iOPTRON - Astronomy Technology Today

ASTRONOMY
TECHNOLOGY TODAY
Volume 7 • Issue 2
March - April 2013
Publisher
Stuart Parkerson
Managing Editor
Gary Parkerson
Associate Editors
Austin Grant
Chad E. Patterson
Art Director
Lance Palmer
Staff Photographer
Craig Falbaum
Web Master
Richard Harris
3825 Gilbert Drive
Shreveport, Louisiana 71104
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WHAT WE DO
ATT associate editor, Austin Grant,
called a few weeks ago to share his discovery
of yet another astro-related gadget. This one
was particularly exciting to me and will be,
as well, to anyone else whose interests
include ultra-wide field astrophotography.
As a teaser, Austin described three key
aspects of the product before identifying it,
characteristics that, in his opinion, would
make it especially interesting to ATT
readers. Of the three, I remember only the
last, because it was that factor that struck
the most resounding chord. “You get to
take something apart and put it back
together again!” Yep, that got my full
attention, just as Austin knew it would.
No, I’m not going to share Austin’s
discovery here; we’ll read about it soon
enough in an upcoming issue of this
magazine. But I am going to dwell on that
taking-things-apart/putting-them-backtogether
angle, because I think it has a lot to
do with why so many of us enjoy our
astro gear as much as, if not more than,
astronomy itself.
I look about my small home workspace
and should be embarrassed by the clutter.
In one corner are computer cases from
which I’ve salvaged parts for future PCs.
Stacked on top are assorted drives, card
readers, fans, cables and such – stuff that
should be stored away in boxes somewhere,
if not discarded altogether. But there it all
sits … in plain view.
In another corner are bags of tools. At
least the tools are in their sleeves today
instead of where they’re normally found,
scattered over every work surface in the
Editor’s
Note
Gary Parkerson, Managing Editor
room. You’d think a guy who makes his living
at writing would devote desktops to laptops,
pens and paper, not hex keys, calipers,
spanner wrenches and such.
In yet another corner is an old German
equatorial mount, all set up on its tripod,
ready to support a telescope, as if I might
actually observe something from the interior
of this room. I’ve been tuning that
mount, off and on, for the past few months,
but it’s really there because I just like looking
at it.
And then there are the telescopes –
actually, pieces of telescopes – all in stages
that range somewhere between fully assembled
and fully disassembled. Fact is, few of
them are likely to again see full assembly
until it’s actually time to use them, or to
part with them.
Austin has contributed an article to this
issue of ATT that features Rigel System’s
bolt-on USB-nSTEP motorized focus
system, as well as a couple of AstroSystems’
passive collimation tools. I live within a
5-minute walk of Austin, so I was on hand
when he installed the Rigel hardware and
when he first used the collimation tools.
Good times, those!
Installation of the Rigel nSTEP system
is bolt-on-simple, so why would that quickand-easy
process thrill an inveterate
tinkerer? Well, some of us keep bolt-on simple
and some of us milk it for all its worth.
No, you don’t need to remove the stock
focuser from the scope tube in order to
install the nSTEP motor drive, but, hey,
you might as well, right? And while you’re
at it, isn’t it a great time to clean each
12 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY