The SkyShed Pod arrives!

The SkyShed Pod odyssey has ended! On Thursday, July 5th, a Old Dominion freight truck pulled up in front of my house and disgorged many large cardboard boxes containing the POD.



Fortunately, all contents arrived in good order and without damage. After passing the large boxes off to local children (box forts!), construction of the POD began in the backyard. The lower walls were a snap to assemble. Wayne, Farhat, and SPI have done their homework! Hard work really began with the dome assembly. The dome halves are really a two person job (I did it myself, but don't recommend it!) to assemble. When it comes to placing the domes halves on the wall please do yourself a favor -- find a helper, maybe two helpers.

In any event, within 24 hours, I had an assembled POD.



Watch for more information on this exciting product.

My SkyPod XL3 ships!

Received the news I've been waiting for from Wayne of SkyShed. My POD has shipped! Apparently Wayne has had assorted problems with parts suppliers, probably not unusual for a new product. With any luck the POD will arrive before the Table Mountain Star party.

I just finished upgrading the solar panels on my Lazy Daze RV which gives me a spare 85 watt solar panel for the POD and its equipment. The panel will feed a 90 aH deep-cycle battery that in turn will run the telescope mount, cameras, and laptop. All I have to do is wire it all up :-)

BTW, if you're ever looking for solar power equipment, check out Amsolar. Great kits and great support. Their address is: http://www.amsolar.com .

SkyPod Odyssey continues ...

While I wait for Wayne Parker and SkyShed to finish my XL3 pod (a 3 pod bay version) there's plenty to do. One of the major projects is the installation of a 100' network cable out to the pod's location. The install required digging a trench and laying a underground conduit for the cable. One end terminates in a yard shed near the pod and the other end inside my house. The cable pulling under the house required a trip into the crawl-space under the house -- YUCKK!

Anyway the cable is pulled and ready to go. Now I just need the pod :-)

The SkyPOD odyssey begins...

Actually the odyssey to bring a SkyShed POD began in June 2006 when I saw the first POD ad on AstroMart. That was the beginning of a long wait for the POD to go into production. Well the wait ended on April 3rd and I now have one on order :-) I'll be blogging a bit more often now as I follow my POD's travels to my backyard.

What is a POD? It is probably the most innovative small observatory to come along in years. Check out this link for details: http://www.skyshedpod.com/.

A Year in the Life of the Universe -- Robert Gendler's stunning new astrophotography book

All I can say is WOW! Robert Gendler's new book is a piece of work! For those of you who haven't heard of Robert Gendler just take a peak at the year end photo specials that the astronomy magazines publish. He's sure to be in there. His work is also featured frequenty on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website.

But back to the book. The book is your basic coffee table picture book with a brief discussion of each photograph. I only wish there was more technical information on each photograph (exposure, equipment used). The book can be purchased at the Sky and Telescope online store or at Barnes and Nobles booksellers stores. If you're serious about astrophotography this is a must have purchase!

For more information on Robert check out his website.

Televue Paracorr

Want to make your inexpensive dobsonian reflector perform like an instrument that costs twice as much? The Televue Paracorr is the best addition you can make to your reflector's eyepiece collection. Look through a typical reflector's eyepiece and you'll see a nice central image, but the closer you get to the edge you'll see an effect called coma. It's particularly bad with inexpensive, fast (f5.0 or less) dobsonian reflectors. Put this corrector in front of your eyepiece that'll all go away and you'll have nice round pin-point stars. :-)

Click here for an image of the Paracorr.

Dark Sky Sites -- Greenwater, WA

As promised, the Greenwater, WA area is the next in my list of dark sky sites. Greenwater is a small town on highway 410 on the way to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort and Mount Rainier National Park. It is only 45 minutes from my house in Auburn, WA, but, due to the mountainous terrain, has some great dark skies. Hopefully you noticed that I said "area." Greenwater is the gateway to a vast complex of forest roads. Intermingled in the forest are old clear-cuts giving great access to the sky in all directions.

The real fun begins when you travel about 2 miles to the east of Greenwater. On your right will be forest road 70. FR70 takes you into the heart of the Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National forest around the Greenwater river valley. Like I mentioned there are any number of clear cuts that could be used for astronomy -- the trick is finding them. Google Earth is an excellent way to find sites before you travel to the forest. But for starters try following FR70 until you reach FR7030. It'll be on your right and it crosses the Greenwater river. Follow FR7030 until you reach FR7036. FR7036 follows a ridge line that is approx. 5,000 to 6,000 feet in altitude with a large number of clearings. The location you use for observing is up to you :-)

Here's a Google map link to the area: Link to Greenwater area

M31 from a Greenwater mountaintop:
One thing to note. This is a remote area with mountain weather. Prepare yourself accordingly!