A few of us were at SPOC last night; Chris Clark was giving a refresher course for the 32" (many thank, Chris!). It was the first time I've had a chance to use the big scope since Bruce installed the laser pointer. It is installed inside the telescope "cage" such that the general public can't easily access it. The remote switch is conveniently located near the eyepiece, and Bruce has installed a long tube on the front to eliminate glare. I actually used it as a "finder" on two objects and it worked very well for that purpose. It's primary purpose is to show guests where the telescope itself is pointing. The only way anyone could be exposed to the beam is if they were on the top of the observatory wall and the telescope happened to be pointing directly at them. The public and telescope operators can't be exposed to the beam on-axis. Many thanks to Bruce for a thoughtful, safe, and functional installation!
Perhaps we could ZAP Patrick with it when he flies overhead. I am sure he won't report to the FAA.
Seriously, eventually all the scopes out there will have one also. The semi cramped confines where a little to confined for handheld lasers. Hopefully, hand held laser use will be limited to out side of the observatory. Bruce also did some work on focuser to reduce maintenance. Erik A few of us were at SPOC last night; Chris Clark was giving a refresher
course for the 32" (many thank, Chris!). It was the first time I've had a chance to use the big scope since Bruce installed the laser pointer.
It is installed inside the telescope "cage" such that the general public can't easily access it. The remote switch is conveniently located near the eyepiece, and Bruce has installed a long tube on the front to eliminate glare. I actually used it as a "finder" on two objects and it worked very well for that purpose. It's primary purpose is to show guests where the telescope itself is pointing.
The only way anyone could be exposed to the beam is if they were on the top of the observatory wall and the telescope happened to be pointing directly at them. The public and telescope operators can't be exposed to the beam on-axis.
Many thanks to Bruce for a thoughtful, safe, and functional installation! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Chris pointed that out...I'm hoping there's still enough back-focus to accomodate my binocular viewer...and it is nice to not have all those extension tubes, but I noticed in certain configurations that now the observer's head hits the gusset plate. On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 12:57 PM, <erikhansen@thebluezone.net> wrote:
Bruce also did some work on focuser to reduce maintenance.
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