Folks,

I just received the sad news that one of our long-lasting video meteor
observers, IMO member and participant of the IMO Network, Steve Evans, died
yesterday from a massive heart attack.

Best,
Sirko Molau

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

there is a bug in MetRec that the meteor data from Feb 29 are written into the
directory Mar 1. These easiest way to handle with that is as follows:

* look at the creation date & time of all bnd, bmp and inf file, and moved the
files from Feb 29 together with the log and cfg file into the directory 20080229

* edit the logfile and correct the line
Creating auto-subdirectory '20080301' ... ok!
to
Creating auto-subdirectory '20080229' ... ok!

* post-process the data as usual

The bug was easily identified and is fixed now.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

over here, the weather was teriffic for February. Hopefully at your site as
well?
Please, ftp me your observations until Fri, March 14, latest.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I found a seller who offers five new 3.8mm f/0.8 mm asperical Computar lenses
(exactly, the ones that are not produced and sold anymore) at 70 Euro plus
shipment. The only disadvantage is, that this is the video type lens
HG3808AFCS-HSP. It does not fit directly to a Mintron camera, which supports DC
type lenses only. However, you just need to supply 8-16V DC and the video signal
to control the shutter of the lens. So it should be easy to use it with Mintron
& Co as well.

Please, tell me, if you are interested.

Best,
Sirko

PS: Bad luck for me - I bought my last 3.8mm lens last Summer for 130 Euro,
which was already a real bargain ...

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

please, ftp me your January data until next Friday, February 15, latest.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I'm about to process the last data of December 2007. If there is any observation
from last year (December or earlier months) that I did not yet receive, please,
let me know as soon as possible.

How about the December data from SRAKA and KAYAK1?
Rosta, did you observe last month?

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I see that some of you enjoyed already the new backward tracing function in
Metrec 4.1. ;-) Please remember to send me the tracing plot of a given night
with your data only if you have inspected it yourself and believe there is clear
evidence for some radiant (i.e. the intersection of at least 4..5 meteors). If
it's just a few random lines, please, delete it.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

to get the 2007 summary finished in mid-January, please, ftp me your December
data and anything from this year that was not yet archived until Friday, Jan 12,
latest.

All the best for 2008,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

was your November as poor as mine? Well, then I have to check less data. ;-)

Please, ftp me your November observation until next Sunday, December 9, if
possible.

Best wishes,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Hallo alle,

Roy Hengst hat eine Petition gegen Lichtverschmutzung bei der
Bundesregierung eingereicht, siehe hier:

http://itc.napier.ac.uk/e-Petition/bundestag/view_petition.asp?
PetitionID=565

Ich find das toll und habe mich eingetragen - vielleicht tut Ihr das
auch? Weniger Licht am Himmel w"urde uns Meteorbeobachtern ja helfen...

Detlef/Laffy

Folks,

please ftp me your October data until next Sunday, Nov. 11.

Best,
Sirko

PS @ Stane and Detlef: I still waiting for your August data (+ parts of
July/September from Stane)

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

did anyone of you observe enhanced GIA activity in the evening of October 13, or
was the rate negligible? Please, modify the metrec.shw file temporarily and
correct the end date of GIA from 10/10 to 10/14. Rerun postproc with -shower and
let Pavol (bzucino@...) and me know about your result.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

please ftp me your September data until next Friday, October 12, latest.

Detlef and Stane, I'm still waiting for your August data. Stane, even half of
your July data could not be archived yet because I'm still waiting for the new
ref file.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

As not all members of this list have also subscribed to the MetRec mailing list
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/metrec), I will repeat my latest message
regarding Computar lenses here.

Best,
Sirko

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sirko Molau" <sirko@...>
To: "MetRec Mailing List" <metrec@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 12:01 AM
Subject: Computar lenses


