My old equipment on B82 Maidbronn (retired)
On K87 Dettelbach Vineyard Observatory the equipment is completely changed.
New: description of the troubleshooting caused by a runaway error of my LX200 Classic. (2009-12-04) (auf Deutsch)
Storyboard of my LX200 Classic since 1997
Since December, 26 2008 the Minor Planet Center assigned the code B82 Maidbronn to my observatory place.
On September,28 2009 I discovered my first main belt asteroid in B82 Maidbronn: (410928) Maidbronn
All observations of comets and minor planets taken from my location
are submitted to the MPC.
The astrometry and photometry for the MPC is performed by
Astrometrica of Herbert Raab.
For performing photometry I use
FOCAS II
of Cometas_Obs
When I bought this telecope in 1992 here in Germany, I belonged to an
exotic group of amateurs in contrary to the most observers at this time.
Computerized telescopes were still taboo for many amateurs in the nineties.
The flying telescope
Classical LX200 12"
f-10, here reduced to f-5.6 with a Giant Easy Guider.
On the image you see a hand controlled
2" filter wheel with IR Blocking, UHC, OIII, H(C) and Swan filters, CCD camera: ST10XME
This telescope was
running since 1992 without any basic maintenance. In 2004 it fell from the
balcony you see on the image.
A tremendous squall during a thunderstorm lifted up the telescope and threw it
over the balustrade headfirst into a bush 3 meters down.
The bush was absurbing the fall and brought the telescope back on its right
position before it touched the ground.
The wet grass ground catched the telescope with the tripod in position down and
deformed parts of it. But the body of the scope was unhurt.
After replacing the tripod everything was working properly, even the mirror had
no scratches.
In 2009 I discovered the main belt asteroid 410928 (MAIDBRONN) with this telescope.
View in direction South, 260 m above sea level
Actual equipment for comet and asteroid photography:
Telescope: Classical
LX200 12", year of construction: 1992
CCD camera: ST10XME, year of
construction: 2001
Reducer: Lumicon Giant Easy Guider, effecting f-6.532 on my telescope
Focuser: RoboFocus
Filter Wheel: True
Technology Ltd. 5 x 2" Filter Wheel (not on the image)
Dew remover: Kendrick
DigiFire 10
As you see, my view is
very restricted by the balcony. But over the night, most of the comets are
crossing my field of view.
The 130.000 inhabitants city of Wuerzburg is situated 7 kilometers (4 miles)
southwards. For naked-eye observation the light pollution is very disruptive.
But the CCD camera is pretty excusing this problem, especially at dry, clear
skies.
The views from my home:
North-West
South
East