What have you been up to lately?

[Ylem]

So sorry to hear Juha, take care, sending good vibes.
Glad your Mom can help out.

[SkyHiker]

Very sorry to hear this Juha, it must be very difficult for you. I hope the treatment goes well and wish you a quick recovery. Glad to hear you have help from your family.

[Bigzmey]

I've been in hospital. The left lung filled with fluids, and living at home became too hard.
They had a peek into my lungs and collected some samples. And also put some talcum in there to turn down the fluid accumulation.
Now I'm back home waiting for the results. My mother came to rescue - took care of my cat and my dog while I was in the hospital. She also spends a couple of days with me now to help me learn to cope.

Sorry to hear Juha. I wish you speedy recovery! Did you have any respiratory infection recently which could have triggered it?

[OzEclipse]

I've been in hospital. The left lung filled with fluids, and living at home became too hard.
They had a peek into my lungs and collected some samples. And also put some talcum in there to turn down the fluid accumulation.
Now I'm back home waiting for the results. My mother came to rescue - took care of my cat and my dog while I was in the hospital. She also spends a couple of days with me now to help me learn to cope.

Hi Juha,
So sorry to hear this. Hang in there! We were wondering where you disappeared to this past 10 days?

Sending you my good wishes that the biopsy and scans on the tumour come back with a possible treatment plan. I recall you mentioned that your wife died a few years ago? If she also died of cancer, even if different type, perhaps you need to look at environmental factors in the home?

Occupational hygienists have very good data correlating human exposure to environmental contaminants with development of cancers and other pathologies.

Best Wishes
Joe

[Thefatkitty]

Juha, I'm so sorry to hear of this; I hope it's nothing too severe. Glad your Mom was able to help out with the furballs and you as well.

Take care, hope to hear from you soon!

All the best my friend,

[DeanD]

I've been in hospital. The left lung filled with fluids, and living at home became too hard.
They had a peek into my lungs and collected some samples. And also put some talcum in there to turn down the fluid accumulation.
Now I'm back home waiting for the results. My mother came to rescue - took care of my cat and my dog while I was in the hospital. She also spends a couple of days with me now to help me learn to cope.

Thinking of you Juha. I hope all goes well with the treatment!

Wishing you all the best,

Dean

[Lady Fraktor]

Hoping for a quick recovery Juha, all the best and take care.

[turboscrew]

I've been in hospital. The left lung filled with fluids, and living at home became too hard.
They had a peek into my lungs and collected some samples. And also put some talcum in there to turn down the fluid accumulation.
Now I'm back home waiting for the results. My mother came to rescue - took care of my cat and my dog while I was in the hospital. She also spends a couple of days with me now to help me learn to cope.

Sorry to hear Juha. I wish you speedy recovery! Did you have any respiratory infection recently which could have triggered it?

It started what I suspected to be influenza.

[turboscrew]

I've been in hospital. The left lung filled with fluids, and living at home became too hard.
They had a peek into my lungs and collected some samples. And also put some talcum in there to turn down the fluid accumulation.
Now I'm back home waiting for the results. My mother came to rescue - took care of my cat and my dog while I was in the hospital. She also spends a couple of days with me now to help me learn to cope.

Hi Juha,
So sorry to hear this. Hang in there! We were wondering where you disappeared to this past 10 days?

Sending you my good wishes that the biopsy and scans on the tumour come back with a possible treatment plan. I recall you mentioned that your wife died a few years ago? If she also died of cancer, even if different type, perhaps you need to look at environmental factors in the home?

Occupational hygienists have very good data correlating human exposure to environmental contaminants with development of cancers and other pathologies.

Best Wishes
Joe

Her case was very different. Not a cancer at all, but liver/kidney failure.

[OzEclipse]

Her case was very different. Not a cancer at all, but liver/kidney failure.

Sorry to hear that. Not a nice way to go.
Stay strong!
Joe

[Butterfly Maiden]

@turboscrew I wasn't aware of your cancer scare Juha

I was away from the Forum all last month dealing with some personal stuff, so I must have missed you mentioning this previously.

I hope all goes well with that and they can provide you with suitable treatment.

Take care.

[notFritzArgelander]

Well I am finally home after a delightful 5 week stay with my daughter's family. I'm only home since 9 July and already there are plans for me to go back in Sept.

I had decided to pull the trigger on a kit to remodel the Z12 to be more transportable. Alas @densteele has ceased operations. I can't regret the delay since I prioritized getting a vehicle and a visit to my old sensei, who is not getting younger. So since I have the replacement focuser in hand, the plan will be to fix it and transport it to SLC where it can be kept at ground level in a shed. That way I don't have to negotiate the stairs with it. (The hernia I got from carrying it about seems to have spontaneously healed.)

I was planning to do a comparison of the new Antares 15mm pseudoMasuyama against the Orion version as requested by @Lady Fraktor . Weather has been somewhat favorable except for winds. Tonight the winds are gone and there's a Full Moon that shows that the sky has thin clouds.



