <harding1@s...> wrote:
   > Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80
   shots for no particular reason other than they were picked at
   various stages.  Would you like some of the others to make the
   sequence smoother?
   > Richard
   >   ----- Original Message -----
   >   From: Albert Saikaley
   >   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   >   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
   >   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
   >
   >
   >   Rol,
   >   The animation is a great idea.
   >
   >   Richard,
   >   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a
   sequence
   >   to Mike Earl.
   >
   >   Cheers,
   >   Albert.
   >
   >   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...>
   wrote:
   >   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you
   have
   >   just
   >   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
   >   somehow
   >   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
   >   great!
   >   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3
   rows
   >   of
   >   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
   >   >
   >   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit
   of
   >   a
   >   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
   >   that's
   >   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I
   has
   >   > expected.  Nice sequence!
   >   >
   >   > Rol
   >
   >
   >         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
   >
   >
   >
   >   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
   Service.
   >
   >
   > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Richard,
Lynn will be home until  2PM , drop it in the mailbox anytime after.

Cheers,
Albert.



-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Harding [mailto:harding1@...]
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:43 AM
To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse

I can burn the other images onto a disc and drop it off tomorrow.  It might
be during the day, so where would I leave it?
Richard

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Albert Saikaley
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:27 AM
   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


   Ricard,
   The more the merrier.  However it's gonna to be tough over email or
   the web.  Any chance of you dropping off a CD or bring your laptop
   here some night on the way home?

   Cheers,
   Albert.

   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Harding" <harding1@s...> wrote:
   > Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80
   shots for no particular reason other than they were picked at
   various stages.  Would you like some of the others to make the
   sequence smoother?
   > Richard
   >   ----- Original Message -----
   >   From: Albert Saikaley
   >   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   >   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
   >   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
   >
   >
   >   Rol,
   >   The animation is a great idea.
   >
   >   Richard,
   >   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a
   sequence
   >   to Mike Earl.
   >
   >   Cheers,
   >   Albert.
   >
   >   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...>
   wrote:
   >   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you
   have
   >   just
   >   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
   >   somehow
   >   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
   >   great!
   >   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3
   rows
   >   of
   >   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
   >   >
   >   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit
   of
   >   a
   >   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
   >   that's
   >   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I
   has
   >   > expected.  Nice sequence!
   >   >
   >   > Rol
   >
   >
   >         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
   >
   >
   >
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   Service.
   >
   >
   > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information.  If you
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

  I promised some more details about last wed nights hijinks. Since binoviewing
seems to be gaining popularity and with the entry of Denkmeir into the fray
things have become pretty interesting! I thought it might be cool to A/B some of
the major contenders, the Denk, the AP/Baader, and the televue. I had the 2" OCS
which allows newtonians to do low power viewing (1.2X mag) so Ziggy agreed to
bring his Mark 1 Denkmeirs (I'm still waiting for my Denmeir 2's to get here)
Attilla would bring his Ap/Baader unit and Terry Dickinson would bring his new
Televue unit (although I suspect he mainly wanted to observe with the 30").
  1st we observed for a while using the 2" OCS and Ziggys 1st generation Denk,
before had Attilla checked out the faint ic galaxy near M13 with a 17mm Nagler
and did not see it, but with the Denk and 2 , 24m Pans we were able to see it!
The FOV was pretty similar to the view in a 17mm Nagler, this is very sweet
since thats the ep we do a lot of our low-lowmid power observing!! After trying
out the low power binoview combo on a few more objects (M51, M57, Ngc4565) and
getting some mutterings of expletives we got down to comparing the views in the
different setups.
While all this was going on the Aurora was starting to flare up quite nicely, so
Terry D occasionally truddled off to get some snaps of this event with his Canon
10D, Ziggy and I were entralled with the gorgeous images he was getting but
Attilla eventually stepped in to admonish us for looking at LCD displays and
ignoring real time observing with a 30" scope!! We all laughed and got back to
observing! We agreed that a good test of the various binoviews would be an
object that was on the edge of detectability, so we picked the faint little ic
galaxy near M57 (IC 1296). The view of M57 through both the Baader unit and the
Televue was so close as to be indistinguishable, we wanted the comparison to be
fair so to keep the magnifications the same in the Denk Attilla brought some
high power Zeiss eps to even it up. All 3 showed the little IC galaxy, Attilla
and Terry though the Denk showed slightly out of focus stars in each eye but
neither Ziggy or I were sure of this effect. It could be because with the Denk
unit eps are "friction fit" and that they were not quite in evenly, to be fair
the seeing was only so-so and downright poor at times. The new 2nd generation
Denk  have enhanced coatings and separate focus for each eye along with a
locking ep ring, the new unit is $799 US versus $499 US for the old one. Once I
get my unit we will have to compare again to see if the extra $ is worth it. It
was good to see the Denk holding its own against the much more expensive units,
when we get Mars better situated we will have to A/B them again to see how they
fare with high power planetary viewing. The Denk OCS unit can be configured for
either low power or for high power viewing whereas the other 2 are strictly for
high power.
So until I get my new unit, this will be continued!!

