Jim Meadows

Astronomy was my favorite hobby many years ago, but was gradually set aside due to work, family and life in general. In recent years I resumed my hobby, looking forward to using the new technology that is now available. Then I discovered Video Astronomy. Then I learned how to do it Remotely. I wrote some books, and decided to set up RemoteVideoAstronomy.com to continue to pass on what I learn as a supplement to my books.

It began quite a few years ago back in college. My friend, who was a Physics major, and I assembled a telescope and built a tripod. We built the tripod out of oak for strength. Now that was a problem in itself for oak is very hard to saw and drill. But we did it! I loved going out into a nearby field on a dark night to view the stars and planets and learn about how to use a telescope. After college we decided for him to keep our masterpiece and I later obtained a 4" telescope on a small portable equatorial mount, which I still have to this day.

My active involvement in my Astronomy hobby began to lessen when I went to work, started a family and became involved in numerous other activities. But my love for Astronomy has remained, as evidenced by my continuing subscription to Astronomy Magazine and other publications over the years. I would think from time to time how I would like to get back into it again with a computer controlled telescope. In recent years with advances in digital photography, Wi-Fi and other technology, I began to think about how I might even be able to use an outside telescope while staying inside my house.

So I decided it was time. I selected a Celestron NexStar 8se computerized "Goto" telescope to get back into my old hobby. My new telescope arrived on a Wednesday. The first thing I ran into was how to mount the telescope optical tube onto the fork arm base. The manual tells you how to carry the combined telescope and base and put it on the tripod. But it doesn't describe how to attach the telescope to the arm. I figured how to slide the telescope into the arm, but then wondered how far the telescope should go down into the arm, so I just used my best guess.

I set it up completely for the first time inside on a Thursday evening, used it the next day on a clear Friday night in my driveway, learned how to control it from my laptop using downloaded software on Saturday, and wrote a simple program on my laptop to move the telescope around and tested it the next day. I then ordered a low-end imaging camera for $100 and began to think about what to do next.

At that point I decided I had better slow down and just get the basics down well. I noticed how the Goto worked better at times than others. I had some frustrations with my finder scope. As I came up with solutions to the various problems I ran into, I thought I should write them down. I also found some solutions on the Internet. Maybe I could collect together the most common issues you may run into and turn them into a book in the future. So that is what I did and thus my first book.

I then decided to step up to an equatorial mount to use with my 8se and purchased a Celestron CG-5 computerized German Equatorial Mount and ultimately was very pleased with the improvements of more accurate GoTo's, better tracking, etc. However, I ran into various issues while making the switch. There were a lot of extra steps and I was a little confused by the setup, align, polar align and realign process. I wondered how I should go about balancing it with counterweight(s). And how do I point this thing? I began to wonder if it was going to be too complicated and should I return it. I thought it sure would be helpful if there was a practical guide to changing from an altitude-azimuth mount to an equatorial mount.

Like before, as I came up with solutions to the various problems I ran into, I wrote them down. As before, I found some solutions on the Internet. So again I collected many of the common issues you may encounter when switching to an equatorial mount and turned them into book #2.

I have also become very involved in the expanding field of video astronomy. It provides near real time viewing of planets, clusters, nebulae and other deep sky objects in a way you just cannot see looking through an eyepiece. It is like you have a much larger telescope and you can see objects in color! There are a lot of questions and problems when switching from visual observing to video astronomy, but it is worth it. And yes, I collected my solutions to the problems I encountered when beginning Remote Video Astronomy and put them into book #3.

Through my books and website, I hope you find some suggestions that make your life easier in this great hobby of Astronomy!