Blog (Tales of an Astrophotography Nothing)

The final hurdle at this point was finding an enclosure that satisfied a few criteria. It needed to be weatherproof first of all. While it’s pretty dry where I planContinue readingBuilding an All-Sky Off-Grid Camera: Part 4

The second problem to be solved when working off-grid is power. Solar seemed like the obvious choice—if not the only choice. I suppose a wind turbine might have been anContinue readingBuilding an Off-Grid All-Sky Camera: Part 3

The first “problem” to overcome with an off-grid all-sky camera is connectivity. There’s no sense in taking all-sky photos if you can’t get them uploaded someplace you can see them.Continue readingBuilding an Off-Grid All-Sky Camera: Part 2

In 2021, I purchased a 20 acre property in a remote part of my home state on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. It sits high above the valley floor,Continue readingBuilding an Off-Grid All-Sky Camera:Part 1

I’ve been running a Raspberry Pi 4 for the last couple of seasons as my imaging computer. That setup has worked pretty well. But the upgrades to KStars/Ekos have outstrippedContinue readingOrange Pi as Imaging Computer

I recently spent a night imaging remotely at a dark site about 30 minutes from my house. When I started processing the results, I noticed a single frame that hadContinue readingIt’s a Bird? It’s a Plane? No, just incompetence.

Many of us have limited sky views. As I’ve mentioned a thousand times here, my backyard view is abysmal. Not only do I have no view of Polaris… I haveContinue readingEKOS’ New Polar Alignment Routine is the Bee’s Knees

This spring marks my first “Galaxy Season” as an astroimager. Let me clarify: this spring marks my first “Galaxy Season” as a completely incompetent, at times bumbling, wanna be astroimager.Continue readingInaugural Galaxy Season

I’ve seen quite a few photos of nebulae on Astrobin where the stars have been completely removed. Some of these are absolutely seamless… you can’t see even a trace ofContinue readingNaked Rosette: Removing Stars with StarNet++

Any moron can get a halfway decent shot of the Great Orion Nebula. I should know. I’m any moron. I went out the other night to go for round 2Continue readingTrying to Make Chicken Salad out of Chicken S**t

I’m learning the hard way (the only way I seem capable of learning anything) that there is nothing easy about astrophotography. The whole endeavor is really just a series ofContinue readingOrion: So good I can’t even mess it up

I have the HyperStar v.4 from Starizona to pair with my Celestron EdgeHD 8 scope. It replaces the secondary mirror on the EdgeHD and turns a 2000mm focal length f/10Continue readingThe Quest to Collimate a HyperStar: Part 1

In the not-so-distant past, the folks at SkyWatcher added a new feature to its popular EQ6 mount: a USB port on the mount head. This is essentially just a built-inContinue readingEQ6-R Pro: Direct USB Connection How-To

I wish I could say that this is a rare occurrence, but here is an illustration of the all-too-present reality of Western Washington in January: a full day of steadyContinue reading24 Hours of Rain

Hi. I live in the Pacific Northwest. More specifically, I live about 40 miles east of the farthest west you can possibly get in the Pacific Northwest. You might haveContinue readingHow to Start a Hobby in the Worst Possible Location