2018-05-30 Software Bug Squashed
A particularly odd software problem was traced to an operating system update. Uninstalling the update and applying the component pieces manually solved the issue. This wasted nearly a full week tracking down the root cause.
2018-05-29 SBIG CCD Camera ordered
We got started with a borrowed SBIG STL-11000 full-frame CCD camera (thank you Stef C. !). This has helped us with testing and alignment.
As funds are starting to come in, we worked with SBIG Imaging Systems to find the right match of camera for the telescope we have. Thanks for your support! Special thanks to Doug G. and Tim P. of Diffraction Limited / SBIG for their help.
This image below taken by Paul M. is an unprocessed (not prettied up) sample of what might be expected from the new camera.
2018-05-20 Software configuration and problem solving
Initial setup went reasonably well, but a nagging problem showed up when trying to find objects and submit them for imaging. This wasn't an issue with ACP, the cause is some underlying operating system issue. Troubleshooting is going slowly.
2018-05-18 Why is this computer so SLOWWWWW ?...
Turns out that the default settings for TheSky X are designed to give you a beautiful graphical experience. Well, we don't need that. Our little Intel NUC i5 computer was spending its time trying to render (redraw) the visible sky graphics 30 times per second, for about a zillion stars. It looks great on a high-end PC or Mac, but definitely too much horsepower was being used for something we didn't need. A quick fix was turning off hardware acceleration and lowering the frame rate. Now it zips along nicely.
2018-05-16 DSLR Camera won't power up
Turns out the DC adapter we were using with the Digital SLR camera isn't completely compatible. RASC volunteer Colin Haig made this camera available to support wide-field observing. The camera is an astro-modified Canon 6D that is sensitive to hydrogen-alpha light, bringing out the red colour of nebula. This will take some time to sort out.
2018-05-11 Sponsors, Donors, Board support
For several weeks, Colin H. was reaching out to a number of potential suppliers of astronomical equipment and software and was able to obtain commitments from two key partners, and consideration from a few others. Donated software and equipment will save the RASC several thousand dollars. The RASC Board continues to be very supportive. Fundraising efforts are about to shift into higher gear.
2018-05-09 IAU Observatory Code
We need to get an observatory code from the International Astronomical Union. Better put this on the to-do list!
2018-05-02 Teams - Tech, Science, Photo, Outreach
We've concluded that we need a technical team of experts, as well as a science team to help plan the observations, a team for astrophotos, and people to help create educational and outreach actvities.