The Imaging System:.The Lunascan Project Telescope

The 2000 Array
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This is the STU (Scope Transport Unit) with arrays Left: 16" f/4.5 (obsolete); Right: 10" f/6

The 2000 array consists of two reflectors; a 10" and a belly-slung 4-1/2".  The HPS Unit (High-Power Scan) is a 10" f/6, a 69-inch-long Newtonian. It  has a  57.8" f/l. The mount used is a custom-made altazimuth yoke on a three-wheeled trailer. The pan & tilt head was constructed from the old 16" scope tube.  The Scope Transport Unit or STU is a actually a mobile support with three 14" pneumatic tires and the scope/DOB Driver II mount. The STU has a 30" turret with a 10-gauge steel yoke that forms the scope mount. The upper turret rotates over the lower plate and provides the azimuth control. A drive wheel on the yoke is the elevation control. The DOB Driver II is a computerized remote control system. Another item needed to operate the STU are a site monitor, which can select any of the images from the three cameras.


The protective cover allows set-up in 30-minutes

The Umbilical Harness which is a 50' long, 8-cable spool that is reeled out each session. It contains RG-59U coax cables to and from all cameras, a 110 VAC power cord and multiple plug-in receptacle, and a modular line from the DOB Driver II pendant control.

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JMI  NGF-3,  2" Crayford-design focusser with Moto-Focus Control
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Left:  Cast aluminum  NOVAK  9-point flotation mirror mounting cell as used on The Lunascan Project's 10" f/6 Newtonian.  Shown here are a 16" in the foreground with the 10" on the right.  Right: 10" f/6 Cassegrain mirror in the Novack cell.
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2.1" secondary diagonal mirror, holder, and spider.
 

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The FinderCam

The Finder Cam is used to help locate and track the Moon, using the DOB Driver II computer located in the Control Room, and is a Panasonic WV-450 vidicon camera with a wide-angle TV  lens, attached to a quickmount bracket for fast deployment and rapid takedown.

The Lunascan Project's
New MPS Unit Configuration
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  The Scope Transport Unit holds the heavy               Looking into the front of the STU and
  10-gauge yoke and turntable. The 10" f/6                 the belly-slung Medium Power Scanning
  mounts in the large clamp above. The MPS,             unit, a 4.5"  f/8 reflector. The MPS had
  usually attached each time at set-up is now               been mounted on the top-right of the main
  permanently attached and aligned below.                  scope and had to be aligned each time.
 
 


The 4.5" f/8 mirror. The MPS Unit's CCD camera
is mounted in the eyepiece holder in the upper left.

The MPS Unit is a 900-mm, 4-1/2", f/8, Newtonian-reflector. The Medium Power Scanning system  is used to scan & videotape a larger section of the Moon, but at lower power than the HPS unit. The 6" tube is 37" long.  Will resolve to 1.5 arc-secs.
 
 

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The CCD-camera & T-C Adaptor configuration.

The end on the right  is placed vertically in the focusser and has a 26-mm eyepiece inside for high-power scanning of the Moon at 320 power, without Barlow.
 
 

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Lower part of  east wall unit in Control Room

The east wall unit in the Control Room houses the six monitors and the datarecorder used there, plus stores equipment not in use that can't be stored with the STU. Also stored in the Control Room is main scope when not in use.
 
 


The Main Monitor is a 19" color television.
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The Control Room is a basement facility where much of the equipment is located.  The primary display  is a 19" color monitor and displays whatever is being recorded on the master recorder, most of which would be the HPS scans. A video selector control box has four buttons which diverts signals from the LPS (not in use), the MPS, the HPS,  & Lab Cam to the master recorder and the large monitor. The datatape is a two hour, high quality video tape with audio and video time-dubbing. The soundtrack has the audio time signal in CUT (Coordinated Universal Time) dubbed from the RWWV radio receiver or direct from the web site. The audio signal from Fort Collins, Colorado, is not always sufficient. Also encoded on the bottom of each video is a video printout displaying the Session #, Date, Time (hrs, minutes & seconds) from the Time-Date Generator (TG-105). Images from the datatapes are then selected for clarity and  captured with the "Snappy" frame-grabber, displayed and saved on the computer.  See Image Processing Console .
 
 

 How it all began