Metal Detecting discussions and finds

All the haul was cool.

 

I have not detecting lately these days- been building a workshed/man cave to keep and use the toys I got for Xmas. Picked up a really nice telescope from a local who didn’t need it anymore, but it’s too big to lug in and out of the house. I also got a Maslow 4’ x8’ CNC router kit, and am planning to use one outside wall of the shop to temporarily mount the router stand on it whenever I am using it. I’m planning on using it to make some cabinetry and pull outs and a platform for the back of my truck.

http://maslowcommunitygarden.org/Maslow-CNC-Jumpstart-Bundle.html

If any of you guys are interested in one of these, PM me and I’ll send you a 15% discount coupon code.

I’m hoping to go detecting next weekend too, I do miss it and seeing what you guys are finding really makes that worse!

 

Happy New Years my peeps!!!

 

REEEEEALLLY???

This is one of my setups. I just fixed my broken laptop and just recently got it to work with my Orion Sirius EQ-G tripod. The 4.5in you see is going to be mounted onto the goto mount. I also have an 8in Newtonian I need to get off my butt and reassemble. I cleaned the Pri/Sec mirrors. Just not looking forward to the collimating.

Anyways, I cleaned the Pri/Sec mirrors on the 4.5in you see in the pic and it is already collimated.


The 80mm refractor you see riding on top is going to be used as a guide scope.

Anyways, I still have a lot to "configure".

I also have a 120mm refractor, 60mm refractor, a 3in Newtonian, and quite a few accessories (eyepieces, adapters, various imagers, etc).

Here's my 76mm (3in) Newtonian and the 60mm. I need to collimate the 3in. I THOUGHT I had already aligned the mirrors to see the "conjunction", but NOPE!!! Scratch that plan!!! I was NOT about to sit out in the cold and collimate a scope out in the cold.

 

I actually just got the same Orion 80mm Refractor you have from a fellow astronomy club member, but then in talking with the owner, he offered me a great deal on a mount and another scope to go along with it, a C14... my wife was a bit to say the least, but luckily she likes astronomy also and let me keep it!

So that’s why I have been building a shop as well as a safe place to park it out back when I am not using it! Way too heavy to store packed up. But I am planning to make transport boxes for it so I can take it to star parties at school when we start up again.

Did you know Hobbs is also into astronomy? He has some nice equipment as well. I guess it goes along with people interested in anything that has to do with nature and outdoors

 

@Hobbs ... No I did not know that? That's awesome as well.

JESUS H???!!! A C14???!!! Yeah, pretty damn BIG!!!

I've been wanting to get a SCT or MAK myself, but only a 6in... I was even looking at the Orion 90mm MAK. I live in an apt and basically have been for YEARS. Anyways, things definitely need to be on the more portable end... on my end. I was lugging around the 8in Newtonian and at the time I only had a regular Skyview non-goto mount and even then the "portability" was, I have to say, a hassle to deal with just that in itself. I can't even imagine a 14in!!!

I have a much, MUCH OLDER Meade DSI (the picture below is the exact model) that I bought YEARS ago. I never really got to use it as, at the time, I had plans on getting a motorized setup, etc etc etc... Anyways, now that I have a motorized head unit, I can start dabbling with taking deep sky images. HAHAHAHA, I'm using a Toshiba Tecra A11 i7 laptop that I just recently brought back from the dead, long story on what happened... but anyways, I now have full goto control with it interfaced to my EQ-G mount. I have even a MUCH OLDER Toshiba Satellite Pro6000 that I had "upgraded"... HAHAHAHAHA ... by changing the processor from the slowest one in that series laptop to the "fastest" processor in that series laptop along with maxing out the memory because I had many extra parts on me. I have the 6000 laptop running my imagers, which is all setup on that one. I wanted 2x separate laptops and for various reasons. Annnnnnyways...


But yeah, I have quite a bit a mixture of gear. As I type this, I'm charging my Harbor Freight jump pack as my power source (the exact same one below).


Anyways, that's really cool!!!

EDIT:
Btw, I STILL HAVE my old 965 eyepieces and they are in really good shape!!! Yeah, who says being small isn't as good???

