About Ted Wolfe's Starsite
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An Optical Guidance Systems 12 1/2 " Ritchey-Chretien telescope is permanently mounted at the site, which is located on a golf course on the North side of Naples, Florida. |
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A 6' high privacy wall encloses a 15' x 15' concrete observing pad adjacent to an equipment room. |
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The optical tube assembly is made of magnesium - stronger and lighter than aluminum. This keeps the entire weight of the OTA to less than 40 pounds. The mount is an Optical Guidance Systems HP50 made of aluminum. An Astrophysics reducer brings the F/9 down to F/6. |
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An ST8e camera by Santa Barbara Instruments is cooled by a built-in fan, and simple heat sink system using re-circulating water. This results in temperatures in the -20 to -30 degree Celsius range when the ambient Naples temperature is in the 50's-60s Fahrenheit. (The camera currently used is an ST10-XE.) |
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The light weight of the scope allows use of 7 1/2" Byers' research grade gears to drive the system. |
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During the day, the scope is covered with simple, marine canvas custom sewed to form 3 bags. The telescope's electronic control box is stored inside the nearby equipment room. |
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| New Takahashi EM 400 mount installed in December, 2007. A Televue 4" 101 refractor is used for wide field imaging. |
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| The telescope and camera are operated
remotely from a study 165' from the instrument pad. "The
Sky" is used for navigation and telescope control. "MaxIm
DL" is used to control the camera, and a JMI auto-focuser is also
operated from this remote position.
Processing is done with AIP, MaximDl, and Photoshop. |
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