http://deepskybinoviewer.com/

ni

Piz


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Good stuff Richard! You might be one of the few in our area that caught
somes images of it! An animated gif would be cool to see at the meeting! If
you did'nt have high clouds you would have had much more contrast but I'd
say be happy with what ya got!

-Piz
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Harding <harding1@...>
To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


>I can burn the other images onto a disc and drop it off tomorrow.  It might
be during the day, so where would I leave it?
>Richard
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Albert Saikaley
>  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
>  Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:27 AM
>  Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
>
>
>  Ricard,
>  The more the merrier.  However it's gonna to be tough over email or
>  the web.  Any chance of you dropping off a CD or bring your laptop
>  here some night on the way home?
>
>  Cheers,
>  Albert.
>
>  --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Harding" <harding1@s...> wrote:
>  > Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80
>  shots for no particular reason other than they were picked at
>  various stages.  Would you like some of the others to make the
>  sequence smoother?
>  > Richard
>  >   ----- Original Message -----
>  >   From: Albert Saikaley
>  >   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
>  >   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
>  >   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
>  >
>  >
>  >   Rol,
>  >   The animation is a great idea.
>  >
>  >   Richard,
>  >   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a
>  sequence
>  >   to Mike Earl.
>  >
>  >   Cheers,
>  >   Albert.
>  >
>  >   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...>
>  wrote:
>  >   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you
>  have
>  >   just
>  >   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
>  >   somehow
>  >   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
>  >   great!
>  >   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3
>  rows
>  >   of
>  >   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
>  >   >
>  >   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit
>  of
>  >   a
>  >   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
>  >   that's
>  >   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I
>  has
>  >   > expected.  Nice sequence!
>  >   >
>  >   > Rol
>  >
>  >
>  >         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
>  Service.
>  >
>  >
>  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>              ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Thanks Mike!  Yes, the conditions were not ideal for sure!  I enjoyed your
bino-viewer post.  I have been snooping around the idea of getting into
bino-viewing.  Maybe we can talk tonight!
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Mike Wirths
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 11:06 AM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


   Good stuff Richard! You might be one of the few in our area that caught
   somes images of it! An animated gif would be cool to see at the meeting! If
   you did'nt have high clouds you would have had much more contrast but I'd
   say be happy with what ya got!

   -Piz
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Richard Harding <harding1@...>
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
   Date: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:43 AM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse


   >I can burn the other images onto a disc and drop it off tomorrow.  It might
   be during the day, so where would I leave it?
   >Richard
   >
   >  ----- Original Message -----
   >  From: Albert Saikaley
   >  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   >  Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 10:27 AM
   >  Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
   >
   >
   >  Ricard,
   >  The more the merrier.  However it's gonna to be tough over email or
   >  the web.  Any chance of you dropping off a CD or bring your laptop
   >  here some night on the way home?
   >
   >  Cheers,
   >  Albert.
   >
   >  --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Harding" <harding1@s...> wrote:
   >  > Hi Alberto!  These 18 are chosen out of a total of about 70 to 80
   >  shots for no particular reason other than they were picked at
   >  various stages.  Would you like some of the others to make the
   >  sequence smoother?
   >  > Richard
   >  >   ----- Original Message -----
   >  >   From: Albert Saikaley
   >  >   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   >  >   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:33 AM
   >  >   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Lunar Eclipse
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >   Rol,
   >  >   The animation is a great idea.
   >  >
   >  >   Richard,
   >  >   I'll have a stab at the animation and send either it or a
   >  sequence
   >  >   to Mike Earl.
   >  >
   >  >   Cheers,
   >  >   Albert.
   >  >
   >  >   --- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "roland_prevost" <r.prevost@r...>
   >  wrote:
   >  >   > My favourite, strangely enough, is your eclipse18 where you
   >  have
   >  >   just
   >  >   > the tiniest sliver of the moon left.  I wish that you could
   >  >   somehow
   >  >   > make an animated sequence out of your images as it would look
   >  >   great!
   >  >   > Or, I wonder if there's any way to print all 18 images in 3
   >  rows
   >  >   of
   >  >   > 6?  That too would be a great sequence to look at.
   >  >   >
   >  >   > However these are good images as they are.  There's even a bit
   >  of
   >  >   a
   >  >   > hint of haze, giving the moon a kind of "spooky" look.  Yup,
   >  >   that's
   >  >   > what I saw in the scope - with not much of the red tinges I
   >  has
   >  >   > expected.  Nice sequence!
   >  >   >
   >  >   > Rol
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
   >  Service.
   >  >
   >  >
   >  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Richard,

It is interesting that you were able to see the eclipse, although  hazy,
while in North Augusta (15 miles east of Spencerville) we saw only the
beginning and then the clouds covered it completely.

