Around the House

A night visitor: it’s not just birds interested in our feeding station, and some visitors prefer the cover of darkness. November 18, 2006.

Another night visitor: More things that go bump in the night. November 28, 2006.

First winter storm of 2006: We had our first snow storm of the winter on November 30, and I got some fun pictures of birds in our backyard.

Turning off the TV: Not watching television can do a lot to lower your stress. At least, that’s what Elly and I have found out.

Astronomy

Building a 22-inch Dobsonian telescope

Starting out: In which I decide to take that crucial first step in building a telescope. (Hint: it’s not ordering the mirror.)

Project resources: some background information on information resources and suppliers I am using for this project.

Making the bars and triangles for the mirror mount: I decided to follow the basic plan for mirror mount construction outlined in the Kriege/Berry book, but diverged on a number of points that both simplified construction (dramatically) and improved the overall quality of the mount. This article provides details about how the bars and triangles were made.

Building the tailgate: With the bars completed, I was ready to build the tailgate (with some help from a friend who is an experienced welder.

Flotation Pads: Working out flotation pad details for the mirror cell took a surprising amount of time.

Mirror box design: discussion of design criteria for mirror box and step-by-step construction details with lots of images.

FeatherTouch Focuser: The easiest step in making my telescope was deciding what focuser to use.

The Mirror Arrives! An exciting milestone in building a telescope. Steve Kennedy’s shipping container is pretty much the complete demonstration on the right way to ship a mirror.

Designing the Truss Clamps: The evolution of my ideas about how mirror box truss clamps with lots of design notes and an image of an heirloom trammel that belonged to my maternal grandfather.

Secondary Cage Rings: Detailed information and images showing how to cut secondary cage rings with a router.

The Finished Scope: Some of my friends have been asking why I don’t have more pictures of the finished scope on my website. Realizing it will take a year to write all of the the scope building articles, I decided I might as well post a finished page. Here it is.

Birding

An Unfortunate Visitor: I found the bird lying on the sidewalk Tuesday on my lunch break. Her crisp black and white markings were unfamiliar to me. She was small and beautiful and perfect. On an impulse I picked her up and carried her to my office in the palm of my hand. October 4, 2006

Books & Reading

Open season at Half Price Books: Several times a year Half-Price Books, one of my favorite Kansas City book haunts, sends out serial coupons good for week. The Fall 2006 coupon week started on October 30 and 31, a book haunting indeed. Here’s how it works, what I got, and how you can get in on the fun too. November 5, 2006

Reading Notes

The God Delusion: notes from Richard Dawkins’ work on atheism.

Holidays

Halloween 2006: Tales of pumpkin carving and trick-or-treaters.

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Stunning Simplicity

“Sometime around my early thirties I stumbled upon evolutionary biology...and suddenly...it all fell into place. It was a concept of such stunning simplicity, but it gave rise, naturally, to all of the infinite and baffling complexity of life. The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I’d take the awe of under­standing over the awe of ignorance any day.”

—Douglas Adams, from a posthumous interview in The Salmon of Doubt

“Ah, now, I’m glad you asked me about that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that’s saying something....My brain surprises even me sometimes.”

— Albus Dumbledore

fmiles@kc.rr.com