Report from Louisville

I thought I would update folks on my journeys. I just posted a series
of web pages documenting my trip out to Louisville
http://www.personal.dvint.com/travel/2008-07-LouisvilleRelo/2008-07-LouisvilleRelo.html.
I arrived here July 27 and started work on the 28th. Work started out
slow, but its starting to pick up now. I've hooked up with the local
observing group. This is a full blown club with some sort of activity
almost every weekend and sometimes mid-week. They have an Urban
center and a dark site. They own property out in IN (about 30 miles
out of town) that is between two fields and farm houses - nothing
else around. Louisville kicks up a bit of a light dome to the east
but the other directions are dark. This area is grass covered and
divided into two sections. The front area is open for viewing and has
two buildings. One is an observatory with digital camera setups and
computers for a 16 inch reflector, the other building is a
multi-purpose building with facilities and meeting area. Here are
some pictures:
http://www.astronomy.dvint.com/2008-08-curby/2008-08-curby.shtml

I've been out to the site twice now. I've been told the nights have
been good, but seeing is best there when it gets cold - like 10
degrees cold! That will certainly test my desire to observe.

Has anyone tried a zoom eyepiece? I recently purchased a Baader
Hyperion 8-24mm and used it on my last outing. I was disappointed
that it wasn't hyperfocal through the whole range, but its only a
slight difference. I don't know if I would use this for constant
observation of a single object, but it was useful for jumping around
and also making easy jumps from low to high power. Especially because
my scope drifts when the eyepiece is taken out - the balance is that close.

I got to Louisville just in time to catch hurricane Ike blowing
through. We didn't have any rain, but we had a wind storm for a good
6 hours I would say. Winds got up to 80mph and took out 300 poles and
5000 lines. I was without power for 6 days, they finally got power to
everyone after 10 days.

..dan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danny Vint

Panoramic Photography
http://www.dvint.com

voice: 502-749-6179
     

---
October 9, 2008: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Use TAC's Calendar to list events: http://observers.org/calendar/Event.shtml
TAC mailing list - join or leave here: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac