Jim, When you get all set up, you will end up with a harness of bundled cables, wrapped up in split coil sleeves, or something. If you do remove the CP3, I would put a small plastic bag (or Saranwrap)

Hi, If the Petrie dish has value, then it is far simpler to attach a mic to the side of a pier, and plug the mic output into your laptop audio port. The waveform can be captured and displayed, and dis

Hi, I have been thinking about putting a temporary pier in the ground, to see how the back yard observing spot works out. I don't want to commit to heavy steel posts and concrete bunker footing. I was

Hi, The other benefit, I was considering, is that it can be sawn to length, with some work. However, you can do a deal with a contractor doing road work, and he will cut one evenly, to your requiremen

Hi Don, My engineering background reminds me of these pitfalls as well, and it is a concern at the back of my mind, but I still wonder how much stiffness in this application, is really enough. If I we

Hi Dean, That is one thing that has always really bugged me about S&T magazine - now, recently another, that they have gone back to stapling, and you can't find an old issue since there is no longer a

Dean, One final S&T criticism before I stop (my off topic rant). I too complained to the editor that it was really dumb on the part of their new owners, to make the magazine changes in mid year. Anyon

William, My point was, I expect "news people" to be on top of stories in their industry, that is what I PAY them for, or I would just subscribe to the internet. They should have been prep'd, with a st

If I were in their line of work, I would maintain a continual liaison with major product manufacturers, so I would have a heads up, (with a non disclosure agreement), and be prepared with an article.

Sounds like it would be nice to have uploadable catalogs, that we could swap space with existing ones that might not be in someone's particular field of interest or study. Joe

William, Your CP2 is probably set to Lunar tracking rate - change it. Joe

How about using the +6v port? Plug in an audio cable and measure the voltage at it's pigtail (or use an unwired audio jack and use it's tangs. I assume it is tapped off the main 12V input, and might b

Hi, I wonder why manufacturers put their mount serial numbers in such hard to see locations. Losmandy G11 serial number is under the mount base plate. Seems to me, if I needed to look up the number to

Thanks Marj, I have also been looking for the serial number, and just spotted it inside the forks, on my new 2007 AP900. It might be worth noting that there is also a second serial number tag on the s

Hi, I just ran into another web article on pier construction and sand fill. This is a Gov. Of Canada design for a remote steel pier - a "GPS Monument" to hold a GPS in a stable position to measure gro

Maybe the answer to this whole issue is to change the AP firmware so that "Sync = Recal", an to do an actual AP type Sync, you use a two button sequence. Shouldn't be a problem, since Sync is "almost

Thanks Glenn, That proves my point - who is going to blink first? Since there is no agreed upon standard for choosing to issue a "Sync or a Recal", then it makes sense for the AP firmware to change. O

Thanks Ray, Looking forward to seeing this problem come to a final resolution. I hope all other software developers follow your lead. Joe

Hi Stuart, Straying a bit OT, I just wanted to comment about using an old "portable" laptop in the cold. Last year I decided to run a series of cold soak test of an old IBM laptop in my garage, at abo

Hi Stuart, Thought about that too, in my own winter conditions., in Toronto. My plan is to tape a red filter sheet inside a large Zip-Lok bag, maybe a large "turkey roasting" type from the grocery, an