Off – to see a wizard

by Chuck May 14, 2014

I've been investigating some new tools, processes, and hosts for this blog. But since this whole blog is an exercise in navel gazing, I'm probably the only one who cares.

If it makes any difference, I'd like to keep the URLs consistent between this installation and wherever the blog ends up – but I'm not 100 percent sure that that matters in any real sense. If you're interested, I'm thinking about either moving my host to Microsoft Azure or maybe to an Office 365 SharePoint site. Not sure right now, and not sure if it matters.

In any case, this is mostly just a post to see if Word makes a decent blog posting tool – Windows Live Writer is still the best tool that I've used, but I'll "make do" with Word if I have to.

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Blog

Build log: Thermic 20

by Chuck August 14, 2013
WP_20130813_001

Parts cut out for the pod. The LHS was has been closed on Saturday for the last couple of weeks, so I had to buy my balsa at the craft store. They don’t have 1/2-inch thick balsa, so I built up the pod from a piece of 1/4-inch and two pieces of 1/8-inch stock.

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Pod parts cut and roughly shaped. Since I’m making a built-up pod anyway, I decided to create a ballast box in the nose by drilling out a hole in the 1/2-inch thick center piece. Later I’ll cut an access hatch. In the end it will be similar to the ballast box in the Thermic 30.

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This is the pod after gluing up the layers. I spread glue between the sheets and then clamped it until the glue set up.

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Tail boom cut and pinned in place. I cut the tail boom out of 1/4-inch stock. One of the things that I need to work on is making sure that my cuts are right-angle. The cuts that I made are at a slight angle, to there is a fair amount of glue filling one side of the joint between the boom and the pod on the port side. After I’ve attached the wing I’ll need to carefully sand the bottom of the boom when I’m rounding it to make sure that it’s symmetrical. Fortunately, the top is the factory edge, so the wing saddle and stab mount are both square. At this point the all up weight is 19 grams. It should go down considerably once I sand the pod to shape. Fillets applied and a wedge to glue in place to fair the pod into the boom. Once the glue dries it will be ready to sand to shape.

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Gliders

Building the Thermic 20

by Chuck August 14, 2013

I decided to start my first build with the Thermic 20. Actually, I tried to start with a Skua, but the parts for the Skua are so small that I was having trouble with cutting the parts. The 20 has bigger parts to work with, so I think that I'll be better able to get it done.

As always with this sort of project, I started by printing out a full-size version of the plan. Fortunately the plans fit on a single sheet of 8.5x11 inch paper, so I didn't need to do anything special to get a set of plans. The plans are quite complete, but they are missing the thickness of the flying surfaces. As best I can tell, the wings should be 1/8-inch sheet balsa and the rudder and stabilizer are 1/16-inch balsa.

When I went out to purchase the materials for the Thermic I had some trouble finding 1/2-inch thick balsa for the pod. The LHS was unavailable for the last couple of weekends so I was forced to buy balsa sheets from the craft store. I decided to build the pod in three layers, a 1/2-inch layer sandwiched between two 1/8-inch layers. I'll add a ballast box by drilling out a hole in the nose before I glue up the sandwich.

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Gliders

Bit by the glider bug

by Chuck August 14, 2013

Back in the day I was interested in radio controlled model airplanes -- I even owned a Great Planes PT-40 and a nice 6-channel transmitter, receiver and servo set. I got most of the plane done, I just needed to cover the wings to complete it, but I lost interest in the project and eventually gave the whole thing away, including the RC gear, to one of my friends who was flying at the time.

But a few weeks ago we bought an indoor remote control helicopter to tease the foster kittens that we had. Flying the little helicopter around the living room got me interested in RC planes again, so I hit the internet and started reading about available trainer planes. That got me searching for plans, and I hit the jackpot on a site called Outerzone.

