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Mars 18, 2024

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I spend this website many hours each week to share my knowledge and experience from the areas of Astronomy, Cars and Travels. Most pages are written in English that is not my own native language, so do not judge me too hard if you find grammatical errors and more.

Welcome to my home !

Astrofriend's homepage

Since 2002


Highlights!

(these pages could be a mix of Swedish and English)

Contents:


News:

Here I have collected news I found interesting.

Technology, Astronomy, Cars, Travels etc.


17 mars, 2024 Sweden Astronomi, Historier

Andra astronomihistorier:

Drakens stjärnor, mars 2024

Mars 13, 2024 Astronomy: Project

Update:

Change Bookworm VNC to X11, page 4
Disable Auto-mount, page 5
Setup a GPS, page 6

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: Astroserver Raspberry Pi5

Mars 8, 2024 Astronomy: Tutorial

Update:
Mostly on page 1

Other astronomy tutorials:

Tutorial: Siril for pre processing astrophotography

6:e mars, 2024 Sweden Historia, Skålgropstenar i Stockholm

Andra saker om Sveriges historia:

Skålgropsten vid Lerkrogen i Älvsjö, 2023

Mars 4, 2024 Astronomy: Project

  • My short legged HEQ5 mount work like a dream nowadays. I have only used it to my telephoto lens, a 300 mm f/4 lens. But now when I got my big TS130 APO refractor to work again. Can I use this telescope on this small mount ? If I can it will be much easier to bring it out to a dark place with my car:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-heq5/ 21-heq5.html
    (Project: HEQ5)

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: HEQ5 as a portable mount

28:e februari, 2024 Sweden Resor till sjöss

Min fars äventyr som sjöman under åren 1937 till 1945:

  • Vem har inte drömt om att göra en jorden runt resa någon gång i sitt liv. Min pappa Evert gjorde det redan innan han var 20 år fyllda. Han mönstrade på handelsfartyg och hamnade ända borta i Kina och andra länder i Asien. Det här skedde delvis under Andra Världskriget, det var många fartyg som gick under från minor och torpeder, även svenska fartyg. Tre av fartygen han var på förliste pga detta, dock något efter att han mönstrat av. Trevligt nog har jag en hel del bilder till pappas alla berättelser om de här 7 åren till sjöss. Denna spännande historia kan ni följa här:

    travel/ world/ evert-at-sea-1937-1945/ 01-evert-at-sea-start-sv.html
    (Min fars äventyr till havs åren 1937 - 1945)

Uppdatering:
En kortfilm om Göteborgs hamn från år 1935, sida 4
Ny information om elektrikern Sven Eklund som omkommer då M/S Canton torpederas år 1939, sida 11.

Other history related:

My father's adventures at sea, 1937 - 1945

17 februari, 2024 Sweden Astronomi, Historier

Andra astronomihistorier:

En kylig natt på balkongen, januri 2024

February 11, 2024 Technique: Raspberry NAS

  • Our NAS server aging. It has to be replaced by something new. I have read a lot of positive comments about setup a Raspberry as a NAS. It has low power consumption which is good with the increased energy prices we have today:

    technique/ raspberry-nas/ 01-raspberry-nas.html
    (Raspberry NAS)

Other about Techniques:

Raspberry NAS, OpenmediaVault

February 6, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

  • When I'm upgrading my TS130 APO refractor I also upgrade all devices around it. One of the devices is the guide camera, a ZWO ASI120mm USB2. Old today but still competitive as a guide camera. Found one big problem with it, it didn't work with Linux. Here I do an upgrade to make it work. Added an image that show the fov of the guide camera and the main telescope, page 1.

