Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

This is the discussion forum for the Beginners Special Interest Group. Whether you just learned how to spell t-e-l-e-s-c-o-p-e or have years of observing experience you're welcome!

Moderators: defalkner, Sureshks, SEmert

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progcat
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:01 am
Location: Bloomington, MN

Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by progcat »

Many Telrad charts, filter info, beginner info, general info, etc. This is better than any one book I have purchased!
I highly recommend taking a look.
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ ... ll/fpart/1
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SEmert
Posts: 1794
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 2:48 pm
Real Name: Steve Emert
Location: White Bear Lake, MN

Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by SEmert »

During a B-SIG meeting I was asked if I could post the sheet of web links that I include with new MAS member letters, just to be sure the links are available to everyone. Here is a pretty decent list of Internet resources for stargazing and amateur astronomy. If anyone wants to add their favorites to those displayed in this post, feel free to add!

http://www.skymaps.com – Monthly customized maps of the sky depicting what can be seen by eye, with binoculars and with a telescope. Download and view or print the specific map for the northern hemisphere each month.

http://www.heavens-above.com – Want to know when the International Space Station will be visible overhead? Wonder what is an Iridium Flare? Want to identify the satellites you see in the sky? Heavens Above is the best site for tracking earth orbiting satellites. Enter your location for detailed personalized data for your area and time.

http://www.universetoday.com/ - Universe Today has daily articles on space and astronomy. Sign up for their email newsletter and be informed on a daily basis.

http://www.space.com/ - Space.Com is a good source for news related to space exploration and astronomy, although they are a bit heavy on advertising and graphics that slow the web site down.

http://365daysofastronomy.org/ – An IYA 2009 project. Daily podcasts through the entire years of 2009 through 2012 entertained and informed you about various astronomical topics ranging from astronomical history, amateur astronomy, professional observatories, constellation mythology, the solar system, space travel, cosmology, stargazing and much more. They had a pause after the December 31, 2012 podcast, but started up again as a service of a new organization, CosmoQuest, and continue into 2020 and hopefully beyond!

http://www.astronomycast.com/ - Astronomy Cast podcast. A half-hour podcast by Dr. Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain. For the first two hundred or so episodes the podcast was updated weekly, but then they tapered off for a year or so. Starting again in the last half of 2011 Pamela and Fraser have gotten back to a regular weekly schedule. Both the current episodes and the extensive library of back episodes will give you plenty of opportunity to learn about a wide range of astronomy and space related topics presented in an entertaining and informative manner.

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-messier.html - The SEDS site (http://www.seds.org/messier) used to be one of the best concise references for the Messier list, but SEDS has recently removed their Messier reference. The Sea & Sky site appears to be a good alternate - Charles Messier was an astronomer in Paris in the late 1700’s who concentrated on hunting comets. He created a catalog of 110 objects commonly mistaken for comets. Fortunately for us, those 110 objects are some of the most beautiful objects in the sky. He cataloged globular star clusters, open star clusters, nebulae, supernova remnants and galaxies. This site outlines Messier’s history and lists all his cataloged objects graphically and with full descriptions. It’s a great resource to find out what’s out there to see!

http://www.astroleague.org – The Astronomical League is the parent organization of hundreds of astronomical clubs and societies throughout the US. This includes the MAS, whose members are automatically members of the Astronomical League and receive the quarterly Reflector newsletter. The AL site has advice and observing projects to get you started. Visit any club’s star parties! The amateur astronomers there are willing to help you!

http://rasc.ca/ - the Royal Astronomy Society of Canada - Just as the Astronomical League has great information for US amateur astronomers, the RASC web site also features many observing lists and projects, in addition to publications that may be purchased and additional information.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html – Astronomy Picture of the Day. An armchair astronomer’s paradise! Best to bookmark it right away and visit the site every day.

http://www.stellarium.org – Stellarium is an excellent graphical view planetarium program – and it’s a free download. There are versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux PCs.

