Central Coast Observing - Kulnura 15th Sep

[Rick Petrie]

I am a new member of IIS and will be coming with Deeno.
Looking forward to meeting others - looks like a good night.
Cheers Rick

[iceman (Mike)]

Was a good night, great to catch up with everyone again.

Conditions were pretty good, transparency was a bit down later on, it was darker earlier. A nice smell of burnt rubbish too, from people burning off nearby.

Always good to catch up with friends.

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

Yes Mike - not one of our best seeing nites
but not a bad'un either

some cloud to the NE early in the nite reflected a bit of light from the coast - but cleared up later in the evening

thanks to all who helped me play with the Argo (on loan from my favourite nephew) - it was much appreciated

the Argo is not only a great tool for navigating the nite sky - but a valuable learning medium as well.
every Dob should have one i reckon

great to see Mike, Fahim and the boys from Sydney make the trip again and nice to meet Deeno's friend Rick from Avoca on the nite
Richard - like i said - you need to lasso a few more from Newcastle to pop down and see us as well (not mentioning any names that say they are coming)

anyway - thanks for the company and another great nite fella's

geoff

[Rick Petrie]

Thanks Geoff and would like to thank all for their hospitality on the night.
I certainly had a good night and got so much out of it.
Thanks also to Richard for your views through the 16" Lightbridge - some of the galaxies in particular were memorable.
Glad you liked the fruitcake that Deeno passed up.
Missus reckons I was the only fruitcake getting home at 4 am.
Cheers

[cahullian]

I couldn't make it as it clashed with the Jets home game. Maybe next time.

Gazz

[netwolf]

The seeing was ok visually, not to good for planet imaging. However the company of the people who turned up was great. Unfortunately we were trying to perfect polar aligning Apoman's G-11 and did not get much viewing in. But we learned quiet a lot in the process. Did catch some nice views of Jupiter in Geoff's dob, and the galxies in Richards big giant was fabulous.

Also met Mike (okiscopey), did not get a chance to look through the ETX but hopefully next time. Also Mike Iceman turned up later, i did not see him come in, but recognised he was there when i saw a headlight moving towards the power socket. Nice to see you had more power cords then you neded this time and thanks for letting us plug off you.

Andrew (Kal) and I were trying to image Jupiter, while Apoman (peter) soldired on with his alignment woes. After seeing Jupiter boil like i have never seen it do before on the screen i said to Andrew lets go and ask Mike for some expert advise. When we walked over we noticed straight away he had given up and moved onto DSO widefield imaging within he ED80. So we new straight of not to waster any more time on it. Its nice having an expert around.

Nice to meet Deeno again and meet his mate Rick who has my old dob now. I did not have the nerve to look through Rick's scope, lest i have any regrets. I am sure it would still show better views than my smaller 8" SCT.

RB turned up last I think and the place would not be the same without Geoff and RB yarning away. Deeno, Rick and Geoff and RB as normal were still around when we left. But there was a strange smell in the air I thought the dog may have been responsible but I heard tell it was a cigar, perhaps someone lit the wrong end.

Apologies to the other two observers who were out there I missed the oppertunity to meet and catch up with you. I did want to look through the SN Telescope that you had. Next time.

Richard I still cant work out why the little Dog was barking at you for so long.

See you all next time probably in November.

Regards

[bkm2304 (Richard Brown)]

Yes, a pretty good nightall all around. The fruitcake was fresh and tasty (thanks, Deeno, Rick and missus!), the Argo Navis was pointing like a champion, the sky wasn't too bad. Finally cracked a magnitude 13 galaxy - Mag = 13.0; NGC = I forgot to record it!

Fahim, I think small dogs are psychic and just know when they are onto a good thing and want to tell the world - hence the persistent and worrying barking at me!

Thanks, again all concerned especially the generous owners of the land, for a great night. And yes, Geoff, I will try to get some more Novocastrians to come along.

Richard

[Arthur Alchin (Arthur Alchin)]

I'm the guy with the SN (Arthur), I met you in March/April when I went up the mountain for the 1st time.

Took a friend up with me this time but he really isn't interested in the cosmos.

Will appear alone next time or with a friend who has this new challenge to try and understand the universe from it's inception. I told him that would be a task harder than wiping out corruption in politics but he says that he is prepared to give it a go.

Anyway i will have the SN up the mountain probably in the next few months.

Arthur

[okiscopey (Mike)]

Originally Posted by bkm2304

... Finally cracked a magnitude 13 galaxy - Mag = 13.0; NGC = I forgot to record it! ...

Just have to come back and find it at the next Kulnura meeting!

Many thanks Richard for being such a friendly neighbour ... I DID try to see those 12.6 mag galaxies through your Lightbridge, but I think you have better eyes than I have.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by okiscopey

I DID try to see those 12.6 mag galaxies through your Lightbridge, but I think you have better eyes than I have.

Hi,

You need to keep at it. Perseverence will pay off. The ability to observe dim objects is an aquired and learned skill. It can take a few years to hone your observing skill and the ability to detect dim objects and extract intricate detail from those dim objects. For instance, to see the spiral arms in a dim face on galaxy that to many inexperienced observers would appear as a faint grey smudge.

