Information

Getting Started:

• Brief notes on image scale for astrometry and photometry.
• What is ASCOM?
• Step-by-step - how to get your observatory going with ASCOM in six straightforward steps.
• Cost-Benefit of High-End Commercial Mountings
• Low-Budget Robotics

Hardware:

• Parallel Port Notes - Notes on this troublesome interface used by lower-quality CCD cameras.
• Meade LX-200 Startup and Shutdown comments.
• Meade LX-200 Balance Issues
• Bartels TCS for Robotic Telescopes

Software:

• Routing for your web-controlled telescope
• Tuning PinPoint - how to tune PinPoint 3 for faintest-object detection.
• PinPoint Won't Select Faint Objects? - Reasons (and solutions) for people who are finding that PinPoint won't select faint asteroids for measurement.

Images & Calibration

• Signal-To-Noise Ratios for Astrometry
• Fringing & Fringe Correction - a technical explanation of the fringing sometimes seen with back-illuminated CCD's and methods of correction and their implications. Provided by Michael Newberry.

Conference papers:

• Jeff Medkeff's MPAPW III (2001) Oral outline
• Jeff Medkeff's MPAPW III (2001) Paper

Robotic Observatory home page.