The book has been reviewed in the spring edition of the Newsletter of the Federation of Astronomical Societies. Almost every astronomical society in the UK subscribes to the FAS so this should boost visibility across the whole of the British Isles including Ireland, and the channel islands.
The review was done by Darryl Sergison. I wish to also thank Frank Johns, editor for kindly publishing the review in the magazine.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Friday, 27 March 2009
Astronomy Now Review
The book has finally been reviewed in Astronomy Now, April Edition.
Nick Howes was the reviewer, he is a regular contributor to the magazine.
It was a mixed review to say the least. The first and last paragraphs were very positive and quite flattering. However the middle bit was what I can only describe as diametrically opposite to the other paragraphs.
There were a few points that Nick discussed:
1. Unpacking and Handling
From personal experience I did not find setting up the telescope from out-of-the-box, what Nick described as blindingly obvious. On the contrary feedback from other owners of the telescopes suggested that including the 'obvious' tasks would be beneficial for someone who has never owned these type of telescopes before.
2. Focusing methods
I agree that there are numerous methods for enhancing the focusing of a telescope. However, I do not know of have not heard of any owner that has placed wires across the objective of their telescope in order to improve the focus quality. I am not suggesting that it is not a good idea (I may even try it out one day!!), but I cetainly believe that it was not appropriate for the intended target audience of the book.
3. Quality of Images
Nick commented that perhaps the deep sky images could have been of sufficient quality to 'sell' the telescope. However, I think that the images provided was of sufficient quality to show the 'potential' of what an LXD can do given the right equipment and expertise.
4. Autoguiding
At the time of writing the sentiment amongst members of the LXD user groups suggested that autoguiding using the Aux port via a #909 port converter was not easy to get working. In fact the LPI provides sufficient means to autoguide via the RS232 port and the Meade AutoStar Suite. I considered writing several more pages on autoguiding but decided that there are plenty of resources on the internet that goes into much greater detail on autoguiding with Autostar.
There was no mention of the actual content of the book, such as the complete breakdown of every Autostar function, approximate times of various set up tasks and a whole chapter dedicated to Polar alignment.
I dont mind some criticism, but given that most other reviews were very positive (Mike Weasner, Ian Morison, ebay and Amazon), I expected this one to be no different! In fact Nick missed a couple of technical howlers that Mike Weasner picked up.
In conclusion, although I am pleased that the review was on the whole a positive one some of the review content was dissapointing.
The book should be reviewed shortly in the next FAS newsletter so we'll see whether it will be a positive one or not.
Nick Howes was the reviewer, he is a regular contributor to the magazine.
It was a mixed review to say the least. The first and last paragraphs were very positive and quite flattering. However the middle bit was what I can only describe as diametrically opposite to the other paragraphs.
There were a few points that Nick discussed:
1. Unpacking and Handling
From personal experience I did not find setting up the telescope from out-of-the-box, what Nick described as blindingly obvious. On the contrary feedback from other owners of the telescopes suggested that including the 'obvious' tasks would be beneficial for someone who has never owned these type of telescopes before.
2. Focusing methods
I agree that there are numerous methods for enhancing the focusing of a telescope. However, I do not know of have not heard of any owner that has placed wires across the objective of their telescope in order to improve the focus quality. I am not suggesting that it is not a good idea (I may even try it out one day!!), but I cetainly believe that it was not appropriate for the intended target audience of the book.
3. Quality of Images
Nick commented that perhaps the deep sky images could have been of sufficient quality to 'sell' the telescope. However, I think that the images provided was of sufficient quality to show the 'potential' of what an LXD can do given the right equipment and expertise.
4. Autoguiding
At the time of writing the sentiment amongst members of the LXD user groups suggested that autoguiding using the Aux port via a #909 port converter was not easy to get working. In fact the LPI provides sufficient means to autoguide via the RS232 port and the Meade AutoStar Suite. I considered writing several more pages on autoguiding but decided that there are plenty of resources on the internet that goes into much greater detail on autoguiding with Autostar.
There was no mention of the actual content of the book, such as the complete breakdown of every Autostar function, approximate times of various set up tasks and a whole chapter dedicated to Polar alignment.
I dont mind some criticism, but given that most other reviews were very positive (Mike Weasner, Ian Morison, ebay and Amazon), I expected this one to be no different! In fact Nick missed a couple of technical howlers that Mike Weasner picked up.