Bob

Nice report Piz,


>Attilla and Terry though the Denk showed slightly out of focus stars in each
eye

I think you meant to write "slightly out of focus in one eye". Which would be
correctable by slightly moving one eyepiece. Which is hard to do in the Denk 1,
but
should be easy in the Denk 2.

It was a wonderful night. Thanks very much.

I agree that we didnt see any differences in the binoviewers when
tested on deep sky objects. But I now think that perhasps we chose
too bright a test galaxy. IC4617 is the right brightness for a 25" but
too easy in a 30".

We should repeat the experiemnt, and prehaps use IC4278 and IC4277
(the two 16th mag galaxies near M51). Actually, I'm still not expecting
to see a difference on galaxies between various binoviews. I just think
it would be fun to repeat the experiment.

-ad

Hi Bob.  "See" is a relative thing!  Even when looked through binos, the view
was NOT as good as the camera captured (as poor as the images are).  I did not
get the "back-side" of the eclipse because the sky got worse, and the "OPP and
gunshots" closed me down.
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Bob Olson
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 11:44 AM
   Subject: [OAFs] Lunar Eclipse


   Hi Richard,

   It is interesting that you were able to see the eclipse, although  hazy,
   while in North Augusta (15 miles east of Spencerville) we saw only the
   beginning and then the clouds covered it completely.

   Bob



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

BTW Pizzle....what time this evening?
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Mike Wirths
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 1:55 PM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night


   Yesss!

   Well PPPP is open for fun then Sun night, any takers?


   BTW --Attilla, this just posted this AM by Carl Zambuto on the yahoogroup,
   just FYI:

   Okay, okay, I just realized what I did. I put a carrot out there we
   haven't delivered.

   Actually I had forgotten about it, we meant to do this already. We
   can now make a preliminary announcement on 24" mirrors. We
   have successfully completed two more 24" mirrors to our criteria
   for a total of five to date (we have one more to complete for Herb
   York, then our commitments are fulfilled). The 24'ers are coming
   in with amazing tolerances, such as that would make even Doug
   Walton drool <G>. Rick was trying hard to not mumble when he
   was giving me the field test report on the last one. He doesn't
   use expletives any longer because he's so used to our product,
   but I heard tones in his voice and stammering indicating he was
   rather amazed (yes, I was very pleased to hear that because he
   doesn't impress easily any more). It appears we are indeed
   going to be able to do 24" mirrors, and will be offering them on a
   limited basis in the near future.

   Here's how it will work. Rick will not be taking deposits for them,
   because of how long it took us to get these first mirrors out. We
   don't wish to be obligated to a customer for so long a period of
   time as we have been on these, in the past. So we will be doing
   them as we can, when we can. When one comes up and is
   available, Rick will go to his list and make a call. We will take the
   list in order as folks have signed up.

   So yes, at this point I believe it is okay to call Starmaster and say
   that one wants to get on a list for a 24" Z-Starmaster. There is no
   deposit required, so that we have no obligation whatsoever,
   other than to say, "when we get one done and its available we'll
   call you in the order of the list". Right now the list is very short, so
   those who get on now will be on the ground floor.

   CZ

   -----Original Message-----
   From: attilladanko <danko@...>
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
   Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003 3:14 AM
   Subject: [OAFs] Sunday night


   >Looks like we'll have a sky sunday night. Woo Hoo.
   >
   >Photons. I need photons.
   >
   >-ad
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
   >
   >



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Richard,

How about 8:30-9:00, Sun night its feed the Mother in Law night for me, so
yeah anytime around there!


