About

My Background

Sometimes it helps to know a bit about the author of things technical. In my case I have a formal education in Physics, which included some introductions to Astronomy. My informal education is a bit more wide-ranging, including more astronomy by reading and doing as well as membership in a local Astronomical club. I started observing in high school and build a couple of mounts and a Newtonian 6″ scope, with a hand-ground mirror. The mirror was ground in the basement of the Cincinnati Observatory, which was founded by Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel in 1842. The observatory is one of the oldest in the country. https://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org/.

I also am interested in electronics, specifically microcontrollers and associated circuitry. This led to getting a Ham radio license and creating lots of home-brew gear. The culmination of that was a book on the whole subject of software defined radio (SDR). isbn 979-8323291762

The reason for mentioning the electronics connection this is the inclusion of the page on a microcontroller based DIY dew heater system.

Over the years I have had a series of scopes and mounts including :

  • Celestron 9.5″ SCT on a Gemini mount
  • An Astrophysics 130mm OTC on a Mach-One mount
  • A Celestron C5 scope and AZ mount
  • Orion refractor
  • iOptron mount

I recently exchanged most of that for the current set of gear outlined on the Equipment page.

Most of my imaging has been from my driveway here in Cincinnati, with occasional trips to nearby dark sites. The weather here is far form ideal for astro-imaging but modern advances in cameras and processing have made it possible to get satisfying images anyway.

The purpose of this site is to share my experiences and hopefully encourage other amateurs to give imaging a try. The hobby has given me a lot of satisfaction over the years.