# What I Did This Summer...



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

OK, not so much an essay as an explanation of why there have been few reports from my sector on camping trips.

In a previous thread I asked some of the members of the forum about external speakers because I was building a patio and wanted to add speakers to enjoy while using the patio. I promised to post a picture of the patio when it was done. 38 tons of gravel, sand, blocks, pavers, cap stones and miscellaneous other heavy stuff, and here it is:








Personally, I think it turned out OK. I broke it in with a BBQ for the family, a beer and a $12 cigar. It seemed to work OK! Another view:


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

WOW! That looks great!

Great job! Looks like lots of hours of enjoyment and relaxation to come!!!









I've been dreaming of one for over our spa.







Hey!







Now that you've practiced on this one, wanna come do it again!


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Looks good. When can you come and do mine....


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Very nice Brian.









Did you do all the work yourself or did you have professional help?


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Looks great. Congrats ! Come on a $12 cigar? im not quite sure it deserved a cigar that good......... *IN KIDDING !!!*

I have been toying with the idea of a large Pergola over our patio. may be looking for some plans.......


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Design and construction - all mine.

My DS helped a lot on the project too when he was 'available'. I had some help hauling some of those 38 tons of materials too. Three of us moved about 9 yards of gravel in one day. All the rest was hauled (about 100ft from the driveway to the project) by my son and I.

One nice thing was that we bought a paver/tile saw that we will be using on future patio and walkway projects. Paid for it by buying rather than renting (it helps to find it on sale for a hefty discount too). It took a LOT of cutting hours.

It was a lot of fun and completing it was a bittersweet event.


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Nice job Brian! Very professional looking project.

A classic look on your pergola. Nice touch with the four 4 x 4's in each column. Very stong construction.

Dan


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## ember (Jan 17, 2008)

NICE JOB!! if you ever move east and need a job I could probably put you to work


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

So when are you going to put the roof on, now that you have it framed??

Just kidding, looks great.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Very nice but I have to ask, where is the telescope pier?


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

It looks great! What a nice place to hang out and relax









Which speakers did you go with and where did you put them? 
Can't see them in the photos...or is that the point?


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> Very nice but I have to ask, where is the telescope pier?


I had to finish the patio first to know where to put it! I'm working on it (but don't tell DW just yet - this will just be our secret).


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

skippershe said:


> It looks great! What a nice place to hang out and relax
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, I never did get the speakers hung. Does it count if you put them in the shopping cart on Amazon and then took them out again? I'll use the same phrase my boss uses when I ask for a raise:

"Well, due to budget priorities..."


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

BigBadBrain said:


> Does it count if you put them in the shopping cart on Amazon and then took them out again?


Sure.....that counts









Who wants to listen to all that noise coming out of little white boxes anyway? Just an annoyance in my opinion


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

BigBadBrain said:


> Very nice but I have to ask, where is the telescope pier?


I had to finish the patio first to know where to put it! I'm working on it (but don't tell DW just yet - this will just be our secret).
[/quote]








OK your secret is safe with me









I setup my scope last weekend to practice using it and spent way to much time aligning the wedge but after a night of viewing I left the tripod setup and the next night I mounted the scope on it and was imaging in minutes instead of hours. So a peer in in the future for me too. Think I will make a cement peer using a sonotube. Will just tell the DW it is a mount for a sun dial.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> I setup my scope last weekend to practice using it and spent way to much time aligning the wedge but after a night of viewing I left the tripod setup and the next night I mounted the scope on it and was imaging in minutes instead of hours. So a peer in in the future for me too. Think I will make a cement peer using a sonotube. Will just tell the DW it is a mount for a sun dial.


Whoa! That was the same thought I had. DW bought me a sundial years ago and has asked me over and over when I'm going to put it up! Now I somehow have to explain why the wedge is located under it!

(I'm on the verge of getting my first SCT - still deciding which one I'll get though. The budget is limited!)


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

BigBadBrain said:


> I setup my scope last weekend to practice using it and spent way to much time aligning the wedge but after a night of viewing I left the tripod setup and the next night I mounted the scope on it and was imaging in minutes instead of hours. So a peer in in the future for me too. Think I will make a cement peer using a sonotube. Will just tell the DW it is a mount for a sun dial.


Whoa! That was the same thought I had. DW bought me a sundial years ago and has asked me over and over when I'm going to put it up! Now I somehow have to explain why the wedge is located under it!

(I'm on the verge of getting my first SCT - still deciding which one I'll get though. The budget is limited!)
[/quote]

Yeah it is a hard decision and I almost didn't get the one I wanted. I bought my first SCT a Celestron Celestar C8 and had a lot of fun with it, in fact I still have it and one of these days I will have to get around to selling it. Even though I loved this scope it is just a basic mount, the only drive is right ascension, had to add a dec motor a hand control to guide it and for the most part it worked but my needs grew and I wanted a new scope that had everything built into it. I thought about going with the LX90 but that LX200 had somethings I really wanted like locking mirror and a electronic focuser plus better tracking and a better PEC. I also considered a Celestron CPC 800 so much so that I had one on order but it was back ordered and I thought about over night and decided I want he LX200 first and I would be second guessing my decision forever. I changed the order to the LX200 and never regretted it. There those who love the lx200 and those who hate it like Chevy vs Ford.