--Piz
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Harding <harding1@...>
To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 01, 2003 4:30 PM
Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night


>BTW Pizzle....what time this evening?
>Richard
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Mike Wirths
>  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
>  Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 1:55 PM
>  Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night
>
>
>  Yesss!
>
>  Well PPPP is open for fun then Sun night, any takers?
>
>
>  BTW --Attilla, this just posted this AM by Carl Zambuto on the
yahoogroup,
>  just FYI:
>
>  Okay, okay, I just realized what I did. I put a carrot out there we
>  haven't delivered.
>
>  Actually I had forgotten about it, we meant to do this already. We
>  can now make a preliminary announcement on 24" mirrors. We
>  have successfully completed two more 24" mirrors to our criteria
>  for a total of five to date (we have one more to complete for Herb
>  York, then our commitments are fulfilled). The 24'ers are coming
>  in with amazing tolerances, such as that would make even Doug
>  Walton drool <G>. Rick was trying hard to not mumble when he
>  was giving me the field test report on the last one. He doesn't
>  use expletives any longer because he's so used to our product,
>  but I heard tones in his voice and stammering indicating he was
>  rather amazed (yes, I was very pleased to hear that because he
>  doesn't impress easily any more). It appears we are indeed
>  going to be able to do 24" mirrors, and will be offering them on a
>  limited basis in the near future.
>
>  Here's how it will work. Rick will not be taking deposits for them,
>  because of how long it took us to get these first mirrors out. We
>  don't wish to be obligated to a customer for so long a period of
>  time as we have been on these, in the past. So we will be doing
>  them as we can, when we can. When one comes up and is
>  available, Rick will go to his list and make a call. We will take the
>  list in order as folks have signed up.
>
>  So yes, at this point I believe it is okay to call Starmaster and say
>  that one wants to get on a list for a 24" Z-Starmaster. There is no
>  deposit required, so that we have no obligation whatsoever,
>  other than to say, "when we get one done and its available we'll
>  call you in the order of the list". Right now the list is very short, so
>  those who get on now will be on the ground floor.
>
>  CZ
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: attilladanko <danko@...>
>  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
>  Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003 3:14 AM
>  Subject: [OAFs] Sunday night
>
>
>  >Looks like we'll have a sky sunday night. Woo Hoo.
>  >
>  >Photons. I need photons.
>  >
>  >-ad
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>  >
>  >
>
>
>
>        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>              ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

8:30 it is!!
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Mike Wirths
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 5:11 PM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night


   Richard,

   How about 8:30-9:00, Sun night its feed the Mother in Law night for me, so
   yeah anytime around there!


   --Piz
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Richard Harding <harding1@...>
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
   Date: Sunday, June 01, 2003 4:30 PM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night


   >BTW Pizzle....what time this evening?
   >Richard
   >  ----- Original Message -----
   >  From: Mike Wirths
   >  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   >  Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 1:55 PM
   >  Subject: Re: [OAFs] Sunday night
   >
   >
   >  Yesss!
   >
   >  Well PPPP is open for fun then Sun night, any takers?
   >
   >
   >  BTW --Attilla, this just posted this AM by Carl Zambuto on the
   yahoogroup,
   >  just FYI:
   >
   >  Okay, okay, I just realized what I did. I put a carrot out there we
   >  haven't delivered.
   >
   >  Actually I had forgotten about it, we meant to do this already. We
   >  can now make a preliminary announcement on 24" mirrors. We
   >  have successfully completed two more 24" mirrors to our criteria
   >  for a total of five to date (we have one more to complete for Herb
   >  York, then our commitments are fulfilled). The 24'ers are coming
   >  in with amazing tolerances, such as that would make even Doug
   >  Walton drool <G>. Rick was trying hard to not mumble when he
   >  was giving me the field test report on the last one. He doesn't
   >  use expletives any longer because he's so used to our product,
   >  but I heard tones in his voice and stammering indicating he was
   >  rather amazed (yes, I was very pleased to hear that because he
   >  doesn't impress easily any more). It appears we are indeed
   >  going to be able to do 24" mirrors, and will be offering them on a
   >  limited basis in the near future.
   >
   >  Here's how it will work. Rick will not be taking deposits for them,
   >  because of how long it took us to get these first mirrors out. We
   >  don't wish to be obligated to a customer for so long a period of
   >  time as we have been on these, in the past. So we will be doing
   >  them as we can, when we can. When one comes up and is
   >  available, Rick will go to his list and make a call. We will take the
   >  list in order as folks have signed up.
   >
   >  So yes, at this point I believe it is okay to call Starmaster and say
   >  that one wants to get on a list for a 24" Z-Starmaster. There is no
   >  deposit required, so that we have no obligation whatsoever,
   >  other than to say, "when we get one done and its available we'll
   >  call you in the order of the list". Right now the list is very short, so
   >  those who get on now will be on the ground floor.
   >
   >  CZ
   >
   >  -----Original Message-----
   >  From: attilladanko <danko@...>
   >  To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>
   >  Date: Saturday, May 31, 2003 3:14 AM
   >  Subject: [OAFs] Sunday night
   >
   >
   >  >Looks like we'll have a sky sunday night. Woo Hoo.
   >  >
   >  >Photons. I need photons.
   >  >
   >  >-ad
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >
   >  >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
   http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
   >  >
   >  >
   >
   >
   >
   >        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
   >              ADVERTISEMENT
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
   >
   >
   >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
   >
   >
   >
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   >
   >



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Pizzle (and all),

Thanks for the report.