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/ - Cartes du Ciel – French for "Sky Charts". A very good free planetarium program containing detailed star catalogs and deep sky object catalogs for planning stargazing sessions, controlling telescopes or just learning what is there to see in the night sky. Cartes Du Ciel also is available in versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

https://www.imo.net/ - International Meteor Organization - A web site dedicated to information about meteors and meteor showers. For up to date information on these periodic events, check here!

http://www.clearskies.eu/ - Clear Skies Observing Guides (CSOG) - Clear Skies Observing Guides is a for-purchase digital publication, helping observers to find all deep sky objects and carbon stars visible to their telescope, intended for scopes up to 12 inches. It is a combination of observing guides and software. The guides can be printed, or viewed on a tablet, e-reader or computer.

http://www.skyhound.com/ - SkyTools 4 includes a complete set of software tools for observation planning, charting, and logging. The SkyTools 4 Professional Edition adds unique and powerful tools for imaging and an unprecedented database of stars to 20th magnitude over the entire sky. A Starter Edition, Standard Edition and Pro Edition are available for purchase. It is intended to be used at the telescope and includes telescope control.

http://www.lynchandthestars.com – Twin Cities meteorologist and stargazing enthusiast Mike Lynch hosts stargazing classes in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and surrounding area. Also check out his Starwatch Minnesota and other books. The four large truss style Dobsonian telescopes shown on his web site and that he uses for his stargazing classes are Starmaster telescopes, now considered to be "classic" as Rick Singmaster, the owner of Starmaster has passed away.

http://www.clearoutside.com - Clear Outside is a newer astronomical weather prediction site, and provides a very good at-a-glance look at sky conditions for your favorite site from today out through the next week. The summary is provided for each day and night, and you can expand the prediction out to get the details of high level, medium, and low level cloud cover, as well as wind speed, temperature, humidity and more.

http://www.cleardarksky.com – Want to know if it’s going to be clear tonight? Maintained by Atilla Danko in Canada, Clear Sky Charts predict cloud cover, atmospheric transparency and turbulence (called “seeing”) for thousands of locations across North America.

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/G ... sector=umv - The NOAA is the source of the satellite images for North America. This site shows you 24 hour loops of the Midwest weather from the GOES East satellite, in both a color overview, and in many specific bands.

http://www.astronomyboy.com/eq/ - Astronomy Boy. If you are new to using an equatorial mount and are stuck wondering, "Why does this thing move at all these weird angles, and how should I be setting it up and how should I be using it correctly?", Jeff DeTray provides a good animated tutorial on how Equatorial (EQ) mounts move, and how to point it in the various directions. Hover over the picture to activate the animation. Elsewhere in his site he provides maintenance instructions for CG-5 and LX 70 EQ mounts and other advice, much of which can be applied to other mounts as well.

Hooked on stargazing and want to buy a telescope? Please do not go to a discount or department store! Also be very wary of eBay and Amazon and even large photo sites like B&H Photo unless (or until) you have the experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. The best bet is to visit these sites for retailers who specialize in quality telescopes – including ones at economical prices.

Long term MAS members and astronomy enthusiasts are aware that on September 11, 2018 Dan Fish announced his retirement and and the closing of his Radio City amateur radio and telescope store at the end of 2018. We wish Dan and Maline the best in their retirement. Unfortunately for the rest of us that means there are no longer any dedicated telescope stores in the area. Aside from items like spotting scopes at Cabela's or other small scopes at various stores and used items on the MAS' own equipment forum and Craig's List and Facebook Marketplace, we are now dependent on Internet retailers.

http://www.telescope.com – Orion Telescope and Binocular – An Internet telescope and binocular retailer known for good starter, intermediate and advanced level telescopes and excellent customer service.

https://starizona.com - Starizona, predictably based in Arizona, is a great retailer, concentrating on astro photography, but you can also shop there if you are a visual observer. They have great customer service and can provide advice on a wide range of astronomy topics. Oh, by the way, they are also the manufacturers of the highly-praised Hyperstar optical adapter allowing SCT's to image around an f/2 to f2.5 focal ratio.

