Good intentions for 2015

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As the end of the year approaches, it is time to look back at 2014 and make a list full of good intentions for 2015.

1. Telescope Making

   2014
  2015
  • Finish varnishing the 35cm Dobsonian.
  • Add black self-adhesive foil in the mirror box of the 35cm Dobsonian to make sure straylight will not hit the mirror.
  • Add Digital Encoders to the 35cm Dobsonian.
  • Try to make the 35cm Dobsonian a bit lighter using some tips from the 'Portable Newtonian Telescopes' book.
  • Find a company where I can re-coat the mirror of my 18'' Obsession Telescope.
  • I received a 10cm Barco f/4 lens from Raf, a member of VVS Capella. I hope to test this lens and make a short-focal refractor out of it. As I don't know yet how well the lens will perform, my plan is to use it mainly for solar observing.

The 10cm f/4 Barco lens.

2. DeepskyLog

  2014
  • Just before the end of the year, DeepskyLog reached 75,000 observations. 
  • I started advertising DeepskyLog on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. 
  • The deep-sky section of the Swedish Astronomical Society started to use DeepskyLog.
  • There was no new version of DeepskyLog released. However, some bugs were fixed.
  • A new design is prepared for DeepskyLog and a personal achievement page will be added. These changes are not yet in an official version of DeepskyLog. Some problems should still be addressed.  

   2015
  • Release a new version of DeepskyLog with the new design and the achievement page. 
  • The Swedish deep-sky observers are working hard on the Swedish translation of DeepskyLog. I hope to release a new version of DeepskyLog in Swedish in the first months of 2015.
  • Make an Observation List Wizard to make your Observation Lists from within DeepskyLog. Also re-work the observation lists.
  • Make a visibility calculator to display a 2D map of the object you want to observe with your instrument and from your location. Probably, this will not be ready in 2015...
  • Organize some meetings with the DeepskyLog developers and hopefully find some new developers to get the DeepskyLog development again very active.

3. Observing

  2014
  • In the Provence, I could observe a few evenings. It was very nice to see a lot of spectacular deep-sky objects again from a dark location.
  • A lot of explanations were given to other people in the Provence. This was a lot of fun, but could not be described as real observing.
  • The observing weekend in Grandpré was a real success. I made my first drawing there (which I still have to finish).
  2015 
  • I hope to go observing more. If time and weather permits, I would like to go to a dark spot in the Ardennes a few times to really observe from a dark spot.
  • I hope that there will be again an observing weekend.
  • Really get started with drawing deep-sky objects, comets, and planets.  As my little girl is very fond of the Moon and taught me to appreciate more, I guess I will have to sketch the Moon too...

4. Vela Telescope Control system

  2014
  • For Christmas, I got an Arduino from my lovely wife. Together, we are learning to understand the vast amount of possibilities of the Arduino.
  2015
  • A new project I will start in 2015 is the Vela Telescope Control System. This will be an Arduino powered system to control the fan, heaters, temperature sensors, digital setting circles, and motor drive for a telescope. The system will be developed and tested for the 35cm Dobsonian. The Arduino will have a bluetooth converter to interface with an android smartphone. The phone software will have an interface to DeepskyLog to access the list of objects and the observing lists.  

I know the list is very long, but I hope to be able to finish at least a large part of it...

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