I waited a long time saving the money to get the one I wanted because too many times I have settled for something less and I'm never satisfied. This scope is so cool, if I want to do just visual work I set it up Alt/az it aligns itself and I view what ever I want. The accuracy it so good, i just select to object and most of the time it is dead center of the eyepiece and always in the field of view. I also bought a JMI case with a large rubber wheel up grade, this scope is very heavy so the wheels help. This is the reason I bought he 8" scope because I like to take it camping and anything bigger is just to heavy for me to handle. But for just visual work the LX200 is no better than the LX90. There are also German equatorial mounts too but a good one can cost more than the LX200 so anyway you look at it if you want a good scope for Astro photography they cost a lot.

I'm writing code for a Pic micro to control my Canon Digital rebel, I want to be able to select the number of exposures I want and the exposure time like 5 minutes each with enough delay between exposures to give the camera time to write to the memory. Then I can setup the scope get the auto guider going and focus the camera get a target and go insode while the camera takes pictures.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

I'm almost settled on the LX90 8". The extra $800 for the LX200 I just can't manage right now. That would eat all of my astronomy budget for the foreseeable future! I need some for that pier remember! And AP, and...

I'm really very excited about the new scope. Wanted one of these (the Celestron Orange tube 8") for the last 40 years. I actually remember when it came out - I think I saw it in my brother's Boy's Life. We oohed and aahed over it and he eventually lost interest - not me. I got my first 'telescope' two years later. It was the best my folks could afford but it wasn't that good. I still have it though - the OTA at least. I was almost ready to buy one in the early '80s but DW got all doe eyed and started talking about a little one (not telescope) and that was the end of discresionary income!

I have to say that that lust of the Orange Tube has left me leaning towards the CPC 800 more than once! Very hard to decide! Right now though, the LX90 is likely to be the one I order (free $200 8.8mm EP with a purchase from Astronomics). The accessories seem cheaper than Celestron too. Can you get the autofocus for the LX90 as an after market accessory?

(Can a person hijack his own thread?)

The famous C8:


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Love the Orange scopes, I have a friend who has one and I think he is going to sell it, along with his 13" Dob. He had a stroke and things we take for granted are really hard for him now plus his new house is totally surrounded by big trees. Yeah you can get the micro focuser later and If I remember the CPC 800 is close in price to the LX90 so that is also a good choice too. I put a small 60mm scope on top of my LX200 connected my Meade DSI camera to it and autoguided the scope with it and even though the 60mm is a cheap one it worked very well so this weekend I will set it up again and see if I can get a good picture or 2. Took a few pictures of m27 Dumb Nebula , M57 Ring Nebula, and M45 The Pleiades. Wish we had less light pollution. You are really going to love using a GOTO scope the tours are fun and informative and I was surprised at how many objects I can see even from my light polluted back yard.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

I was presented with a very tempting offer today - I might go for it.

The Seven Sisters are my favorite Messier. Probably because I can see them without a telescope even in my LP. I'm likely going to go to them first thing when I get a new scope.

I'm surprised a 60mm is enough for a guide scope. If you've got a bright enough star to guide with then it must be kind of independent of the objective. I had someone on Cloudy Nights try and convince me that a fork mount on a wedge is not good enough for AP - those hard core GEM guys can get kind of pushy!









Now I have some heavy duty thinking to do on that offer... stand-by.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

BigBadBrain said:


> I was presented with a very tempting offer today - I might go for it.
> 
> The Seven Sisters are my favorite Messier. Probably because I can see them without a telescope even in my LP. I'm likely going to go to them first thing when I get a new scope.
> 
> ...


I kinda compare Cloudy night to the RVnet, can't get a straight answer without a lot of flaming going on between members I finally stopped going there because every time I asked a question a fight would break out about what is the best scope or best method of doing something even had the Moderator delete posts before I could read them because they were so nasty mean.

Actually I was surprised how sensitive the DSI is I see lots of stars no mater where I'm pointed and lost are good enough to guide with and I refresh every second. I plan on getting maybe a Short tube 80 to guide with but a nice ED would be better and could it to image too. I will use the money I get for my C8 to buy the guide scope. The DW wants to buy me a new eyepiece, so I told her to buy the new Televue Ethos and she is OK with that so I can't wait, I haven't even looked through a Neglar so this should be a real treat. Not sure what your offer is but hope it works out for you.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Man, I need your DW to talk with mine! An Ethos! Let me know when that happens, I'd love to hear how you like it. And an ED guide scope - you're living the high life!

Yeah, Cloudy Nights can get kind of sparky. I don't do a lot of posting there but I like to read some of the observation reports.

The offer is still under consideration. I got another one just after the first and the two are both exceptional - still not sure what I'll do. I think either way I'm going to end up with a new scope (new to me at least) sooner than I thought.


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