They have plans for over 4,000 vintage airplanes (when I looked today it was 4,703). One of them is the Sterling Diamant sailplane -- a model that I bought and built from Bailey's Toys and Hobbies in Pasco years ago. Like almost 40 years ago when I was 12 or 13 years old. Suddenly I had the bug again. If I have a copy of the full size plans I can build the Diamant again -- but this time I'll reinforce the wing joint so it doesn't fold up on the first flight like my earlier one did.

But I haven't built any model anything for a long time. Back then I was building and flying model rockets, so I had some experience with cutting and shaping balsa. I'd built a stick and paper airplane or two, so I knew how to use dope and tissue. But it's been almost 40 years, and I don't have those kinds of skills anymore. And I'm a lot smarter now than I was then, so rather than in with both feet the way I did when I was 12, I decided on a building program to get me from not knowing what I was doing back to a competent builder.

The Web got me into this mess, and so once again I turned to the Web to get me out of it. On Outerzone there is a set of plans by Frank Zuic for a series of gliders. They range in size from the solid balsa Thermic 20 to the built up Thermic 100, a 100-inch wingspan free-flight glider. I figure if I build my way up the Thermic series, at least until I get to the built-up versions like the Thermic 50 (or maybe the Goldberg Gentle Lady when I get to that size) I'll have the skills that I need to build a new version of Diamant that will actually fly.

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Gliders

M13 - Hercules Globular Cluster

by Chuck May 10, 2013

Astronomy Observation Record

 

Date: 5-9-2013 Time: 9:30 p.m. Location: Brambly Hill
Instrument: Z10 Aperture: 254mm Focal length: 1250mm
Eyepiece/Magnification: 32/ 13/ 9/
Transparency: Seeing:
Conditions:

 

Object Notes

Cor Caroli

 Used this double to align finder scopes tonight. Something more interesting than a bright star.

M13

M13 appears in the finder as a faint blur. It is centered in the finder just as nHerc reaches the edge.

At low power (32mm) M13 is a gray blur that resolves into a grainy patch with averted vision. The best focus for averted vision was HIP81848 up and to the right of M13 in the field of view. There is a rich field of background stars that set off the patch of M13 nicely.

Medium power (13mm) brings out individual stars around the edges of the cluster. The stars form gently curving arcs with gaps between. The center remains a glow, but now with surface irregularities suggesting structure within. Filed stars are now dimmer than the cluster and the cluster dominates the field of view.

With high power (9mm) the cluster fills the field of view. There is an amazing sense of depth with tendrils of stars reaching out toward me. The center, while still a mass of unresolved stars has a subtle texture that suggests additional layers lying within.

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Backyard Astronomy

Rings Again

by Chuck May 9, 2013

Astronomy Observation Record

 

Date: 5-8-2013 Time: 9:00 p.m. Location: Brambly Hill
Instrument: Northstar Aperture: 76mm Focal length: 700mm
Eyepiece/Magnification: 32/22 13/54 8/88 6/
Transparency: 5 Seeing: 5
Conditions: Nice night. Damp -- lots of condensation.

 

Object Notes

Arcturus

Just to get the scope aligned.

Saturn

Upped the magnification -- used 8mm eyepiece.

At 13mm I could see four moons, two with averted vision.

Used 8mm eyepiece finally. Hard to hold Saturn in field of view for very long. However, certainly worth the trouble. Five moons are visible, four stead and the fifth with averted vision. The rings show a definite gap between the inner and outer rings and faint bands can be seen on the planet, one above and one below the equator.

The 13mm and 8mm make it appear that I'm seeing the south pole of Saturn and looking up at her rings.

Tried using the #12 yellow filter. The division between rings might have been crisper, but I'm not sure.

While using the 13mm a satellite moved rapidly through the field of view, West to East.

Satellites

10:17 -- Saw two moving almost in parallel, side by side. First saw by Cor Caroli. As they passed through Draco's tail a third appeared between Alkaid and Cor Caroli. The third must have been in a lower orbit; it was catching up to the other two and faded first.

Satellites

10:27 -- Another swooshed through Hercules

Polaris

Extremely faint companion directly above in eyepiece. 13mm to split.

