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NCO teardown August 4, 2018

Posted by dbock1 on August 5, 2018 at 8:20 AM

On August 4, 2018 we had a crew out to tear down the two observatories here at the Northern Cross Observatory complex. The dome was 40+ years old, and the roll off 34 years old. The dome had rotted away about a decade ago, and was no longer in use. The outriggers of the rolloff have degraded and were at risk of collapsing. The roof itself was getting too difficult to open as well.

So we took them down.

The plan is to have a new one built in a couple of weeks on the old platform, th...

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Boon Hill Star Party for the Perseids

Posted by dbock1 on July 16, 2018 at 9:25 PM

I'm hosting a star party @ Boon Hill for the weekend of the Perseids.

Building demolition weekend Aug 4

Posted by dbock1 on July 16, 2018 at 9:20 PM

A change in plans. I've decided to have the two observatories torn down the weekend of August 4th. The dome one has been out of commission for over a decade due to rotting wood. That building was built in the 70's The roll off roof one needs to be replaced. So I've invited people over for a tear down Saturday. A new building will be erected later this year, with a motorized roof. I've contracted Backyard Observatories out of Ohio to do the build. They will schedule sometime in August or S... Read Full Post »

Observatory Maintenance

Posted by dbock1 on June 21, 2018 at 9:40 AM

Over the next 6 weeks or so, I'll be doing some much needed maintenance on the observatory. The track and rail system is 34 years old, and needs components replaced, since the outrigger wood has warped over the years. The plan at this point is to run new rail beams, and steel runners. In addition, new doors need to be built. Once these are completed, a new drive system for the roof needs to be designed and built, to allow this old guy to open it up easier. We may replace the shingled roof with ... Read Full Post »

Spring Star Party 2018 at Boon Hill

Posted by dbock1 on May 14, 2018 at 9:45 PM

May 4 - 8, 2018 We had our first star party of the year at Boon Hill. The weather was clear to mostly clear for 4 nights, which gave us an opportunity to do a lot of viewing through the 18" Dob. In addition, I was able to get 3 nights of time lapse images recorded. The first night the dew was heavy, so that nights data acquisition didn't work out, but the next 3 nights did. We also took a short field trip to Paul Murphey's observatory, where he has a new C11 setup in his 8x8 rolloff roof.... Read Full Post »

TheSky X

Posted by dbock1 on April 12, 2018 at 8:35 PM

I decided to update from TheSky 6, to TheSky X today. Very different user interface. A couple of nice features right off the bat are the importing of comets and asteroids is a direct link. In 6 I had to go get a file from MPC, and import it into the application. From 10, you just push a button and it gets it for you. Another feature which I won't use yet, but could, if I want the plug ins, is managing the camera and autoguider and plate solving. These are plugins for more money. Since I hav... Read Full Post »

Boon HIll Club House is up

Posted by dbock1 on August 13, 2014 at 4:00 PM

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.751688728220696&type=1

2014 Summer Solstice Star party

Posted by dbock1 on July 5, 2014 at 12:05 AM

A couple of us travelled up to Boon Hill to do some observing and time lapse photography. It so happens that we broke ground on the bunkhouse on Friday the 27th.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.729534600436109&type=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqoGY46V3-I

Cheers.

Arizona OSP X star party

Posted by dbock1 on July 4, 2014 at 11:35 AM

I attended the OSP X star party in AZ in late May.

Pictures from that event:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.717352438320992&type=1

Upcoming star parties

Posted by dbock1 on January 16, 2014 at 12:50 AM

The last weekend in March, I'm hosting a star party at Boon Hill, which is west of Cadillac Michigan.

The last weekend in April, I'll be attending another northern michigan star party.

The last weekend in May, I'll be attending a star party in Arizona.

Although I've thought about going to the Winter Star Party, I've never been convinced it was worth it, since it isn't a dark sky location... Good seeing, but not any darker than my backyard.

The summer will bring a...

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Boon Hill Amateur Astronomy

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