Hello from Queensland
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:38 am
Hi to everyone from the Gold Coast in south east Queensland, about 85km south of Brisbane. I am a retired communications engineer and have been interested in amateur astronomy for almost 20 years, in observing, imaging, and telescope construction. I have now focused on astronomical spectroscopy for several years, and have built a number of spectrographs. (When I started in spectroscopy I decided to experiment before considering spending lots of dollars on a commercial product and this has been doubly enjoyable as I also like the construction process. Must be something to do with being an engineer!!) My latest instrument was originally directly mounted on my Meade 250mm (10inch) LX200, but is now modified with a fibre feed which gives R=approx.6000 and uses an Atik 383 L+ camera. The grating is 1200lines/mm. Targeting the star on the fibres and guiding uses a beam splitter at the scope end. I have also built a compact unitto use when travelling; this uses a 125mm Meade ETX optical tube on an HEQ5Pro mount; this uses a 600lines/mm grating and the same camera, and delivers approx. R=1600 at H alpha. A separate scope is used for guiding.
I am looking forward to participating in the forum and to contributing to its activities, especially as there are still only a few amateurs active in the Southern hemisphere. Like Malcolm (NZ) and Jonathon (Canberra) who have recently joined, I am also a member of Variable Stars South.
Regards to all,
Julian West
I am looking forward to participating in the forum and to contributing to its activities, especially as there are still only a few amateurs active in the Southern hemisphere. Like Malcolm (NZ) and Jonathon (Canberra) who have recently joined, I am also a member of Variable Stars South.
Regards to all,
Julian West