 

 

 

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Backyard Astronomy

First Light!

by Chuck May 8, 2013

Astronomy Observation Record

 First light for the new Zhumell Z10 telescope.

Date: 5-7-2013 Time: 9:0 p.m. Location: Brambly Hill
Instrument: Z10 Aperture: 254mm Focal length: 1250mm
Eyepiece/Magnification: 30/ 32/ 17/
Transparency: Seeing: Average
Conditions: Bright sky

 

Object Notes

Saturn

Used Saturn as a bright spot to dial in the Telrad and finder scope. Finder was pretty much dead on, Telrad needed some work.

Easily resolved rings and Titan even with lowest power. Averted vision shows suggestion of ring lanes with 8mm eyepiece.

Arcturus

Another bright spot to test the Telrad and finder. Color oscillates between blue and yellow -- when I deliberately defocus the smeared star appears yellow.

Castor

Easily found by naked eye. Through 17mm eyepiece three attendant stars are seen. Not sure if these are companions or field stars.

Mizar & Alcor

As usual a lovely cluster of jewels in the night sky. As I was watching a satellite too small for the naked eye rush passed East to West.

Cor Caroli

 Practically at the Zenith. Makes it a tough target for the Dob.

Satellite

 Another satellite. This one heading from NW to SE. Picked it up near the altitude of Cor Caroli, it finally faded near Saturn

M51

Caught my first faint fuzzy. At least I think that I did. I saw two unresolved blurs of light, each with a brighter center. The lack of field stars made it difficult to focus properly when changing eyepieces.

Occasionally I could make out a suggestion of spiral arms with averted vision, but I think I'm again guilty of wishful seeing.

Found with 32mm, best view was with 13mm. Tried the 8mm, but view was too dark.

Thought about trying to draw, but decided it wouldn't look that good. Should use a 2-per drawing sheet or make a new sheet for quick drawings that I can index off logs.

Tags:

Backyard Astronomy

M51 -- Whirlpool Galaxy

by Chuck May 7, 2013

When I was out gathering first light with my Zhumell Z10 I managed to find M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. At least I'm pretty sure that I found it -- there weren't any field stars so it was difficult to get a good view.

I could definitely see two linked patches of light, and from time to time I thought I could see a suggestion of spiral arms with averted vision. It's definitely a DSO that I'm going to go back to.

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Backyard Astronomy

Light Bucket

by Chuck May 7, 2013

WP_20130507_004Bought a new telescope this week – it showed up today and I put it together in the afternoon. I’m looking forward to taking it outside this evening and trying it out. It’s a Zhumell Z10, a 10-inch Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount. It’s got about 4 times the mirror area than the Northstar behind it, so I should be able to see deeper into the sky and see more of the faint fuzzies up there.

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Backyard Astronomy

Rings Redux

by Chuck April 23, 2013

Astronomy Observation Record

 

Date: 4-23-2013 Time: 10:30 p.m. Location: Brambly Hill
Instrument: Northstar Aperture: 76mm Focal length: 700mm
Eyepiece/Magnification: 17/45 8/58
Transparency: Seeing:
Conditions:

 

Object Notes

Saturn

Saturn is at opposition this week, so I went out to see what I could see.

At first I tried to see Saturn by pointing my telescope at Arcturus. While Arcturus is a beautiful star, it certainly isn't Saturn.

Saturn was about 26 degrees above the horizon -- quite low, but culmination is only 35 degrees so I wasn't losing too much.

I found Saturn easily with the 17mm eyepiece. With averted vision I could glimpse Titan low and to the left of Saturn. The gaps between planet and rings was clear.

Using the 8mm lens Titan came into view without using averted vision. after about 10 to 15 minutes I could start to see other faint speckles around Saturn with averted vision. Several of Saturn's moons are theoretically within range of the Northstar -- I might have been picking them out.

The moon was 92% of full tonight. It washed out a great deal of the sky. In the sky around Saturn only the very brightest stars were visible. I put the NELM about 3.5, but that might be low.

Tags:

Backyard Astronomy

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