So the title of this site is “Nick’s Excellent Camping and Backpacking Adventures.”
But there haven’t been many adventures to write about in the past year, and zero since Joyce broke her ankle last September.
That is about to change.
Continue reading Where Have the Excellent Camping and Backpacking Adventures Gone?
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?
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.
Interesting that the most popular post on this site is Tire Pressure Secrets for Camping Trailers & Tow Vehicles with over 17,000 views since I published it in 2016.
Perhaps it isn’t popular and folks just think I’m an idiot. Given that, tires are important.
I just replaced the tires on our camper, which were a little over 4 years old. It might be helpful to share this information as to when tires should be replaced. Not when the tread is worn, which should be an obvious indicator, but is there a certain time limit for tires? Continue reading When Should You Replace Your Trailer Tires?
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.
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In this post I’ll discuss how this doohickey works. Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 7)
In case you think I misspelled the title, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Oases, is the plural of Oasis. But on to the story.
Yesterday morning, when I awoke, it somehow occurred to me that it would be a good day to hike to a Palm Oasis.
I didn’t have any specific oasis in mind. Continue reading Palm Oases
Last Sunday I turned 70 years old.
My son, Joe, called the day before and suggested we go for a hike together, which was an excellent idea. No better way to celebrate any milestone of holiday than going for a walk out into the desert.
Joyce’s ankle is healing. Although she can’t walk on it, she has a scooter and a wheeled walker enabling her to get around without any assistance. So no problem for me to take off from home for a day. Continue reading Seventy
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)
So it’s that time again when we humans set our clocks back an hour, which for some people disrupts their lives. I’ll be 70 in a couple weeks so Daylight Savings Time is no big deal. Continue reading Falling Back, COVID, and How We’re Doing
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)