EQ8 EQMOD and EQDIR Cables on Vista

My new EQ8 mount was delivered the other day and I noticed straightaway the handset port has changed since the EQ6 version which was a 9 pin serial RS232 type connection. The new EQ8 handset connector is a standard Ethernet type connection. So this meant I needed a new EQDIR connection cable. Yes I know,

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Helios Nature Sport 7×50 Binoculars Review

I already have a rather large pair of 15×70 binoculars. These are fine and give you a great view, but sometimes too much magnification, that you don’t know where you are in the sky. Plus they are also very heavy and you can’t keep them still in your hands for too long, they really need

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Astrofest 2014 Discounts

Will we see a wide range of discounts at Astrofest in 2014? I do hope so, as there was very little discounting at Astrofest 2013. Keep your eyes out this weekend for retailers who also offer astronomy discounts online as well as at the show, if you cannot make it. So far I have found:

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Jupiter taken with DFK21

This was taken on Sunday 19th January 2014. I took it on my Altair Astro 8″ RC with a 2x Televue Barlow and an Imaging Source DFK21 (Colour Camera). It took me a while to get the options in the ic Capture Imaging Source software correct, but then I stacked it in Registax 6. I

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Upgrading the Observatory PC from Windows XP to Windows Vista

The support for Windows XP is finishing in April 2014. So really it was time to upgrade the observatory PC. I was previously using Windows XP Professional 32bit edition for quite a while in the observatory. I had no real issues with it, and I know a lot of people still use Windows XP on

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The Complete Guide to the Herschel Objects Book Review

The Complete Guide to the Herschel Objects The beginning of the Herschel Objects book gives a brief introduction to the Herschel catalogue and then talks about William Herschel the telescope maker and the various telescopes that he made. The book is broken down into each of the constellations. Within each constellation chapter are the details

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Comet ISON December 2013

(Starting from the bottom) Comet ISON, Panstarrs and Lovejoy (at the top) Map for 6am Tuesday 10th December 2013

Moon using an OIII filter on an 80mm

This was taken on 14th November 2013. I took it using my Altair Astro triplet 80mm refractor with an Atik 314L+ camera through an Astronomik OIII filter. I took 20 frames of 1/1000th of a second (the lowest exposure the Atik 314L+ will do). I then stacked it in Maxim DL. I did not remove

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AstronomyLog Goes Social on Facebook and Twitter

We have now joined the social revolution and created a page on Facebook and an account on Twitter. We will be posting on Facebook and Twitter as much as we can, so please follow us on Twitter and Like Us on Facebook. Follow AstronomyLog on Twitter – @AstronomyLogUK Like Us on Facebook.

Control your Observatory PC from your iPhone

Since I wrote the post on controlling your observatory PC remotely (and I had the letter about this published in Astronomy Now). I have now discovered that you can now control your Windows based observatory PC from your iPhone, iPad or Android device – whether it’s a phone or a tablet device. Why and How

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