I'm also set back but the fact that management/ownership of my place decided to clean my carpets in my absence. Since they omitted any rational drying process there is now a mold problem and that is taking a chunk of effort.

[pakarinen]

Interviewed for a position higher up the food chain and closer to home. Sounded exciting, but I can't see jumping ship for what would effectively be a smallish salary bump. Plus I'd have to rebuild my vacation accrual, wait for retirement matching to kick in, etc., etc. Of course that assumes they make me an offer, which they might not.

Oh well, never hurts to look.

[SkyHiker]

Well I am finally home after a delightful 5 week stay with my daughter's family. I'm only home since 9 July and already there are plans for me to go back in Sept.

I had decided to pull the trigger on a kit to remodel the Z12 to be more transportable. Alas @densteele has ceased operations. I can't regret the delay since I prioritized getting a vehicle and a visit to my old sensei, who is not getting younger. So since I have the replacement focuser in hand, the plan will be to fix it and transport it to SLC where it can be kept at ground level in a shed. That way I don't have to negotiate the stairs with it. (The hernia I got from carrying it about seems to have spontaneously healed.)

I was planning to do a comparison of the new Antares 15mm pseudoMasuyama against the Orion version as requested by @Lady Fraktor . Weather has been somewhat favorable except for winds. Tonight the winds are gone and there's a Full Moon that shows that the sky has thin clouds.



I'm also set back but the fact that management/ownership of my place decided to clean my carpets in my absence. Since they omitted any rational drying process there is now a mold problem and that is taking a chunk of effort.

What kit did you order, do you have a link? I cut a piece out of my Z12 tube to make it collapsible. In first instance I used 3 carbon fiber trusses but the attachments were through small screws. Later I replaced them with cheap aluminum struts with 3 wingnuts each, which works fine. The base is unchanged and the weight shift by losing the off center piece of tube is just within the tolerances of the adjustable bearings. It now fits on one back seat of my car, which is what I wanted. A quick release system for the struts would have been nice, but the wingnuts work.

[davesellars]

Been insanely busy the last couple of months, and with the lack of proper dark anyway / having to wait for midnight for it to be remotely dark enough my astro-mojo has been at zero even though there's been some wonderfully clear nights.

Astro-twilight only until the 28th July here but at least this is slowly creeping back in now from 11:30pm until 3am although at least Jupiter is just about starting to get high enough now although means a session at around 2-3am :p Also Cygnus is now in a great position and looking forward to viewing the Veil nebula again, so perhaps I'll get the 4" refractor out in the coming nights (at least it's warm at the moment) and take a look...

[notFritzArgelander]

Well I am finally home after a delightful 5 week stay with my daughter's family. I'm only home since 9 July and already there are plans for me to go back in Sept.

I had decided to pull the trigger on a kit to remodel the Z12 to be more transportable. Alas @densteele has ceased operations. I can't regret the delay since I prioritized getting a vehicle and a visit to my old sensei, who is not getting younger. So since I have the replacement focuser in hand, the plan will be to fix it and transport it to SLC where it can be kept at ground level in a shed. That way I don't have to negotiate the stairs with it. (The hernia I got from carrying it about seems to have spontaneously healed.)

I was planning to do a comparison of the new Antares 15mm pseudoMasuyama against the Orion version as requested by @Lady Fraktor . Weather has been somewhat favorable except for winds. Tonight the winds are gone and there's a Full Moon that shows that the sky has thin clouds.



I'm also set back but the fact that management/ownership of my place decided to clean my carpets in my absence. Since they omitted any rational drying process there is now a mold problem and that is taking a chunk of effort.

What kit did you order, do you have a link? I cut a piece out of my Z12 tube to make it collapsible. In first instance I used 3 carbon fiber trusses but the attachments were through small screws. Later I replaced them with cheap aluminum struts with 3 wingnuts each, which works fine. The base is unchanged and the weight shift by losing the off center piece of tube is just within the tolerances of the adjustable bearings. It now fits on one back seat of my car, which is what I wanted. A quick release system for the struts would have been nice, but the wingnuts work.

To be clear, I hadn't placed the order for the kit. I had only made inquiries. In response to your request for a link I went back to the site and noticed that while they are closing business they are still taking inquiries. It looks like I may have overreacted.

http://dobstuff.com/index.htm

I'll put aside my initial panic and ask what is possible.

I remember from "the old sod" your mod of your Z12. I'm not comfortable with dealing with work on metal materials. While I admire your Z12 mods, I worry about my skills to bring it off.

[SkyHiker]

....

To be clear, I hadn't placed the order for the kit. I had only made inquiries. In response to your request for a link I went back to the site and noticed that while they are closing business they are still taking inquiries. It looks like I may have overreacted.

http://dobstuff.com/index.htm

I'll put aside my initial panic and ask what is possible.

I remember from "the old sod" your mod of your Z12. I'm not comfortable with dealing with work on metal materials. While I admire your Z12 mods, I worry about my skills to bring it off.