    I have also done a simple test of the Ekos internal auto guider vs PHD2:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-asi120mm-upgrade/ 01-project-asi120mm-upgrade.html
    (Project: ZWO ASI120mm upgrade)

Other astronomy projects:

ZWO ASI120mm USB2 upgrade for Linux
Auto guiding, Ekos internal vs PHD2

January 31, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Update:
Pin layout, page 6
Motor current, page11

Other astronomy projects:

Stepper motor driver

January 29, 2024 Astronomy: Astrophoto

Other satellites:

International Space Station, Stockholm in Sweden, 2006per month

January 25, 2024 Astronomy: Astrophoto

  • It feels like that it's clouds on the sky every night. Is it really that bad ? I collected every astrophoto I had taken from 2013 until today and sorted they on months. From this I get a clear view which months is best. Note a long clear night I could had taken more than one object. Normal exposure length is 60 minutes per object:

    astronomy/ astronomy-photo/ database/ astronomy-photo-database-statististica.html
    (Astrophoto database statistics)

Note:
I live in a very light polluted area, Bortle Class 9. But anyway it's exciting to take astrophotos.

Other astrophotos:

Accumulated astrophotos over the years per month

January 21, 2024 Astronomy: Project

  • My Raspberry Pi4 has been online more than two years now. Mostly it works as it should. The only problem I have is with the USB ports. If I change one USB cable to another port or if I install some new device it can be frustrating to get it to work again. I have made a new page with some commando that can be used:

    astronomy/projects/project-kstars-raspberrypi4/ 01-project-kstars-raspberrypi4.html
    (Project: Raspberry Pi4 as an astroserver)

Update:
Serial ports handling, page 13

Other astronomy projects:

Raspberry Pi4 as an astroserver

17 januari, 2024 Sweden Astronomi, Historier

Andra astronomihistorier:

En kylig natt på balkongen, januri 2024

January 15, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Other astronomy tutorials:

Drift align and auto guide calibration

January 15, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Other astronomy projects:

AstroEQ for EQ6 mount

January 15, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Other astronomy projects:

EQ6 Dismantling and rebuilding for belt drive

11 januari, 2024 Sweden Nöjen i Stockholm

Restauranger:

  • Här finns listat några restauranger som vi brukar besöka. God mat och hyfsade priser. Nytt är också en lista på restauranger som har pensionärs rabatter. Har inte hunnit besöka dessa själv än:

    pleasure/ restauranger/ resyauranger.html
    (Listor och kartor över restauranger i Stockholm)

Andra nöjen: Nöjen i Stockholm

Blå Porten, restaurang i Stockholm

11 januari, 2024 Sweden Nöjen i Stockholm

Takpubar:

  • Kompletterad med några takpubar till. Sommarens projekt blir att besöka några av Stockholms takpubar. De har blivit väldigt populära på senare år. Här har jag listat de mer kända och gjort en karta så ni hittar dit:

    pleasure/ takpubar/ takpubar.html
    (Listor och kartor över takpubar och restauranger i Stockholm)

Andra nöjen: Nöjen i Stockholm

TAK, takpub i Stockholm

January 5, 2024 Home Theatre

Other Sound and Image:

Home Theatre resurrection, 2019

January 2, 2024 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

  • When having cloudy nights one needs something to think about. My focuser is now online and it looks to work. Then it's time to think about version 2. If there is possible to implement a camera rotator it will be interesting. Some ideas how it could look like:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-focus-rotator/ 01-project-focus-rotator.html
    (Project: Focus and camera rotator)

Other astronomy projects:

Focuser and camera rotator, CAD ideas

December 29, 2023 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Other astronomy projects:

DC hub motors, direct driven mount ?

December 25, 2023 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Update:
Off-axis guide, page 8
Chassi, page 2, 3, 4
Wheel 3D-printed, page 1, 3, 4, 5

Other astronomy projects:

3D-printed filter wheel

December 13, 2023 Astronomy: Project

Update:
New adapter, for APO 130 mm refractor, page 4

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: DIY/3D Flat calibrator

December 6, 2023 Travel Europe

Other travels in Europe:

Alicante, Spain, 2010

December 5, 2023 Astronomy: Astronomy Project

Other astronomy projects:

TS130 upgrade, APO 910 mm f/7 refractor

October 19, 2023 Astronomy: Light pollution

Now they have done a test with this technology in Caucasus Mountains, link at bottom of above page.