http://www.highpointscientific.com - High Point Scientific has a great selection and excellent customer service. Incidentally, the MAS Board usually goes first to High Point Scientific for our own purchases.

http://www.buytelescopes.com – Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird – An excellent national telescope retailer.

http://www.agenaastro.com - Agena Astro has taken over OPT's (Oceanside Photo and Telescope) business when OPT went bankrupt. Agena Astro has a good range of equipment to choose from.

http://www.astronomics.com – Astronomics – One of the best known telescope retailers on the Internet.

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/ - Obsession Telescopes are among the best large truss tube Dobsonians. From 12.5 to 20 inch, Classic or Ultra Compact styles, these are telescopes for the truly obsessed observer. The MAS has a 20" Obsession at Eagle Lake Observatory and both 25" and 30" Obsessions at LLCC. Are we obsessed?

https://www.astrogoods.com - AstroGoods is a maker of wooden Dobsonian bases for retrofitting commercial Dob scopes whose particleboard bases have seen better days. They also sell other amateur telescope making (and repair or retrofitting) material and supplies.

http://www.webstertelescopes.com/ - As if Obsessions and Starmasters aren't big enough, Webster Telescopes has truss Dobs up to 32 inches! They also sell many of the semi-custom parts needed to make your own large truss style Dobsonian telescope.

http://www.loptics.com/starmaster/index.htm - Rick Singmaster passed away in April of 2020. But before he retired, he manufactured wonderful large truss tube Dobsonian telescopes. His web site still exists in order to archive information about Starmaster telescopes. For an example of his scopes, you can check out the "BAD" ("Big Aperture Dobsonian") at our Cherry Grove Observatory, which is a 24 inch Starmaster. It was the MAS' very first large scale truss Dob.

http://www.astromart.com – Telescope and accessories classified ads. Considered to be the best place to look for reputable used telescope and accessory sales. The site is associated with Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird.

A few of the myriad of telescope manufacturer web sites:

http://www.televue.com/ - Televue scopes and eyepieces set the standard. Don't ever look through a Nagler, Panoptic, Ethos or Delos eyepiece unless you want to get spoiled against all the others!

https://www.astronomics.com/b/astro-tech.html - Astronomy Technologies (Astro-Tech) is owned by Astronomics, and manufactures some very nice refractors and also a range of accessories.

http://www.stellarvue.com/ - Stellarvue makes some very nice apochromatic refractors

http://www.takahashiamerica.com/ - Takahashi telescopes. Beautiful refractors and mounts

http://www.bisque.com/sc/ - Software Bisque. Home of TheSky planetarium and scope control program and of Paramount robotic mounts. To see some examples of their impressive mounts, visit our Eagle Lake Observatory and look at our Visual and Imaging rigs.

http://www.meade.com/ - Meade Instruments. One of the most well known manufacturers of amateur telescopes

http://www.celestron.com/ - Celestron. Another of the most well known manufacturers of amateur telescopes

Additional equipment information. Equipment reviews, parts and accessories, and amateur telescope making. Modifying and accessorizing telescopes can become a major part of the hobby for the “equipment obsessed”.

http://www.cloudynights.com – Cloudy Nights is “the” telescope review site. Cloudy Nights also has very good observing information and forums for discussion of stargazing activities and equipment.