Note that the SCD (self-centering diopter) eyepiece holders are optional for the
Denk's - $75 for 1 or $120 for 2 (I've ordered two).  The standard eyepieces do
not have the diopter adjust, but do "self center" and are a compression fit
rather than a set screw.

I see that Jim Gutmann on the binoviewers y! group received his Denk-2's late
last week, I don't know when you got on the list/made a deposit but I was
mid-January/mid-February and on the whole I doubt I'll see them before next new
moon (cloudy/rainy July anyone?).  But by that time the kids' weekend activities
will have ended and so I'll get more time at the cottage with the SM.  I already
have the eyepiece sets...

Jim (and at least one other) has said that the improvement is not subtle.

Clear skies!
Rob (who can't believe the CSC for tonight and going forward - I've got to try
to get out!)

P.S. I'm going to be bringing my 6mm radian to the swap table at the RASC this
Friday - anyoaf interested before I throw it open to offers?  I'm asking $300. 
(Hey, and while I'm at it - anyone with time on their hands interested in an old
inkjet or an old scanner?  Just email me directly 'cause it's definitely off
topic)

Mike Wirths wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>  I promised some more details about last wed nights hijinks. Since binoviewing
seems to be gaining popularity and with the entry of Denkmeir into the fray
things have become pretty interesting! I thought it might be cool to A/B some of
the major contenders, the Denk, the AP/Baader, and the televue. I had the 2" OCS
which allows newtonians to do low power viewing (1.2X mag) so Ziggy agreed to
bring his Mark 1 Denkmeirs (I'm still waiting for my Denmeir 2's to get here)
Attilla would bring his Ap/Baader unit and Terry Dickinson would bring his new
Televue unit (although I suspect he mainly wanted to observe with the 30").
>  1st we observed for a while using the 2" OCS and Ziggys 1st generation Denk,
before had Attilla checked out the faint ic galaxy near M13 with a 17mm Nagler
and did not see it, but with the Denk and 2 , 24m Pans we were able to see it!
> The FOV was pretty similar to the view in a 17mm Nagler, this is very sweet
since thats the ep we do a lot of our low-lowmid power observing!! After trying
out the low power binoview combo on a few more objects (M51, M57, Ngc4565) and
getting some mutterings of expletives we got down to comparing the views in the
different setups.
> While all this was going on the Aurora was starting to flare up quite nicely,
so Terry D occasionally truddled off to get some snaps of this event with his
Canon 10D, Ziggy and I were entralled with the gorgeous images he was getting
but Attilla eventually stepped in to admonish us for looking at LCD displays and
ignoring real time observing with a 30" scope!! We all laughed and got back to
observing! We agreed that a good test of the various binoviews would be an
object that was on the edge of detectability, so we picked the faint little ic
galaxy near M57 (IC 1296). The view of M57 through both the Baader unit and the
Televue was so close as to be indistinguishable, we wanted the comparison to be
fair so to keep the magnifications the same in the Denk Attilla brought some
high power Zeiss eps to even it up. All 3 showed the little IC galaxy, Attilla
and Terry though the Denk showed slightly out of focus stars in each eye but
neither Ziggy or I were sure of this effect. It !
>  could be because with the Denk uni
> t eps are "friction fit" and that they were not quite in evenly, to be fair
the seeing was only so-so and downright poor at times. The new 2nd generation
Denk  have enhanced coatings and separate focus for each eye along with a
locking ep ring, the new unit is $799 US versus $499 US for the old one. Once I
get my unit we will have to compare again to see if the extra $ is worth it. It
was good to see the Denk holding its own against the much more expensive units,
when we get Mars better situated we will have to A/B them again to see how they
fare with high power planetary viewing. The Denk OCS unit can be configured for
either low power or for high power viewing whereas the other 2 are strictly for
high power.
> So until I get my new unit, this will be continued!!
>
> http://deepskybinoviewer.com/
>
> ni
>
> Piz
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi folks,

My family went up to Nirvana (Irvine Lake Airstrip) near Bon Echo overnight for
some binocular observing with 18x50's.  We observed Messiers, Aurora, and what
appeared to be a mighty big meteor (please read description & my request for
help to understand what my family saw below).

The area was quiet, except for insanely persistent whippoorwills at dusk and
dawn, and 10 minutes of wild howling canines around midnight.  Black Flies were
abundant until dusk, when a few mosquitoes tried to brave the fast dropping
temperature then gave up.