> Folks,
>
> as was announced earlier on this list, the aspherical Computar lenses with
> f/0.8, that are used by most video observers, were discontinued by the
> manufacturer. Unfortunately, it seems that most resellers run out of these
> lenses
> quickly, and even at EBAY they have become rare. I checked a number of
addresses
> in Germany, U.K. and the States, but was not successful.
>
> Well, in the end I was! I successfully ordered an 3.8mm and an 8mm DC type
lens
> from www.brandtoys.com, even at very competitive prices (about half what they
> used to cost in Germany!):
> 3.8mm f/0.8: US$ 145
> (http://www.brandtoyz.com/p-45519-computar-hg3808fcs-l.aspx)
> 8mm f/0.8: US$ 140
> (http://www.brandtoyz.com/p-45529-computar-hg0808fcs-l.aspx)
>
> From the 6mm lens they only offer the more expensive video type lens:
> 6mm f/0.8: US$ 160
> (http://www.brandtoyz.com/p-45528-computar-hg0608afcs.aspx)
>
> The only unfortunate thing - it was almost impossible for me to order the
lenses
> from abroad. Be aware that they only accept credit cards issued in the US,
> PayPal payments with an PayPal verified address, and int'l money orders.
>
> Anyway, as this may be one of the last resellers for Computar lenses, you
should
> not wait if you intend to get some of these.
>
> Best,
> Sirko
>
> --
> ************************************************************
> *   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
> *   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
> *   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
> *   Germany                     *                          *
> *   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
> *   email: sirko@...       *                          *
> *   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
> ************************************************************
>

Folks,

please, ftp me your August data until next Sunday, September 9, latest.

Best wishes,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Hello,

The moderator of the akm-network group has changed the group's name.
This means that both the group's email address and the group home page
location have changed.

The group email address:
imo-network@yahoogroups.com

The group home page location:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imo-network

If you have links which point to this group or an address book entry
for the group, you should update them, as the old addresses will no
longer work.

Regards,

Yahoo! Groups Customer Care

Folks,

thanks to those of you who have sent me their data immediately! For the others:
Please remember, that Sunday, August 5, is the deadline for the July data, as I
will be on vacation afterwards.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

in June you got better, still I received the last dataset only today...

In August, the time schedule is much more stringent. I will go on vacation on
August 6, so any data I did not receive until Sunday, August 5, cannot be part
of the July report. Please, plan your analysis in advance and ftp me your data
until August 5, latest.

Many thanks for your help,
Sirko

PS: In case you got the feeling that I'm pushing you hard to send your data in
time but all you get is a short entry in a monthly report... You are the maker
of the currently by far largest database of meteor positions in the optical
domain. The meteor shower analyses I presented at the IMC 06 was only possible
due to this large dataset. The shower list did not only have a strong feedback
at the IMC itself. Maybe you have noticed, that Bob Lunsford has been listing
meteor showers from our analysis in his weekly reports recently. The IMO meteor
shower calendar has been updated once more based on our findings. Peter Brown
did a similar meteor shower search in radar data and came up with a list of 44
showers he presented at the Meteoroids 2007. He found quite a number of shower
in common with our list, and, in fact, some of these he found _only_ in our list
and nowhere else.
These are our results and you can be proud of it!!

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869437      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

please, send me your June data until next Friday, July 12, _latest_!

Best,
Sirko

PS: In recent month some of you started to send me their observations later and
later. Please remember, that I usually have to hand in the report for our
magazine Meteoros on the 15th. So if you send me your data on the 20th or even
later, I'm in trouble!

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Hello Sirko,

> I guess you mean June 5/6?

yes, that's right.

> I did not record this specific meteor, but in the next night June 6/7 I
recorded
> three suspiciously bright meteor within 40 minutes (01:00:41, 01:18:21,
01:37:39),
> and especially the last one looks remarkably similar to yours.

Very interesting. And the following meteor (URL see below) I recorded fits
exactly in your timespan given above. It's not as bright as yours (there were
thin
clouds), but the brightness profile is similar. Was there something unknown
going on?

http://www.sternwarte-herne.de/hermine/20070607_012550.gif

Clear skies
Bernd

Bernd Brinkmann

Sternwarte Herne, MPC code A18
Herne, Germany

e-mail: info@...
http://www.sternwarte-herne.de

Bernd,

I guess you mean June 5/6?