Parts and accessories - sometimes you just have to have some parts!

http://astronomy-mall.com – Hmm... This site used to be a good starting point to finding additional amateur astronomy retailers. When I checked on it in May 2022 it appears that it is just a directory listing that leads to a couple other sites, including one that sells equatorial platforms for Dobs. I'll leave this here as a marker until I see what is up with this site.

http://www.scopestuff.com – Need a part, widget or upgrade for your telescope? You’ll usually find it here. The site itself is very spartan (well, ok, "ugly") but his selection of widgets and his customer service is very good!

https://farpointastro.com/ – Farpoint Astronomy has a range of astronomy products, having acquired the inventory from JMI when they ceased business, in addition to Lumicon filters, Lunt telescopes and more.

http://www.astrosystems.biz – Astrosystems sells accessories, parts, kits and completed Truss Dobsonian scopes.

http://www.fpi-protostar.com - Protostar sells very good spiders and secondary mirrors, telescope tubes and flocking. Please note that there has been some discussion on the Cloudy Nights forums that Protostar may be slow to respond to inquiries and slow to deliver on some orders.

http://www.focuser.com - Moonlite aluminum color anodized Crayford focusers and more for refractors, SCTs and Newtonians.

If you are into ATM'ing, or you are trying to repair or upgrade an older telescope and keep the cost down, these two sites may be useful.

http://www.1800destiny.com/ - 1-800-Destiny.com features curved Newtonian spiders (and straight ones too), secondary mirrors, focusers and more.

http://www.amsky.com/yellowpages - Exactly what its name implies – a Yellow Pages of astronomical suppliers.

Additional astronomical information, observing lists and resources.

https://oneminuteastronomer.com/ - Long on interest in astronomy but short on cash? The One Minute Astronomer is for you. This site has 25 tips and resources that are almost entirely free to help you enjoy astronomy on a tight budget.

https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/usno/ – US Naval Observatory site. Want to know the moon phase, sunrise and sunset times, twilight times? This is the source.

http://www.midnightkite.com/software.html - A listing of astronomy software, all available on the web. The message at the bottom of the web page states that there are 270 links to other sites!

http://www.astro-tom.com/messier/messie ... r_maps.htm - Astro Tom - Good, straightforward printable finder maps for all the Messier objects.

https://www.saguaroastro.org/observing- ... -programs/ - The Saguaro Astronomy Club in Phoenix has several extensive lists of objects to observe, ranging from bright objects to the faintest. After all, they have clear dark skies in the desert!

http://www.dibonsmith.com/stars.htm - The Constellations - A great compilation of both astronomical data and mythological information on each of the constellations, as well as a map of each constellation. The author also includes a Binocular and Naked Eye guide to the constellations. The author used to sell The Constellations Pocket Guide and the Binocular and Naked Eye guide books, which now have been discontinued. But all the info that was in the books is available for you on the web site.

http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html - Sci.astro is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of all aspects of astronomy. As such its content ranges from the Earth to the farthest reaches of the Universe.

http://stardate.org/ - StarDate is the public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. They have a popular bimonthly astronomy magazine which is a great skywatching companion for amateur astronomers or anyone interested in celestial events and space exploration. They also offer astronomy resources to teachers, the media, and the public.

http://astronomy-mall.com/Adventures.In ... index.html - "Adventures in Deep Space" - Observing projects for amateur astronomers.

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ - List of Stars, the Constellations, Messier objects and more, with lots of detail.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LM - Lunar charts for detail investigation of the Moon.

http://www.astronautix.com/ - A wide range of miscellaneous articles on astronomy and space travel, both current and historical.

http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/contents.htm - Ian Ridpath's Star tales - Myths and legends of the Constellations. Not listed here, but you may also want to check out our own Dave Falkner's books, "The Mythology of the Night Sky" and "Stories of Astronomers and Their Stars", both available on Amazon.

http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/st ... rwheel.pdf - If you want to make your own planisphere, here is a link to Uncle Al's Star Wheel planisphere.

If you don't like Uncle Al's Star wheel, here are several others that are available.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/seeds/strchrt.htm - Home made planisphere from the State of New Jersey

http://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/ - Another home made planisphere. These are customizable for your latitude, in 5 degree increments all the way from 85 degrees South latitude to 85 degrees north latitude!

