GrouchoDuke
@grouchoduke.bsky.social
Mostly tinkers with stuff. Acceleroto/LoftCNC/Soldering101 owner, high power rocketry record hunter, amateur astronomer, game dev, used to be cool: fighter test pilot & NASA engineer.
I think my pinched optics problem is solved. Here are quick before & after NINA livestacks. Check out the spikes on the bright stars in the first shot - they shouldn't be there. #astronomy #astrophotography
December 7, 2025 at 9:15 AM
I think my pinched optics problem is solved. Here are quick before & after NINA livestacks. Check out the spikes on the bright stars in the first shot - they shouldn't be there. #astronomy #astrophotography
Moon from a few nights ago. (Details: ED127 telescope, Poseidon-C camera, G11 mount, shot through thin high clouds, stack of the best 30% of about 1400 frames, processed in Autostakkert & Photoshop.) #astrophotography #astronomy
December 1, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Moon from a few nights ago. (Details: ED127 telescope, Poseidon-C camera, G11 mount, shot through thin high clouds, stack of the best 30% of about 1400 frames, processed in Autostakkert & Photoshop.) #astrophotography #astronomy
Arduino ESP32 Hall effect sensor play.
November 29, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Arduino ESP32 Hall effect sensor play.
Sneaking in some moon #astrophotography as the clouds roll in. #astronomy
November 29, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Sneaking in some moon #astrophotography as the clouds roll in. #astronomy
Testing & setup stuff for me tonight. Removed the rotator, realigned my focuser, polar alignment*3, PHD & PEC calibration, camera tilt adjustments...then test shots all over the sky to measure any flex/tilt, shots in & out of focus. I'm finally farting around on M42. #astronomy #astrophotography
November 28, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Testing & setup stuff for me tonight. Removed the rotator, realigned my focuser, polar alignment*3, PHD & PEC calibration, camera tilt adjustments...then test shots all over the sky to measure any flex/tilt, shots in & out of focus. I'm finally farting around on M42. #astronomy #astrophotography
Fog & Orion a few nights ago.
November 26, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Fog & Orion a few nights ago.
The Cloud Nebula rolled in again, so I'm calling it quits on #astronomy #astrophotography for tonight.
October 9, 2025 at 4:18 AM
The Cloud Nebula rolled in again, so I'm calling it quits on #astronomy #astrophotography for tonight.
Oddly excited about the RTCs that showed up today.
October 4, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Oddly excited about the RTCs that showed up today.
Little bit of Gamma Cygni before M45 rises... #astronomy #astrophotography
October 4, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Little bit of Gamma Cygni before M45 rises... #astronomy #astrophotography
Doing some test imaging on the Pleiades, Messier 45. #astronomy #astrophotography
October 3, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Doing some test imaging on the Pleiades, Messier 45. #astronomy #astrophotography
New Starizona adapter design for Explore Scientific 3" self-centering focuser is ready for testing. Seriously clouds, go away. #astronomy #astrophotography
September 14, 2025 at 2:56 AM
New Starizona adapter design for Explore Scientific 3" self-centering focuser is ready for testing. Seriously clouds, go away. #astronomy #astrophotography
Venus & Jupiter's conjunction saying hi early this morning when I went outside to cover my scope. #astronomy #astrophotography
August 12, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Venus & Jupiter's conjunction saying hi early this morning when I went outside to cover my scope. #astronomy #astrophotography
Tonight's #astrophotography is just about done. The Fog Nebula approaches.
August 7, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Tonight's #astrophotography is just about done. The Fog Nebula approaches.
More #astrophotography of M39 with the new Explore Scientific ED127 & 3" focuser. Tonight should get me to 10 hours of images on the open cluster.
August 6, 2025 at 2:52 AM
More #astrophotography of M39 with the new Explore Scientific ED127 & 3" focuser. Tonight should get me to 10 hours of images on the open cluster.
Quick 4-hour test on NGC7822 with the new telescope & focuser. #astronomy #astrophotography
July 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Quick 4-hour test on NGC7822 with the new telescope & focuser. #astronomy #astrophotography
First light! #astronomy #astrophotography
July 29, 2025 at 6:34 AM
First light! #astronomy #astrophotography
Setting up the new telescope & focuser and getting autofocusing working tonight. #astronomy #astrophotography
July 29, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Setting up the new telescope & focuser and getting autofocusing working tonight. #astronomy #astrophotography
Keeping the equipment going is part of #astronomy. After 13 years, my telescope focuser's draw tube has worn enough that I've declared it dead. While I'm researching fixes, starry nights are taunting me.
July 22, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Keeping the equipment going is part of #astronomy. After 13 years, my telescope focuser's draw tube has worn enough that I've declared it dead. While I'm researching fixes, starry nights are taunting me.
Tinkering with a CYD & Arduino.
July 11, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Tinkering with a CYD & Arduino.
Starting a new #astrophography project, a 3-panel Veil Nebula mosaic. The first sub is done...hundreds more to go.
July 5, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Starting a new #astrophography project, a 3-panel Veil Nebula mosaic. The first sub is done...hundreds more to go.
Growing collection of #astronomy sensors in my back yard.
June 30, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Growing collection of #astronomy sensors in my back yard.
Just built my second FreeDSM sky quality monitor for my astrophotography geekery. It'll live outside and record sky brightness, send data to a research sever in Spain and do cool things like tell me how dark my sky is every minute and let me know when it's cloudy or the moon is ruining my skies.
June 30, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Just built my second FreeDSM sky quality monitor for my astrophotography geekery. It'll live outside and record sky brightness, send data to a research sever in Spain and do cool things like tell me how dark my sky is every minute and let me know when it's cloudy or the moon is ruining my skies.
Started building a new quadcopter today.
June 29, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Started building a new quadcopter today.
Probably wouldn't want to fly through that.
June 25, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Probably wouldn't want to fly through that.
Summer #astrophography == hot equipment. I just added a ventilation fan to my allsky camera. The Raspberry Pi already had a heatsink & fan, but without an outside vent it was running about 70C during the day. A tiny fan & new ducts dropped that to 52C.
June 22, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Summer #astrophography == hot equipment. I just added a ventilation fan to my allsky camera. The Raspberry Pi already had a heatsink & fan, but without an outside vent it was running about 70C during the day. A tiny fan & new ducts dropped that to 52C.