We had a very interesting evening of observing messiers (3, 4, 5, 8, 20, 21, 51,
101, 13, 103, 52, 27).  The condensation of our breath on the binocular
eyepieces in the 0deg temperature slowed us down quite a bit.

The Aurora was causing some washout at various times, particularly around 3am at
what appeared to be the peak covering NW to E, up to about 45 deg elevation.

Being pretty new to astronomy, I need lots of feedback on something I saw last
evening at Nirvana. I'll try to describe it as detailed as possible:


At 10:32 PM June 1, while checking my finder scope aim on Jupiter, I saw what I
"think" was a large & close meteor.  The 3 of us noticed it with naked eye, when
it came into our field of view.  It traversed right between Jupiter and the head
star of Leo (Ras Elased Australis) moving from the 2 o'clock to the 8 o'clock
positions (to describe the angle).  What surprised me was the size & detail:

This object was a 1/2 degree diameter ball (no exaggeration) with a 5 degree
long tail.  The ball was clearly round in shape, orange in color with glowing
dark spots on the surface (like an ember in a fireplace).  The ball was clearly
on fire, and the flames formed a yellow/white tail.  The object did not appear
to be moving very quickly.  I've seen shooting stars come and go but this thing
moved a lot slower:  It took about 5 seconds to move about 30 deg.

It seemed pretty close, I didn't hear anything ... but my wife Sandra thinks she
heard a hissing sound as it passed.  After it went behind the trees, we half
expected a "bang", but heard nothing.  This suggested to our "inexperienced
selves" that it was not close but further away and really large.

This was the brightest thing in the sky as it passed.  If someone had a large
campfire going 300 feet away the brightness & color would be the same.

Did anyone else see this last night?  From your experience, was this a close
encounter with a meteor? How rare would you classify a sighting of an meteor
ball 1/2 deg diameter?  It was truly magnificent, my family would much
appreciate any help in understanding better what we saw.

Best Regards,

Ross Taylor



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ross,

Wow!!  That's quite the fireball you observed.   You should report your
observations to:

http://dsaing.uqac.uquebec.ca/~mhiggins/MIAC/fireball.htm


I'm glad you took advantage of a nice night to observe at Nirvana.  I really
enjoyed your report.  I'm sure that the bug-gods will not be so kind next
new moon.

Cheers,
Albert.

-----Original Message-----
From: The Taylor Family [mailto:rvtaylor@...]
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 1:29 PM
To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com; oaog@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [OAFs] Nirvana Observing Report June 1, and Question regarding
apparent close sighting of meteor

Hi folks,

My family went up to Nirvana (Irvine Lake Airstrip) near Bon Echo overnight
for some binocular observing with 18x50's.  We observed Messiers, Aurora,
and what appeared to be a mighty big meteor (please read description & my
request for help to understand what my family saw below).

The area was quiet, except for insanely persistent whippoorwills at dusk and
dawn, and 10 minutes of wild howling canines around midnight.  Black Flies
were abundant until dusk, when a few mosquitoes tried to brave the fast
dropping temperature then gave up.

We had a very interesting evening of observing messiers (3, 4, 5, 8, 20, 21,
51, 101, 13, 103, 52, 27).  The condensation of our breath on the binocular
eyepieces in the 0deg temperature slowed us down quite a bit.

The Aurora was causing some washout at various times, particularly around
3am at what appeared to be the peak covering NW to E, up to about 45 deg
elevation.

Being pretty new to astronomy, I need lots of feedback on something I saw
last evening at Nirvana. I'll try to describe it as detailed as possible:


At 10:32 PM June 1, while checking my finder scope aim on Jupiter, I saw
what I "think" was a large & close meteor.  The 3 of us noticed it with
naked eye, when it came into our field of view.  It traversed right between
Jupiter and the head star of Leo (Ras Elased Australis) moving from the 2
o'clock to the 8 o'clock positions (to describe the angle).  What surprised
me was the size & detail:

This object was a 1/2 degree diameter ball (no exaggeration) with a 5 degree
long tail.  The ball was clearly round in shape, orange in color with
glowing dark spots on the surface (like an ember in a fireplace).  The ball
was clearly on fire, and the flames formed a yellow/white tail.  The object
did not appear to be moving very quickly.  I've seen shooting stars come and
go but this thing moved a lot slower:  It took about 5 seconds to move about
30 deg.

It seemed pretty close, I didn't hear anything ... but my wife Sandra thinks
she heard a hissing sound as it passed.  After it went behind the trees, we
half expected a "bang", but heard nothing.  This suggested to our
"inexperienced selves" that it was not close but further away and really
large.

This was the brightest thing in the sky as it passed.  If someone had a
large campfire going 300 feet away the brightness & color would be the same.

