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Wow, it has been a long time since I last updated the site.
I've been extremely busy with both work and school. I'm set to finish school (finally) in Spring of 2000 and in a week, I will begin working full time
as a Unix Administrator. Until now, I've been going to school full time and working part time around 30 hours a week. I think you can see why I haven't had much time for observing. For the
next 8 months, I'll be working full time and still going to school full time so things are just going to be getting worse.
On the positive side, I may be obtaining a laptop computer soon. The company I currently work for (at least for 3 more days) may be willing to sell me
the laptop I currently use. If I can buy it, it will save me a lot of money later.
I need the laptop for two things. First, I want to be able to run Deepsky and bring it with me into the field. That way I can search for objects and
find more information about them much easier than I otherwise could. I will also be able to control an LX-200 scope with the laptop and Deepsky. Secondly, once I buy a 10" LX-200, I
really want to get a CCD camera and start asteroid observations. I'd like to help track asteroids and report positions to the Minor Planet Center. I'd be able to assist in real science
instead of just observing for pleasure. I'd also like to get into CCD imaging of planets and deep sky objects.
I may be able to play around a little bit with CCD astronomy before buying a CCD camera or a new telescope. I have a QuickCam video conferencing camera
that I can connect
to the laptop. I've read about how others have modified this camera to be used with a telescope. I'm eager to play with this and see what happens. It will just be a preview of things to come once I have the money to buy a true astronomical CCD camera.
There is good news on the telescope front as well. With this new job and my wife's new job, we should be financially able to purchase our very first
house next summer. As
soon as that happens, our next goal is a 10" LX-200. Depending on what house we get, I'd also like to build a simple observatory with a permanent mount. It would be so nice to just walk out, open the roof, and start observing.
So to summarize, things are looking better for the future but right now I am suffering from a severe lack of time to observe.
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