Ah OK. I checked your link. It looks like they have some nice collapsible Dob conversions, but they don't come cheap. Keep in mind that a collapsible Flextube Skywatcher 12" is about $1750. Also, the kit takes some DIY work if I am not mistaken. Part of my reason for converting it is so I could keep the base with the nice super smooth lazy Susan and adjustable Alt bearings. While it fits in the car's rear seat, I still have to twist it in a special way to get it through the door opening, after which I carry the mirror part into it. I have to be careful not to get my fingers in the bearings because I can't see what I am doing with my head outside and above the door opening. It works. Good luck with whatever you choose to do, the Z12 is a nice scope.

[notFritzArgelander]

....

To be clear, I hadn't placed the order for the kit. I had only made inquiries. In response to your request for a link I went back to the site and noticed that while they are closing business they are still taking inquiries. It looks like I may have overreacted.

http://dobstuff.com/index.htm

I'll put aside my initial panic and ask what is possible.

I remember from "the old sod" your mod of your Z12. I'm not comfortable with dealing with work on metal materials. While I admire your Z12 mods, I worry about my skills to bring it off.

Ah OK. I checked your link. It looks like they have some nice collapsible Dob conversions, but they don't come cheap. Keep in mind that a collapsible Flextube Skywatcher 12" is about $1750. Also, the kit takes some DIY work if I am not mistaken. Part of my reason for converting it is so I could keep the base with the nice super smooth lazy Susan and adjustable Alt bearings. While it fits in the car's rear seat, I still have to twist it in a special way to get it through the door opening, after which I carry the mirror part into it. I have to be careful not to get my fingers in the bearings because I can't see what I am doing with my head outside and above the door opening. It works. Good luck with whatever you choose to do, the Z12 is a nice scope.

I think you've succeeded in talking me into either fix and leave the solid tube as is OR work the metal. My family in SLC's house has outbuildings with a shed and a separate large workshop. They also have competencies I might find dubious in myself. Could you possibly share the plan you used for your conversion? I took a look at the current kit prices in the above link and have decided against that. They've risen substantially since my last look.

I like the rocker box as is. It DOES operate nicely. I also have an azimuth circle that I find useful along with a Wixey inclinometer.

I did find this thread here: viewtopic.php?p=159800&hilit=collapsible+Z12#p159800 but ball parking dimensions would be nice.

[SkyHiker]

I think you've succeeded in talking me into either fix and leave the solid tube as is OR work the metal. My family in SLC's house has outbuildings with a shed and a separate large workshop. They also have competencies I might find dubious in myself. Could you possibly share the plan you used for your conversion? I took a look at the current kit prices in the above link and have decided against that. They've risen substantially since my last look.

I like the rocker box as is. It DOES operate nicely. I also have an azimuth circle that I find useful along with a Wixey inclinometer.

I did find this thread here: viewtopic.php?p=159800&hilit=collapsible+Z12#p159800 but ball parking dimensions would be nice.

I will take some picture with a tape measure tonight (work is calling). That is the most critical part, to make the right cut. Drilling the holes requires careful measurement with the struts in place. Aside from that it's easy. The cutting was done with a simple jigsaw. I put 2 holes in the struts, one set for AP (I had made an autoguided dual axis EQ platform ready for testing right before I won my 127 mm Apo).

One thing you should try first is to see if you can get the base in your car or else there is no point in doing this. For me, I had to turn the base such that the roof side was in between the two tall sides IIRC, then it slides in. Check also how much space above is left becaus you need to be able to lift the mirror section into it. I will try to do the same to compare. Also note that the focuser section has to be stored separately. It's not nearly as big as tphe rest.

[notFritzArgelander]

I think you've succeeded in talking me into either fix and leave the solid tube as is OR work the metal. My family in SLC's house has outbuildings with a shed and a separate large workshop. They also have competencies I might find dubious in myself. Could you possibly share the plan you used for your conversion? I took a look at the current kit prices in the above link and have decided against that. They've risen substantially since my last look.

I like the rocker box as is. It DOES operate nicely. I also have an azimuth circle that I find useful along with a Wixey inclinometer.

I did find this thread here: viewtopic.php?p=159800&hilit=collapsible+Z12#p159800 but ball parking dimensions would be nice.

I will take some picture with a tape measure tonight (work is calling). That is the most critical part, to make the right cut. Drilling the holes requires careful measurement with the struts in place. Aside from that it's easy. The cutting was done with a simple jigsaw. I put 2 holes in the struts, one set for AP (I had made an autoguided dual axis EQ platform ready for testing right before I won my 127 mm Apo).

One thing you should try first is to see if you can get the base in your car or else there is no point in doing this. For me, I had to turn the base such that the roof side was in between the two tall sides IIRC, then it slides in. Check also how much space above is left becaus you need to be able to lift the mirror section into it. I will try to do the same to compare. Also note that the focuser section has to be stored separately. It's not nearly as big as tphe rest.

Thanks in advance!