The more time you spend under dark skies looking at these dim targets the better you will get. When observing dim targets on the verge of visibility I cannot stress enough how important clear dark skies are. In that regard the skies at Kulnurra are far from dark, they are way better than a light polluted city, but only reasonable at best. Unfortunately, for a lot of people it is the best they can do within reasonable proximity to home. I would recommend you try to get a weekend away out west and spend a couple of nights observing under truly dark conditions, if possible. You will be amazed at how much better the views are on brighter targets and how much easier it is to see the dim targets. You would come home from that weekend and find that some targets you previously thought difficult are now a whole lot easier to see and see detail in.

Cheers,
John B

[Deeno]

Another great night.
Great to see all the usual contenders again.
Thanks for the views through your magnificent 16" Lightbridge Richard, I want one.
Thanks Andrew for providing relief from the burning rubbish with your cigar.
I think Rick is hooked with your old 10" Fahim.
Must spend some time checking out Mikes EXT next time.
Had another go with Argo yet Geoff? That first setting with getting the scope at 90 degrees with the base is fairly critical, I think. With the Auto Adjust On, the Argo will adjust the angle as you align different objects during the session. It seems I have an intermittent problem with the azimuth encoder and not the cables as originally thought.

Cheers
Deeno

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

started to have another play on Sunday nite Deeno ,but was interrupted
hopefully i will get another chance this week (well more than one i hope) to have a play
i have leveled the base and got the little level out to use on the 90 degree on setup - will see how i go

geoff

[okiscopey (Mike)]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

… The ability to observe dim objects is an aquired and learned skill … I would recommend you try to get a weekend away out west and spend a couple of nights observing under truly dark conditions …

Yes, I’m aware of these factors. I hope that outlaying some of my forthcoming retirement dollars on a place in the Rylstone-Mudgee-Ilford area with a bigger light bucket (SDM?) and more observing time will help offset the one factor I can’t change ... 60-year-old eyes!

[erick (Eric)]

Indeed, Mike, that's the saddest thing about entering this hobby aged 50+ I was out last night with Leo76 and her 30 year old eyes. Targeted the scope at Lagoon with the Moon close by, flooding the sky with light, I could see some nebulosity. She said WOW! look at that! I added the NPB filter and I could see some detail. She said DOUBLE WOW! Look at all that detail!

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

started to have another play on Sunday nite Deeno ,but was interrupted
hopefully i will get another chance this week (well more than one i hope) to have a play
i have leveled the base and got the little level out to use on the 90 degree on setup - will see how i go

geoff

Geoff,

The 90 degree axis angle is irrelevant. It is critical with less intelligent DSC systems but Argo Navis works around it with complex mathematics.

That first setting with getting the scope at 90 degrees with the base is fairly critical, I think. With the Auto Adjust On, the Argo will adjust the angle as you align different objects during the session. It seems I have an intermittent problem with the azimuth encoder and not the cables as originally thought

The auto adjust on/off function is also now obsolete with the new TPAS system incorporated into the last two releases of the Argo Navis firmware.

I suggest you spend more time reviewing the TPAS section of the Argo Navis user manual. At present it sounds like you're spending time on criteria that don't matter.

Cheers,
John B

[okiscopey (Mike)]

erick, let's turn back the clock! In my case that's to 1955 when I first got interested in astronomy. Must have had good mince pies then!

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

thanks John - will do

i will check out the firmware version too if i can

might be an older version (seeing as the hand controller belongs to nephew Michael)

geoff

[Deeno]

Well there you go. Always learning something

It does help if you ask someone who actually knows what they're talking about

[Deeno]

But,
Your hand controler is even older than mine

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Deeno,

The latest version of the Argo Navis firmware is available free to all registered owners of an Argo Navis unit. I am sure if your unit is not registered for some reason, Gary Kopff can sort it out if you send him an email.

The new firmware is compatible with the new and older Argo Navis units. The new unit essentially has the same "guts" as the old unit, except the circuit board and case were redesigned to make servicing and changing the on board battery easier.

You need to check which firmware version you are running. You can do this from the Argo Navis unit itself. Power the unit on, it doesn't need to be connected to anything, just have batteries in it or power connected. Turn the detent wheel until you get "Mode Status", press "Enter". It says "power". Then turn the wheel two detent clicks clockwise. The first step is "Thermal"and the second step is "Version". If you are running version 2.*.* you are fine. If you are running 1.*.* you need to upgrade.

You go to the Wildcard website and download the appropriate software upgrade utility based on your operating system from here:-

http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/utilities.html

You then need to download the latest firmware from here:-

http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/firmware.html

Follow the user manual when you do the firmware upgrade. Importantly, record all your initial setup parameters like encoder steps and sign and the like because they will all reset with the firmware upgrade.

Once you have version 2.*.* read up on the TPAS section of the manual and you will find pointing accuracy is superb and things like having the angle between axis at 90 degrees and the base level totally superfluous.

Cheers,
John B