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052 – Mag 7 Star Atlas. Excellent set of star charts for free. There are both black & white and color versions available, but use the black ones - some legends are printed in red in the color version, and red print disappears under your red light used while observing. You can print them on an inkjet printer, but for best resolution try to find a laser printer. The only thing bad about the Mag 7 Star Atlas is it doesn't include an index. But good news, I have one attached here!
Mag 7 Star Atlas Index.zip
(14.01 KiB) Downloaded 193 times
I have attached an Excel spreadsheet containing several lists combined into one: The Caldwell list, the Messier list and the RASC "Finest NGC" list. It has tabs with the list sorted by various parameters: by constellation, by magnitude, by RA, etc. It also has a list of the constellations in the first tab. You can use this as a resource to create and track your own observing projects if you'd like. Astro-Tom is the source for these 15 printable Messier Finder Charts with the link appearing elsewhere in this post, but here is a single zipped file containing them. This is a set of 15 Messier finder maps plus an index. All are .pdf documents and individually printable.
messiercharts.zip
(265.7 KiB) Downloaded 111 times
https://allans-stuff.com/triatlas/ - The TriAtlas Project - If you want to go beyond the Mag 7 Star Atlas at Cloudy Nights, check out these three sets of star atlases available ranging from 9th to 11th magnitude, all the way to 13th magnitude. Be aware if you begin printing them out, there are a lot of pages! But the great news is, they are all free to download and print yourself. It appears it is also available on this site: https://www.uv.es/jrtorres/

In a post in the Observing forum in May 2015, Kenneth Kerrick (Forum ID Krontab) said: I was digging for charts online the other day and came across this gem from The Custer Institute and Observatory:
Map and Constellation Key to Messier Objects for TELRAD Finders
http://www.custerobservatory.org/docs/messier2.pdf
And another piece of good news, this set of Messier finder charts includes an index!

http://tucsonastronomy.org/about-taaa/b ... rvinglogs/ - The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association has created a number of observing log form templates. Check them out for logging your observations. You can also web search for "astronomy log templates" and find a few other resources you may like.

Magazines and magazine web sites. There are many magazines devoted to astronomy, physics and space. Below are a number of the most well known magazine sites, all of which provide additional information online.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com – Sky and Telescope. As a MAS member, you’re entitled to a $11 discount from their normal annual subscription price. Instructions for subscribing (or renewing) are available on the MAS web site, and the links are provided in your welcome letter or renewal acknowledgement letter. If you have any questions, you can send a PM to me and I will help direct you.

http://www.astronomy.com – Astronomy magazine. As a MAS member, you’re also entitled to an approximately $10 annual discount on your subscription. As with S&T, the instructions are on the MAS web site, and links are provided when you join or renew your membership.

http://www.astronomytechnologytoday.com – Astronomy Technology Today – An electronic publication which contains reviews and information regarding all forms of astronomy equipment for those interested in the hardware of our hobby.

http://www.amateurastronomy.com – Amateur Astronomy – A magazine published for amateur astronomers quarterly. On their web page they state:
"What is Amateur Astronomy Magazine About? We are a printed forum of the activities relating to Amateur Astronomers around the world. Our magazine is written by amateur astronomers, for amateur astronomers. Over the course of the past 28 years, we have covered telescopes, large and small, amateur telescope making (ATM), mirror grinding, collimation tips, observing techniques, astronomical equipment reviews, home observatories, professional observatories, observing lists, profiles of amateur astronomers, star parties, dark sites, imaging tips and techniques, observing logs, astronomical travel logs, astronomy businesses and their owners, DIY astronomical projects, cosmology, science and astronomy outreach. In short, we are about all the things and people that make this hobby special."

