Roy Hughes

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Viewing 20 posts - 21 through 40 (of 42 total)
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  • in reply to: Huge atmospheric experiment starting #582125
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    They’re all at Heathrow.

    Flightradar24 is showing a reasonable but not large amount of activity in the SE right now with a massive pileup at LHR 🙂

    in reply to: 1998 HL1: upcoming fly-by #581503
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Skim the earth at about 4 million miles distant.

    New definition of skim I suppose.

    Roy

    in reply to: Scanning 35mm slides #581326
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Film of the 1960’s was certainly ‘Safety Film’ and 35mm was often marked as such outside the sprocket holes. I don’t think the explosive stuff was around post WW2.  Of more concern is colour shift. The dyes used in colour slides are not that reliable over time. It’s a very good reason to digitise them now and correct them where necessary. I’ve got some commercialy produced Kodak slides that (since 1973) have realy shifted, to the extent that I would not show them again. Mind you, they were not wonderful when new. B&W film and slides (especially home processed) of course don’t shift with time.

    I’ve found a good write up on film base at:  https://www.nedcc.org/assets/media/documents/Preservation%20Leaflets/5_1_FilmBaseGuide.pdf

    in reply to: Forum error messages #581198
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Still complaining about line 883… Oh well.

    Roy

    in reply to: DSLR mounted red dot finder #580834
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Someone has beaten you to it.

    Just found a 3D printed adaptor on ebay!

    “Telescope red dot finder to Camera Hotshoe mount New 3D printed”

    Roy

    in reply to: Scanning 35mm slides #580785
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    A few years ago I experimented with a cardboard gadget [some assembly required!] that was supposed to enable a regular scanner to do negatives and slides – search for:

    How To Scan Negatives Using A Standard Scanner

    and you should find it. I gave up and got a cheap scanner at Maplin. Sorry, not astro slides – just our street party in 1977.

    in reply to: Tolles eyepiece put to the test #579625
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Interesting results.

    With only two surfaces the tolles was always considered to be “bright”, but of course at that time these eypieces were not coated.

    There seems to be a problem with the post, the image of the results just shows a broken image symbol, however the click through to your members page works OK.

    Roy.

    in reply to: Ooops! #579305
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Glad to see Ponder Stibbons has finally recieved the recognition he so richly deserves after so many years sterling work at UU.

    Roy

    in reply to: C11 cover #579297
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    I prefer to try methelated sprit (alcohol) first, it’s less likly to remove the paint as well as the glue.

    But if that fails, white sprit should do the job.

    Roy

    in reply to: JD to BJD convertion #579272
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    A google search for BJD date found http://astroutils.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/time/utc2bjd.html

    This in turn leads on to ‘source‘ (at foot of the page). Maybe this would help.

    Sorry, I don’t understand a word of it but it may mean somthing to you.

    Roy

    in reply to: Videos from the 2018 January Ordinary Meeting #578998
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Nick,

    Thanks for the videos. I was not able to get to the meeting and they are a real help.

    However, I don’t know if it’s just my set-up but,  there’s somthing weird going on with the downloaded MP4 videos.

    Thin horizontal lines flicker. In the starfield shots, random stars pop into and out of existance on an about 1 to 2 second cycle.

    Is this due to the transcoding to MP4?. Are there any parameters you can twiddle to stop it?

    Roy

    in reply to: The curious case of the corkscrew meteors…. #578874
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Hi,

    Assuming that portability is important. I wonder if a stiff bungee cord attached to the tripod head and an ‘auger earth anchor’ (see GOOGLE) under the centre of tripod might hold things stable enough for your purpose? A bag full of sand (much beloved by eclipse chasers) might swing in the wind and be more of a hinderence than a help. But an auger would put the whole thing in tension, with the whole planet on the far end!

    Roy

    in reply to: Well here it is – the new Obsy #578754
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Had a look at the data sheet for the roofing material you used and it states “UV stable for 3 Months”.

    Looks a bit iffy for this application.

    Roy.

    in reply to: Advice Sought #577997
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    David,

    Home made devices might do as well(?).

    Quote from a much earlier post, re. devices we made in the 1960-70s:

    ‘In 1974, vol 84, no 3 (April) page 189 D. G. Daniels describes a similar device looking a bit more like the one I built (long since gone to the scrapbox in the sky). If you’ve got a fast connection you can download a copy from the BAA (6.57Mb) a real blast from the past. If you do, then, rather than spend hours trying to scroll to the right issue do a search for time-switch (the “-” IS important!)’

    Roy.

    in reply to: Reference star finder spreadsheet?. #577101
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    You seem to be using LibreOffice (AKA Open Office) Calc  on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

    The Macro language (which programs buttons) is not compatible in my experiance.

    There is a Microsoft “Viewer” application which MIGHT work if you download it.

    I had to recode all the macros in my spreadsheets when I ported to Open Office from Excel, a non trivial task.

    ——————–

    I’ve since checked…  and the Microsoft viewer won’t run macros either!

    ——————–

    Roy 

    in reply to: Powered USB Hubs #576950
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    You are using 5m USB cables. Are these passive or active?

    Several years ago I came across a 5m active USB 2.0 Extension cable in Poundland and at 1 pound it was was a no brainer to buy one in case I ever had a use for it. I never have.  

    Ebay (try USB CABLE ACTIVE) has a large selection of them, one even claiming to be USB 3 and supporting 5Gbps data rate.

    Might be an alternative, if they work!

    Roy.

    in reply to: Far Side of the Moore #576826
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Just listened to the broadcast.

    Yes – Fiction.  Yes – a good use of 45 minutes.

    The ending was way over maudlin, but equally it forced a tear for Patrick’s memory.

    Roy.

    in reply to: Far Side of the Moore #576820
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Thanks for the heads up. It’s programmed into my PVR.

    Following the clues at the BBC I pulled the bad book review in question from the archive (JBAA v. 65 iss. 4 page 171) and it’s not at all complementary.  I can understand if Patrick was upset.

    By a curious coincidence the very next review by Dr. King was on “The Equatorie of the Planetis” (a book I bought, remaindered, on a trip to Manchester in 1969) and most favorourable.  

    I don’t know if a hard review was typical of Dr. King but I suspect not.

    Pages 153-155 of the same journal contain a verbatim(?) report of a talk by Patrick on Journalists and their reporting of Astronomy. Hilarious, Patrick at his very best

    Roy

       

    in reply to: New BAA website #576519
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    Guess what,

    your fixing that one revealed another after ‘Section Directors’. 

    I’ve done a visual check and I think that’s the only other one on the page.

    Roy

    in reply to: PST Help please #576508
    Roy Hughes
    Participant

    The screw is unlikely to be anything special.

    So why not take the scope to your local engineering supplies shop and ask them to help?

    A suitable Knurled Head screw should be fairly easy to find.

    If my local shop is anything to go by they should be able to do a suitable screw for less than a pound or so.

Viewing 20 posts - 21 through 40 (of 42 total)