Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; 
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Spent some time under the stars this evening.  Started out enjoying the view of Mars.  Then I just stood under the stars and just stared into infinity.  There is something about seeing the winter stars through bare tree branches.  A nice way to get the wind back into my sails.

Kevlar Slings

I am done using a cable sling for my 12" scope.  It seems to be more trouble than it is worth.  I had the scope out on a rare (very rare) clear night last week and it does not take much for the cable to need a new adjustment after transport.  The problem is that even a small misalignment of the cable causes astigmatism in the mirror.  This is caused be some of the side nuts getting loose and the cable moving up or down on the side cable pins (what the cable attaches to).  I went with a Kevlar sling on the 16" cell and I think I am going to go ahead and do that for the 12" as well.  I know that some telescope makers don't like using slings because they stretch over time but I am not too concerned about it.  I will simply take up the slack or replace the sling.  Using Kevlar will minimize any stretching anyway.

Now I wish these clouds would go away!

Protostar Spider Arrives!

I saw that the Protostar spider arrived today!