Did anyone else see this last night?  From your experience, was this a close
encounter with a meteor? How rare would you classify a sighting of an meteor
ball 1/2 deg diameter?  It was truly magnificent, my family would much
appreciate any help in understanding better what we saw.

Best Regards,

Ross Taylor



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information.  If you
have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you
may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do not open any
attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender
promptly by e-mail that you have done so.  Thank you.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Last nights adventure was trying to capture NGC 5033.  It turned out that
this galaxy is extremely faint so I think the result will be very
under-whelming.  Nevertheless, I noticed that I had great focus from
22:30-00:30 then things went south.   I suspect it was due to the
temperature dropping but would like data to support this.  Where can I get
temperature readings that are taken every few minutes?  My robotic focuser
can be calibrated for automagically compensate so I'm thinking about
calibrating it.

Thanks,
Albert.

This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information.  If you
have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you
may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do not open any
attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender
promptly by e-mail that you have done so.  Thank you.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Albert,

Thanks for your help.  A couple of folks on the OAOG group also saw what they
call an earthgrazer at that time.  I assume that is another name for a fireball
meteor.  I looked up a number of photos on the web of fireballs, many looked
much smaller that what I saw, one looked about right, all had the same general
shape.

I made the report at the link you suggested.

Much Appreciated,

Ross


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mike Wirtz, Attilla Danko and I observed a mag -3 fireball in the west moving
from north to south (a flat tragectory)at Mike's Observatory in Perth.  It was
slow and bright, and quite yellow/orange.  Lots of wows!!  Perhaps it was the
same one?  It would have been closer to you in Nirvana I would believe.
Richard Harding
>
> From: "The Taylor Family" <rvtaylor@...>
> Date: 2003/06/02 Mon PM 01:29:05 EST
> To: <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>,
>  <oaog@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [OAFs] Nirvana Observing Report June 1, and Question regarding
apparent close sighting of meteor
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have Kanata temp readings. Are these what you want?
BobH
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Saikaley, Albert
   To: OAFs (E-mail)
   Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 3:52 PM
   Subject: [OAFs] Temperature and Focus


   Last nights adventure was trying to capture NGC 5033.  It turned out that
   this galaxy is extremely faint so I think the result will be very
   under-whelming.  Nevertheless, I noticed that I had great focus from
   22:30-00:30 then things went south.   I suspect it was due to the
   temperature dropping but would like data to support this.  Where can I get
   temperature readings that are taken every few minutes?  My robotic focuser
   can be calibrated for automagically compensate so I'm thinking about
   calibrating it.

   Thanks,
   Albert.

   This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information.  If you
   have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, you
   may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do not open any
   attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender
   promptly by e-mail that you have done so.  Thank you.


   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Richard,

I am pleased that you got a chance to see that marvelous sight last night.  If
you folks in Perth saw it around 10:30, then it must be the same one.  The
azimuth and trajectory you described is quite similar to what I recall of those
5-6 seconds between noticing it & loosing it behind the trees.

From where I was, it looked huge.  We were able to see lots of detail (i.e.:
flame movement on it's surface and tail). It's certainly a sight I'll never
forget.

Glad it didn't hit ground in Lanark County ;)

Ross Taylor - Carleton Place

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: harding1@...
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 4:51 PM
   Subject: Re: [OAFs] Nirvana Observing Report June 1, and Question regarding
apparent close sighting of meteor


   Mike Wirtz, Attilla Danko and I observed a mag -3 fireball in the west moving
from north to south (a flat tragectory)at Mike's Observatory in Perth.  It was
slow and bright, and quite yellow/orange.  Lots of wows!!  Perhaps it was the
same one?  It would have been closer to you in Nirvana I would believe.
   Richard Harding
   >
   > From: "The Taylor Family" <rvtaylor@...>
   > Date: 2003/06/02 Mon PM 01:29:05 EST
   > To: <OAFs@yahoogroups.com>,
   >       <oaog@yahoogroups.com>
   > Subject: [OAFs] Nirvana Observing Report June 1, and Question regarding
apparent close sighting of meteor
   >
   >


   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

Last night was a fun time, even with well below average transparency, hey at
least we had a sky for a change! The hightlight was that cool fireball, along
with an amazing view of the globular M5. I snapped some pics with the OCS and
the new 10D they looked very promising in the LCD but once I downloaded them the
focus was off a fair bit...rats. Looks like the 2.5 X's magnifier for the
viewfinder is a necessity, I imagine it will be a night or 2 before I get the
hang of the new camera.
  If people feel like treking out to my spot tonight they are welcome to,
although I won't make it a late night perhaps til midnight or so. Anytime around
9:00 or later is fine.
I'll post the out of focus M5 I took in my file area, it is a stack of 5 15 sec
shots at ISO 800-1600

--Piz


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bob,
The airport readings would be better but I'll take what I can get.
Where can I access the data?

