Instrumentation and Equipment

     Hardware folks may find the following report of interest, which appeared on the astro-ph preprint server last week:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04913

StarDICE I: sensor calibration bench and absolute photometric calibration of a Sony IMX411 sensor

Betoule et al, accepted for publication in A&A

\Brian

Hello! After I've moved to eastern Tennessee, at a location that is limited by tall trees in the horizon and lots of nights with clouds, I miss being able to image at a site that has more clear nights.

    Does the AAVSO sponsor a site that members could pay for/manage  to host their equipment (or are others interested in sharing the costs for a site)? I've looked at a number of sites, though most of them are expensive since they cater to astrophotographers rather than photometrists.

Hi,

  I'm new to AAVSO. I've been doing astrophotography for about 2 years now, but have been an amateur visual astronomer for a long time. I want to start using my equipment for variable star photometry in addition to deep sky imaging. 

Hello! I just set up my Meade LX200 Classic telescope in humid east Tennessee after moving from dry southern New Mexico. I've never had to deal with such dew before!

    I've been looking dew controllers.

    For those of you with SCTs who use dew control strips - do you put a strip around the corrector plate AND the primary mirror, or just the corrector plate?

    Is a small strip useful on the tube where the CCD connects to the telescope back as well? Thank you and best regards.

Mike

Hi,

has anyone ever used a smart phone camera for photometry? In combination with a telescope or better even without?

My interest is not really scientific applications but rather education. I want to give a course at a local "junior university" (for kids aged 14+) and I assume most of them do not have DSLRs anymore but certainly all have 1-n smart phones...

I was wondering if putting my rig on either a JMI Wheeliebar or Scopebuggy  will be stable enough for diff photometry?  If so, which is a best option? TIA  

I'd like to use telescopes on iTelescope.net for photometry. Or possibly telescope.live.

I'm interested to know if any of you are using either of these? How well does it work? Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

I'd like to use telescopes on iTelescope.net for photometry. Or possibly telescope.live.

I'm interested to know if any of you are using either of these? How well does it work? Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Is there an up to date reference about the various photometric filters. I am considering buying a set (B.V,R,I) of photometric filters, 2 inch diameter. A quick search identified Baader and Uptolong as potential sources. I would appreciate to know about possible other manufacturers. Also, opinion about the performance of these various filters would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Damien