 

Please post some of your images, they qualify as detector finds! Totally agree with you on the older stuff, I still have a C6 Comet Catcher with a rock solid old pre-Vixen equatorial mount. It’s the one I usually take on our camping outings. The mirror on it is light and doesn't get out of alignment very easily, which makes it great for long car trips. I also have a 12” Orion Dob, it has been my traveling scope for school star parties but it’s a bit too big to take for camping. The C14 is probably going to end up staying on its stand a lot, I got a wheelie cart for it so there will be minimal set up time for it.

I’m curious, for planetary imaging, what kind of camera would you recommend? I have a laptop but it has Windows 10, and only has USB, so I can’t take advantage of getting one of those used deals on well known older imagers because many of them only work with RS-232 interfaces and older Windows OS.

 

A few different options might be doable:
1) you can try the USB to RS-232 adapters, but you may have to mess with the FIFO buffer settings and a few other settings.
2) you SHOULD be able to use, for example, my older imager on a Windows 10 OS because it is mainly a driver driven unit. Mine is USB, but the older 1.0 or maybe above that, I don't remember? In either case, just as long as your Win10 OS installs the drivers for your imager, it SHOULD be fine.
With that said, now it is the actual program that "displays" the image from your CCD imager. For example, I can use "Starry Night" to connect to certain imagers that I have. There are other programs out there I'm sure, but that is what I use, plus the older "PHD" program that connects to my Starshoot Autoguider Imager. I'm really only familiar with those programs.
Finally, you have programs like "Registax" that is used to process/stack the images. I believe the latest version is "Registax 6"?
Most programs will work by choosing to use "comparability mode"... some times.
3) there are imagers out there now that are fairly cheap in price, imagers have dropped down in price like a LOT over the years!!!
Have you ever looked at "Orion Telescopes" web site? They have cheap to fairly expensive imagers... and then you can really get into expensive imagers that are out there, but why? Unless you're doing something science related that needs a super expensive imagers, I would just stick with ones that are around $500 or less, but that is just me. I'm on a budget either way, so I have to pick and choose which poisonous drink I want to swallow at that moment.
4) if you have a DSLR camera, you can usually connect your camera a few different ways to your scope. I bought this adapter YEARS ago.




Anyways, I can assure you that older or newer equipment works, it just all depends on your end goal.

So, after being long winded to respond back, most imagers are definitely USB driven. Again, even my old Meade DSI is USB, but just the older protocol, if you will. It still works just fine. As you likely already know, you just need a fairly good motorized head unit to track deep sky objects.

I'll post some pictures for sure. I haven't done any astro stuff for a while. My very first picture was Jupiter YEARS YEARS BACK and it was just a bright dot!!!

Finally, I was thinking about changing the title of this thread to include astronomy related stuff?

Anyways, I hope that somewhat helps?

There's so much to say, but the posts would be so long just to convey the thoughts.

But yeah, I'm CONSTANTLY on a budget. I'm currently saving up to get my LCE Header and a cat back for my hoopty.

 

HAHAHA, plus I'm a licensed HAM, tech level only, but yeah. I'm just not on air much as I got it to more experiment with RF related stuff whenever I want.

Too many hobbies, constantly on a budget, NEVER enough time!!!

 

That’s a sweet truck! When I first met my wife, she was driving the ‘85, it looked sorta like yours. We both wish we never sold it.

I’ll have to start a PM thread with you about imaging, there’s a lot for me to learn and a lot of questions I have about it. I do want to use it for imaging deep space and to look for exoplanets eventually, but only when I get aquatinted with all of it. Yeah, its a big learning curve for me right now, so I am just planing on imaging the local neighborhood for now.

73’s

 

Thank you!!!

73'
clear

 

So, I recently developed an interest in Trade Tokens. So much so that I ordered a copy of Nevada Trade Tokens so I can get learned.
Welp, the book arrived, but it is not what I was expecting.....
Is somebody tryna' send me a message??




ThriftBooks claims that they will refund my money and they asked that I give the book to a local charity.

Does anybody want this book? I will send it FREE of charge!

 

The Second Edition yet...

 

I think that the second edition goes for a premium.

 

At least the cover art on the book is nice!

 

You can enjoy the artwork aaalllll year long if you like! Just say the word.