I did not record this specific meteor, but in the next night June 6/7 I recorded
three suspiciously bright meteor within 40 minutes (01:00:41, 01:18:21,
01:37:39), and especially the last one looks remarkably similar to yours.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Nochmals hallo zusammen,

da ich gerade gemerkt habe, dass Anhaenge nicht erlaubt sind, habe ich das
unverlinkte Bild hier hochgeladen:
http://www.sternwarte-herne.de/hermine/20070605_213142.jpg

> gibt es Parallelbeobachtungen zum o.a. Zeitpunkt? Das Meteor (Fuerkugel
> wuerde ich es noch nicht nennen wollen) wurde mit meiner Mintron mit 6mm-
> Objektiv und MetRec  aufgenommen und dauerte ca. 4.3 sec. Es flog fast
> parallel zum Horizont (leicht ansteigend) von Sued nach Nord in ca. 30 Grad
> Hoehe (siehe angehaengtes Bild). Die von MetRec angegebene Helligkeit von
> -1.4 mag wuerde ich so nicht gelten lassen. Aus Erfahrung wuerde ich meinen
> es muesste heller gewesen sein.
>
> Aufgeleuchtet sein muesste es irgenwo im Ostwestfaelischen. Joerg Strunk ist
> leider noch im Urlaub, so dass ich von ihm fruehestens naechste Woche hoeren
> werde. Ueber Rueckmeldungen (auch negative) wuerde ich mich freuen.

Clear skies
Bernd


Bernd Brinkmann

Sternwarte Herne, MPC code A18
Herne, Germany

e-mail: info@...
http://www.sternwarte-herne.de

Hallo zusammen,

gibt es Parallelbeobachtungen zum o.a. Zeitpunkt? Das Meteor (Fuerkugel
wuerde ich es noch nicht nennen wollen) wurde mit meiner Mintron mit 6mm-
Objektiv und MetRec  aufgenommen und dauerte ca. 4.3 sec. Es flog fast
parallel zum Horizont (leicht ansteigend) von Sued nach Nord in ca. 30 Grad
Hoehe (siehe angehaengtes Bild). Die von MetRec angegebene Helligkeit von
-1.4 mag wuerde ich so nicht gelten lassen. Aus Erfahrung wuerde ich meinen
es muesste heller gewesen sein.

Aufgeleuchtet sein muesste es irgenwo im Ostwestfaelischen. Joerg Strunk ist
leider noch im Urlaub, so dass ich von ihm fruehestens naechste Woche
hoeren werde. Ueber Rueckmeldungen (auch negative) wuerde ich mich freuen.

Clear skies
Bernd

Bernd Brinkmann

Sternwarte Herne, MPC code A18
Herne, Germany

e-mail: info@...
http://www.sternwarte-herne.de


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

Folks,

for those of you who have ot yet send me their data, please, do so until next
Sunday, June 10.

Many thanks,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I'm looking for a 3.8mm f/0.8 lens from Computar for a second camera at my
remote location. I can offer a 6mm lens instead. Anybody willing to exchange
these lenses?

Best,
Sirko

PS: Computar does not produce these lenses any longer, and the German dealer
Lechner run already out of these. :-(

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

the by far best April ever (at least for the German observers) is over now and
I'd like to ask you to send me your video data until next Sunday, May 12,
latest.

All the best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I will be out of town for 2 1/2 weeks in April. It would be helpful if you could
ftp me your observations already until Wednesday this week, April 4.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

for some reason, yahoogroups has repeatedly sent my last mail. I now set the
group policy temporarily to moderation in order to prevent further spamming.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I uploaded a new version of PostProc to
http://www.metrec.org/download/files/postproc.exe

Usually I publish new features only in regular releases. However, after the
blinking star feature seems to run stable I think it is worthwhile you use it
immediately. By (repeatedly) pressing "b" during post-processing, a star map
will be overlayed briefly to your video image. This way you easily find out,
whether the coordinate conversion was correct or whether you made a mistake with
timing or should create a new ref file because of a systematic shift.

If you encounter any problem with the new binary, just tell me.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************

Folks,

I uploaded a new version of PostProc to
http://www.metrec.org/download/files/postproc.exe

Usually I publish new features only in regular releases. However, after the
blinking star feature seems to run stable I think it is worthwhile you use it
immediately. By (repeatedly) pressing "b" during post-processing, a star map
will be overlayed briefly to your video image. This way you easily find out,
whether the coordinate conversion was correct or whether you made a mistake with
timing or should create a new ref file because of a systematic shift.

If you encounter any problem with the new binary, just tell me.

Best,
Sirko

--
************************************************************
*   Sirko Molau                 *                          *
*   Abenstalstr. 13b            *              __          *
*   D-84072 Seysdorf            *       " 2B v 2B "        *
*   Germany                     *                          *
*   phone: +49-8752-869438      *             Shakespeare  *
*   email: sirko@...       *                          *
*   www  : www.molau.de         *                          *
************************************************************