... and of course, the most important web link of all: http://www.mnastro.org - the web site for our very own Minnesota Astronomical Society (as if you needed that link :wink: )
Steve Emert
MAS Membership Coordinator
12.5" f/4.7 Obsession Clone Homemade Truss Dob, sometimes equipped with Celestron StarSense Explorer app
Celestron C8 SCT OTA on AVX GEQ mount
Astro-Tech AT72 ED Refractor OTA usually on Explore Scientific Twilight 1mount or tripod with Benro geared head
Celestron 5" SCT OTA on Synta AZ-4 or Explore Scientific Twilight 1 Alt-Az Mount, usually equipped with StarSense Explorer app
Orion 150mm Mak OTA and Orion EQ-G computerized mount
User avatar
SEmert
Posts: 1794
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 2:48 pm
Real Name: Steve Emert
Location: White Bear Lake, MN

Re: Web links for B-SIG

Post by SEmert »

A few more:

If you are interested in planetary observing and want help in locating the planets, these online planetary locator tools will help you:

http://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1224748262 - Keisan online planetary position calculator. Calculates the ecliptic longitude and latitude, right ascension, celestial declination, and distance of the planets from Earth. Easy input and simple output in web tab format. Other astro calculators available at the site as well.

http://www.briancasey.org/artifacts/astro/planets.cgi - Planetary Positions calculator. Simple tabular text input, output in simple text format.

http://www.davidcolarusso.com/astro/ - David Colarusso "Wandering Stars" planetary position web calculator. Interesting graphical map of the sky showing planetary positions and movement over time. Interesting to watch the retrograde motion as it moves through the dates!

Other links:

https://astromart.com/reviews-and-artic ... -made-easy - All scopes need to be well collimated (optical alignment). Newtonian telescopes are especially susceptible to miscollimation, and need to be checked frequently. There are many good references and tutorials on the web regarding collimation. Mel Bartels first introduced the technique in an article in Sky & Telescope. This brief tutorial explains the basics of using a laser collimator and the barlowed laser technique. The barlowed laser technique increases the accuracy of Newtonian collimation using a laser collimator.

http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php - Customize the site for your location and see what is visible tonight, selecting from a customizable menu of object types!

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html - Space, the final frontier... oops, getting a little ahead of myself. But for spaceflight in the 21st century, NASA's home page is the place to check up on what's happening.

http://heritage.stsci.edu/gallery/gallery.html - If you want to check out some of the best Hubble pictures, here is the site to visit.

http://ciclops.org/ - CICLOPS - Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS - The Cassini spacecraft orbited Saturn for 13 years from 2004 until it was intentionally de-orbited into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017. During that time Cassini produced a huge collection of stunning images as it investigated Saturn and its moons. You can also find an overview of the Cassini-Huygens mission at the NASA site: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/overview/

http://startalkradio.net/ - StarTalk is a radio program airing Sunday evenings and is also available as weekly podcasts. Star Talk is devoted to all things space and is hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

http://www.cheapastro.com/ - Cheap Astronomy. From down under, Steve Nerlich gives sage advice and has interesting podcasts posted fairly regularly.

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3_Page. ... vice&id=86 - TeleVue has a nice page with telescope formulas here. Wondering how to figure out the magnification of a particular eyepiece with a specific telescope, or how about the actual field of view, or even the exit pupil size for a given telescope and eyepiece combination? This page gives you the formulas and also discusses several "myths" (more like misunderstandings) about eyepieces.

At a recent B-SIG meeting we were on the topic of replacement eyepiece caps and bolt cases. There are quite a few places to get them on the web. The major online retailers (OPT, Astronomics, High Point Scientific, Orion, Anacortes, etc. - all of which have web links in this topic thread), all carry a good selection. In addition, several of the smaller online retailers also carry them:

Caps and plugs
http://www.eyepiececaps.net
Cloudy Nights has a review of EyepieceCaps.com (same as eyepiececaps.net) - http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1616

http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_eye1.htm
http://www.agenaastro.com/parts-accesso ... overs.html

