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? →

When Should You Replace Your Trailer Tires?

Travel Trailer,

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? →

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.

Now retrieving the rating.

(as of November 17, 2024 07:59 GMT -08:00 – 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) →

Seventy

Hiking,

Some Thoughts on Aging and Petroglyphs

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 →

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) →

Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 4)

Telescope

Powering Your Telescope

If you buy a telescope with “Go To” functions, which I advise, you’ll need a way to power it. Motor driven mounts such as the NexStar Alt-Az mounts cannot be manually adjusted to view objects. As discussed in Part 3 of this series, eight AA batteries can power the NexStar telescopes. Unfortunately the batteries don’t last very long. Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 4) →

Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 3)

Telescope,

How to Set Up and Align a “Go To” Telescope

In this post I will discuss setting up a computerized, motor driven telescope using my Celestron NexStar 8se.

This won’t be a detailed “how to” but rather a high level overview of what is entailed. The steps will be similar to how many mid “Go To” telescopes are set up.  Continue reading Telescope Buying Guide For Campers (Part 3) →