Thanks,
Albert.

--- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Hillier" <bobhillier@s...> wrote:
> I have Kanata temp readings. Are these what you want?
> BobH
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Saikaley, Albert
>   To: OAFs (E-mail)
>   Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 3:52 PM
>   Subject: [OAFs] Temperature and Focus
>
>
>   Last nights adventure was trying to capture NGC 5033.  It turned
out that
>   this galaxy is extremely faint so I think the result will be very
>   under-whelming.  Nevertheless, I noticed that I had great focus
from
>   22:30-00:30 then things went south.   I suspect it was due to the
>   temperature dropping but would like data to support this.  Where
can I get
>   temperature readings that are taken every few minutes?  My
robotic focuser
>   can be calibrated for automagically compensate so I'm thinking
about
>   calibrating it.
>
>   Thanks,
>   Albert.
>
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dude,
Spend the money on whatever it takes to tether the new camera a the
computer and not a viewfinder.  Being able to measure your's star's
FWHM is critic to determining proper focus. Eyeballing may get you
close but it is far from perfect.

Cheers,
Albert.

--- In OAFs@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Wirths" <mwirths@s...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Last night was a fun time, even with well below average
transparency, hey at least we had a sky for a change! The hightlight
was that cool fireball, along with an amazing view of the globular
M5. I snapped some pics with the OCS and the new 10D they looked
very promising in the LCD but once I downloaded them the focus was
off a fair bit...rats. Looks like the 2.5 X's magnifier for the
viewfinder is a necessity, I imagine it will be a night or 2 before
I get the hang of the new camera.
>  If people feel like treking out to my spot tonight they are
welcome to, although I won't make it a late night perhaps til
midnight or so. Anytime around 9:00 or later is fine.
> I'll post the out of focus M5 I took in my file area, it is a
stack of 5 15 sec shots at ISO 800-1600
>
> --Piz
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Albert
You could download the WeatherDisplay program from
     http://www.weather-display.com/index.htm
and try it for 30 days. This program can be configured to download the Ottawa
airport metar data every hour and report on your desktop.

You could further go the route I've gone and setup up your own small weather
station. http://www.aagelectronica.com/aag/en-us/front.html You can add
additional thermometers and other 1-wire devices including humidity sensor,
barometer, solar gauge, rain gauge etc. If you were to get the Dallas 1-wire
anemometer I would recommend getting the humidity sensor with a built in
thermometer. The thermometer in the anemometer is enclosed and affected by the
sun too much.

I've kind of looked at the dark-o-meter circuit to integrate this with the rest
of the weather station but haven't explored to much just yet.

Bob
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Albert Saikaley
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 7:19 PM
   Subject: [OAFs] Re: Temperature and Focus


   Bob,
   The airport readings would be better but I'll take what I can get.
   Where can I access the data?

   Thanks,
   Albert.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Glad to read so many imaging and observing reports about last night.
Fireballs, great viewing, etc.  I was unfortunately tied to my back
yard last night, but the seeing was fairly good here, so I decided to
image m51 but at a higher magnification than I had done in the past.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OAFs/files/Astrophotos/m51h.jpg

Albert and I have been exchanging image processing advice over the
last couple of years.  Lately, some real good advice on Photoshop
use.  Thanks, Albert.

It's nothing like the links to the professional images we saw psoted
earlier, but at least we get to say "we did that". ;-)



later,
Rol

tek:   ( sct-8" f/6.3  13 x 1 min. )

Many thanks Pizzle, once again, for your kind invitation!  A great time at the
3P Observatory as always!
Richard
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Mike Wirths
   To: OAFs@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 6:45 PM
   Subject: [OAFs] Observing at Equuleus Mon night


   Hi all,

   Last night was a fun time, even with well below average transparency, hey at
least we had a sky for a change! The hightlight was that cool fireball, along
with an amazing view of the globular M5. I snapped some pics with the OCS and
the new 10D they looked very promising in the LCD but once I downloaded them the
focus was off a fair bit...rats. Looks like the 2.5 X's magnifier for the
viewfinder is a necessity, I imagine it will be a night or 2 before I get the
hang of the new camera.
   If people feel like treking out to my spot tonight they are welcome to,
although I won't make it a late night perhaps til midnight or so. Anytime around
9:00 or later is fine.
   I'll post the out of focus M5 I took in my file area, it is a stack of 5 15
sec shots at ISO 800-1600

   --Piz


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