Category Archives: Telescope

New Telescope Remote Power System

Camping, Telescope, ,

Do Lithium (LiFePo4) battery deliver on the manufacturer’s claims. We’ll explore my 30 month experience, which didn’t live up to expectations. But there are some factors that need to be investigated as part of my conclusion. Then I’ll share me new LiFePo4 battery system for my remote telescope kit.

A couple years ago I shared my remote kit  set-up for astrophotography. It included a Lithium (LiFePo4) battery bank consisting of three 16AH lithium batteries wired in parallel. I built this in April of 2021 and was my first experience with LiFePo4 batteries.

Continue reading New Telescope Remote Power System →

Sizing An RV Solar System: Part 1

Camping, Solar, Telescope, , ,

Planning a Simple Small Solar System

This post will detail how to calculate a small solar system including how to determine what battery and solar panels will be optimum.

I am following up on the two previous solar system posts:

  1. 20 Year Review of the TriMetric Battery  Monitor
  2. Solar Charge Controllers: PWM vs MPPT

It isn’t a theoretical exercise, but looks all the steps I followed for my small remote power system for my telescope rings.

This system is smaller than what most people might want for a camper. Although it could work for a van setup. The methodology is important and is applicable for any RV Solar System planning

Continue reading Sizing An RV Solar System: Part 1 →

The Desert in Bloom, Part 2

Camping, Telescope,

At the end of April, I shared pictures of the desert in bloom in this post. I also mentioned that the flowers in the higher elevations hadn’t reached their peak and that should happen in a couple of weeks. We had returned home because I had jury duty and we had some doctor appointments. Three weeks after that trip we left home to return to the Mojave Desert.

Continue reading The Desert in Bloom, Part 2 →

My Remote Kit For Astrophotography

Telescope
Remotely controlling my telescope this summer in the Sierra Nevada.

Yes, this site is supposed to be focused on backpacking and camping. When camping I often bring a telescope and nowadays I image deep sky objects with it. You may not be interested in telescopes, but this post is really about finding solutions to a “problem,” researching, planning, and the final product. Continue reading My Remote Kit For Astrophotography →

How Accurate is a Cammenga Lensatic Compass?

Backpacking Gear, Telescope, , , , , ,

In my last post I discussed the inaccuracy of an iPhone compass, and I promised to share the results of my Cammenga compass. The task, if you read the previous post, was to align my telescope mount to true North.

The challenge is the top of the mount is angled upward about 34 degrees, so I can’t place the compass on the top of the mount. So, I had to take a different approach.

Continue reading How Accurate is a Cammenga Lensatic Compass? →

How Accurate is an iPhone Compass?

Backpacking Gear, Telescope,

It’s been a while since I posted anything here. With the COVID pandemic we have been pretty much stuck at home. Unlike most people, I’ve been having a blast with my hobbies. So much fun, in fact, there is no time for TV or blog posts.

This is about the built-in compass app in my iPhone SE. Not the newest SE version, but the original SE. No, I am not taking my iPhone backpacking.

I needed an accurate compass to set up my German Equatorial Telescope Mount, and the iPhone seemed like a perfect solution.

The result was surprising.

Continue reading How Accurate is an iPhone Compass? →

Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 7)

Telescope
Celestron SkySync GPS

GPS for Your Telescope?

Many years ago, back before I had a cell phone with a GPS chip, I bought a dedicated GPS unit for my telescope. Even though I can use my cell phone to enter the time, latitude and longitude into the hand controller of my scope, I continue to use the Celestron GPS unit only with this particular mount and only when I am visually observing.

When I am taking pictures the mount is connected to a computer and it is easier to just enter the coordinates into the computer. I have two other telescope mounts that I only use for taking pictures. I don’t use a GPS unit with them either.

So the bottom line is you don’t need one. For somethings it is a “nice to have” item. For what it costs there is probably some other piece of equipment that would provide more value for the money, such as an eyepiece, a filter or a Bahtinov Focusing Mask, such as the one I bought for my Celestron 8″ telescope.


Farpoint Bahtinov Mask for the Celestron 8" SCT with Hyperstar / Fastar ready system. Simple to fit, easy to use lifesaving focus tool, end your focus struggles. Bahtinov focus masks make focusing for astrophotography fast and easy. Ends the pain of ...
Farpoint Bahtinov Mask, FP410H – fits Celestron 8″ SCT with Hyperstar/Fastar. | Fast Easy focus for your astrophotos a lifesaving tool for focusing your astro camera or dslr.

(as of April 12, 2024 12:38 GMT -07:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Farpoint Bahtinov Mask for the Celestron 8" SCT with Hyperstar / Fastar ready system. Simple to fit, easy to use lifesaving focus tool, end your focus… read more

In this post I’ll discuss how this doohickey works. Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 7) →

Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 6)

Telescope
A “red-dot” finder scope is mounted on the top of the telescope towards the rear.

 

Finder Scopes

The higher the magnification a telescope has the more difficult it is to locate objects in the sky.

To overcome this, a finder scope is often mounted on the telescope to make it easier to locate objects. A finder scope has low magnification and a field of view much wider than a telescope. Finder scopes make it easier to locate objects, and are useful when aligning the scope to the night sky and are especially useful with computerized “go-to” telescopes.

What follows is a brief explanation of finder scopes and what I use. Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 6) →

Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 5)

Telescope

Eyepieces

Most telescopes come with one inexpensive eyepiece. One of the first purchases a new telescope owner will make is a selection of eyepieces. Online astronomy forums have hundreds upon hundreds of pages debating what eyepieces are the best. Some amateur astronomers have invested more money in their eyepieces than they paid for their telescope!

Time to discuss eyepiece basics. Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 5) →