In conclusion, although I am pleased that the review was on the whole a positive one some of the review content was dissapointing.
The book should be reviewed shortly in the next FAS newsletter so we'll see whether it will be a positive one or not.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Astrofest 6-7th Feb 2009
Once again Astrofest has come round again. It took place last Friday and Saturday 6th and 7th Feb.
So far I haven't missed a single year and this time it was no different. I attended the lectures on both morning sessions and in the afternoons I wandered around looking at the trade stands and generally 'networking'. The highlight of Friday's lecture was Govert Schilling a Dutch journalist and Astronomer who spoke about the search for Planet X and the discovery of transneptunian objects in the kuiper belt. His book of the same name was on sale on the Springer stand and I got him to sign it.
The highlight for Saturday's talk was a session with Patrick Moore, Reginald Turnall and Garry Hunt reminiscing the 40th anniversary year since Apollo 11.
It was good to see my book on the Springer stand and to know that it was selling quite well.
The only piece of equipment I ordered was a 2 inch ED barlow, which I am hoping it will be delivered shortly. I also purchased a couple of Springer books.
As usual both days went very quick and I always feel that its never long enough. Here looking forward to Astrofest 2010!!!
So far I haven't missed a single year and this time it was no different. I attended the lectures on both morning sessions and in the afternoons I wandered around looking at the trade stands and generally 'networking'. The highlight of Friday's lecture was Govert Schilling a Dutch journalist and Astronomer who spoke about the search for Planet X and the discovery of transneptunian objects in the kuiper belt. His book of the same name was on sale on the Springer stand and I got him to sign it.
The highlight for Saturday's talk was a session with Patrick Moore, Reginald Turnall and Garry Hunt reminiscing the 40th anniversary year since Apollo 11.
It was good to see my book on the Springer stand and to know that it was selling quite well.
The only piece of equipment I ordered was a 2 inch ED barlow, which I am hoping it will be delivered shortly. I also purchased a couple of Springer books.
As usual both days went very quick and I always feel that its never long enough. Here looking forward to Astrofest 2010!!!
Friday, 28 November 2008
Tachyon: PDA and Mobile Astronomical Software
Following the advice from Nick Howes of Astronomy Now, I downloaded an Astronomy application called Tachyon on my HP IPAQ PDA and Samsung Omnia Mobile phone. Both devices use Windows Mobile (v5.0 for the PDA and v6.1 for the phone). You need to install .net2.0 framework on the PDA for the application to work.
The package only uses up about 25Mb of space, but I would recommend that it is installed on a memory (e.g. SD) Card rather than use the memory on the device.
I am very impressed with it so far! Not only can you view star charts and planet ephemeris that is expected for this type of application, but there are a whole host of other features. I especially like to be able to view the latest weather map for the United Kingdom.
But in my opinion, the best thing about this package is the potential to connect to a computerised telescope and control it... ideal for my LXD75 setup. I have yet to investigate what I need to get this to work, but when I do I will post my findings here.
--------------------
Following on from this post: My letter to Astronomy Now regarding Astro software for PDA and mobiles phones has been published in Astronomy Now - January Edition.
The package only uses up about 25Mb of space, but I would recommend that it is installed on a memory (e.g. SD) Card rather than use the memory on the device.
I am very impressed with it so far! Not only can you view star charts and planet ephemeris that is expected for this type of application, but there are a whole host of other features. I especially like to be able to view the latest weather map for the United Kingdom.
But in my opinion, the best thing about this package is the potential to connect to a computerised telescope and control it... ideal for my LXD75 setup. I have yet to investigate what I need to get this to work, but when I do I will post my findings here.
--------------------
Following on from this post: My letter to Astronomy Now regarding Astro software for PDA and mobiles phones has been published in Astronomy Now - January Edition.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Astroblast - 2nd November 2008
The third Astroblast on Sunday 2nd November took place at Bedford school. I was there publicising my book along with Jack Martin who was displaying his spectroscopy images.
Lectures carried out througout the day including Monica Grady and Nik Symanek. Amateur rockets were launched from a field in the school's ground.
Trades stands included Astronomy Now, Green Witch, Campaign for Dark Skies and various local astronomical societies.Overall I think it was an excellent event, well organised and well attended.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)