Bolt Cases
http://www.agenaastro.com/parts-accesso ... s.html?p=3
http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_cas1.htm
Steve Emert
MAS Membership Coordinator
12.5" f/4.7 Obsession Clone Homemade Truss Dob, sometimes equipped with Celestron StarSense Explorer app
Celestron C8 SCT OTA on AVX GEQ mount
Astro-Tech AT72 ED Refractor OTA usually on Explore Scientific Twilight 1mount or tripod with Benro geared head
Celestron 5" SCT OTA on Synta AZ-4 or Explore Scientific Twilight 1 Alt-Az Mount, usually equipped with StarSense Explorer app
Orion 150mm Mak OTA and Orion EQ-G computerized mount
Krontab
Posts: 119
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:55 pm
Real Name: Kenneth Kerrick
Location: Eagan, MN

Re: Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by Krontab »

I just wanted to add to the description of www.focuser.com. If you have a very specific engineering problem they will do custom jobs. The issue I'm running into with my EdgeHD 8" is it has a very specific prime focus and so getting a crayford focuser that can accommodate my focal length reducer is hard to find. He designed a 2.5 inch focuser that encapsulates the reducer to create the low profile. It isn't listed on the website but they will build specialty items like that to order.
Krontab (Kenneth Kerrick) living in Eagan, MN
Equipment in use: Celestron EdgeHD 8" OTA and a CGEM II, Nikon D500, ZWO ASI071MC-Cool, ZWO OAG, ZWO ASI120MM-Mini, Baader UFC, Stellarmate OS, StarSense Align, Celestron Cometron 7x50 Binoculars
Link to my astronomy notes and docs: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AvxZZLWb5_rUiOgE7b0 ... w?e=MHkEKK
Astroimagaging is worse than a Black Hole, it consumes money as well as light!
tugger
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:57 pm
Real Name: Robert Miller

Re: Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by tugger »

I have 2 application additions that a few people at ELO didn't have tonight and they seemed to like them.

The first is for Android only, (as far as I know, Apple, in their infinite wisdom, has locked down the controls that this app would need on iOS because they wanted to add their own which hasn't happened yet - that's the last I read when I was looking for my brother) and is called Twilight. It's basically does what the 'red light' button on Stellarium does but is configurable so that it will follow a schedule timing to dim and increase - instead of having to hold it close and hit the red button (this does it all automatically for you!). For example, I have mine set up to start dimming around 2030 and light up again around 0900. There's also an option to have it on all the time. There is also a 'PRO' version here. I remember that I installed the free version to see what it was all about and would decide if I wanted the PRO. I have been using the free version so long that I honestly don't recall what the PRO version unlocks. Twilight will also appear in your notifications window from the home screen (home button, drag down the notifications) and has a few quick adjustments there as well.

The second is for Windows (I have Windows 10, no issues with it, would assume older versions are fine) and is called f.lux. This is just like Twilight except for Windows. I just installed it a few days ago and haven't worked out the kinks quite yet. So far, it appears to work just like Twilight - in that it has configurable times to star dimming and then return to normal. The part I haven't figured out yet is how to accelerate that dim more quickly. Meaning that instead of hitting it's peak dim at 0200, how do I get to that level at 2100 or so. I'm sure it's somewhere in there, I just haven't found it. There are some hotkeys (alt pgup, alt pgdn, and alt end) that control the intensity of the dimming.

F.lux's website has a method to install it on iOS but it requires your device to be jailbroken. That being said, if you chose to jailbreak your device, that's on you but I would strongly advise against it.

Be warned!! Both of these apps require some startup time. For example, earlier at ELO, when I brought my Surface out of Hibernate, the screen was at it's default setting (in terms of brightness (100 - 75 - etc) as well as the setting of f.lux the last time the computer was on). Once it got to the log on screen, it dimmed. I only offer this warning because I don't want to see anyone get
Suresh wrote:BLITZED
by white light!

Same goes for Twilight. If you have to restart your phone, it takes a few seconds for it to kick in and dim after Android has fully booted. Again, be careful so you don't
Suresh wrote:BLITZ
anyone with white light!

If you have questions about them (on Android and Windows), feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to help!
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Sureshks
Posts: 1220
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2014 10:43 pm
Real Name: Suresh Sreenivasan
Location: Hopkins, MN

Re: Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by Sureshks »

Hi,

F.lux does seem to work. It dimmed my laptop's brightness down substantially, yet gave me enough to work with in the dark. I'm still looking for the red light setting, though, as observers as dark sky star parties, such as our own NNSF (and large regional parties like Nebraska Star Party - NSP - and Texas Star Party - TSP - and the Okie-Tex Star Party) will howl if it isn't.

Thanks for the tip, Robert!

Suresh
Suresh Sreenivasan
B-SIG/FB/Metcalf Comm

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tugger
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:57 pm
Real Name: Robert Miller

Re: Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by tugger »

Sureshks wrote: F.lux does seem to work. It dimmed my laptop's brightness down substantially, yet gave me enough to work with in the dark. I'm still looking for the red light setting, though, as observers as dark sky star parties, such as NNSF will howl if it isn't.

Thanks for the tip, Robert!
Suresh
It seems like f.lux doesn't have a constant setting - in that it's actually constantly changing during the night. If you right click the icon in the system tray, there is an option under 'lighting at night' that apparently controls the amount of red that the program provides - apparently this requires a restart though. While messing around with some of the settings now, I noticed there is a 'dark room' setting which makes the screen a negative - the app doesn't work with screenshots as both look like nothing is different. Unlike Twilight, there is no setting to set custom times for the program. However, one user posted a workaround that seems intimidating.
Set your location to equator (12-hour day all the year) and pick a timezone that suits your needs (for example sunrise 7am, sunset 7pm).
Open Task Scheduler (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools) and make two schedules:
a) [install path]\flux.exe
b) TASKKILL /F /IM flux.exe
Because taskkill doesn't restore colours, it must be executed "after sunrise" when the colour is normal, let's say at 12 noon (any time when your computer is on and the colours are normal, will do). This should be invisible to user, but actually should kill f.lux.
After sunset (7pm in our example) the program is still off and doesn't do anything.
Now, for the second scheduled event, pick a convenient time (for example 11pm). Then f.lux starts and notices that it's night; changing the colour appropriately. This continues until "sunrise" kicks in and brightens the display (example 7am).
The sceduled taskkill terminates program once again at noon until the other schedule starts it up again at 11pm (or whatever you choose).
Because f.lux is killed every day, you shouldn't get a thousand of copies running.
This seems a little too complicated.

I'm not sure if it would help but my settings are the following:
-Daytime: 2700K all the way to the left (I haven't used it much during the day because I just kill the program at this point since there's no slider)
-Nighttime: 1200K Last night I started it up in my car before the sun went down and started the program before going back into hibernation. That way, when Windows fully booted up, it would go to the right setting based on the time. This was the best solution I could think of for not having a custom timer like Twilight. I'm not sure how others will react with the screen being white until Windows fully boots and the program starts after a few seconds. Leave it on the charger and have it set to your setting before the sun goes down?
-My lighting at night setting is set to 1200K.
-I have transition speed set to 20s because I took the other setting as 60 minutes.

Alt-end is essentially an on/off button.
Alt-pgup and alt-pgdn look like they're independent screen brightness settings. Currently at 100% brightness and f.lux brought it down even lower. Cycling through the settings in Windows makes changes as well. Interesting, I would have thought it was a quick way to change the Windows settings.

I asked to get in on the beta as it seemed like the slider is an option they've now included. I'll see what they say.
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tugger
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:57 pm
Real Name: Robert Miller

Re: Web links for B-SIG - and for all MAS Members!

Post by tugger »

I found another that some may like:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... dsoplanner (Pro Version)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... lannerfree (Free Version)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deve ... +Koukarine (all versions available)

http://dsoplanner.com/Main_Page (Their website)

I actually was told about it on the Cloudy Night forums. This has an option to configure Telrad rings right on the screen! I think that's awesome since I can literally line it up with the sky, look down to my phone, and see how far/close I am. I looked through the manual and it is rather impressive for an Android app. I've never heard of an Android app supporting GOTO via a Bluetooth connection?
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