Other astronomy projects:

Light pollution ahndle with synchronized camera shutter

September 26, 2023 Astronomy: Project

  • Since two years I have used a Linux based control system for my astro equipment. In the Windows world it's ASCOM drivers you use, in Linux it's INDI drivers. The INDI EQMOD driver control SkyWatcher's mounts. It's an old driver and I have to fix one or two problems with it. It's written in C++. It was 27 years ago I did something with C++, so it's a big step for me, but now I must solve it:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-indi-drivers/ 01-project-indi-drivers.html
    (INDI EQMOD driver)

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: INDI drivers

September 24, 2023 Sweden Historia, Nya Slussen byggs upp

Andra saker om Sveriges historia:

Karl Johan Slussen i Stockholm

September 17, 2023 Astronomy, observatory sites

I got a new friend in the astronomy hobby, Michael. He has his own private observatory that I was invited to visit:

Michael's Torö observatory, Sweden:

Other observatory sites:

Michael's Torö observatory, Sweden 2023

August 26, 2023 Astronomy: Project

  • Now it's the beginning of the astronomy season and all problem must be solved. Earlier in the spring I had big problem with the GPS sync of time and position. Especially when doing Polar alignment. It need the Raspberry's system clock to be set correctly direct, not just a offset how much wrong it's relative satellite clock. Now with the Chrony driver I got some better work of it. Have a look at this page:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-heq5/ 07-heq5.html
    (Setup GPSD in INDI)

Other astronomy projects:

Setup GOSD in INDI

August 18 20, 2023 Travel Europe

  • Late in the summer I got a cruise as a birthday gift, it take us to Finland and the city Turku or Åbo as we say in Sweden. I haven't been there since the 1970s so it will be exiting. Finland belonged to Sweden during 700 years, we lost it 1809 in a war:

    travel/ europe/ finland-turku-2023/ finland-turku.html
    (Turku in Finland, 2023)

Other travels in Europe:

Turku (Åbo) in Finland, 2023

23 juli, 2023 Sweden Historia, Brunnsviken

  • Nu börjar det närma sig slutet av juli, vi passar på att ta en cykeltur till Brunnsviken från där vi bor i Hagsätra. Det är en dryg mil att cykla in till city i Stockholm och nu skall vi lite längre till norra staden. Under cykelturen får vi se gamla minnen från vår egen uppväxttid och en hel del betydligt äldre historia.

    history/ hagsatra-brunnsviken/ 01-hagsatra-brunnsviken-sv.html
    (Cykeltur från Hagsätra till Brunnsviken i Solna med lite historia)

Andra saker om Sveriges historia:

Cykeltur till Brunnsviken, 2023

July 12, 2023 Car meetings

Other car meetings in Sweden:

Björnlunda car meeting, 2023

May 20, 2023 Travel Europe

Other travels in Europe:

Southern Germany plans, 2023

15 april, 2023 Sweden Astronomi, Historier

Andra astronomihistorier:

En kvällstur till Björnö, 2023

March 12, 2023 Astronomy: Tutorial

Other astronomy tutorials:

Tutorial: Gimp for astrophotography

March 9, 2023 Astronomy: Project

Other astronomy projects:

Pentax 645 300 mm f/4 ED lens

February 28, 2023 Cars, Chrysler Crossfire radio:

Other DIY repair tips for Chrysler Crossfire (Mercedes):

Chrysler Crossfire: Radio

February 27, 2023 Astronomy: Tutorial

My Canon 6D has always been very slow with download image files from the camera to the astroserver. This is more an investigating if there is someway to come around this. Asking at forums now and collecting information:

Other astronomy tutorials:

Tutorial: Canon slow data transfer

February 7, 2023 Astronomy: Project

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: Battery bracket, HEQ5 mount

January 29, 2023 Astronomy: Calculations

Other astronomy calculations:

Calculator: Angle conversion

January 16, 2023 Astronomy: Tutorial

One of my first tutorials I wrote was about how to do a relative guiding on comets. It guide on a star and the computer calculate the offset speed between the star and the comet and correct for that. I have looked through the text and updated links and added more photos. The software has developed a lot but still the principle is the same:

Other astronomy tutorials:

Tutorial: Comet relative guiding

December 7, 2022 Astronomy, solar eclipse history

I have asked all my friends and relatives if someone have a memory from Sweden's last total solar eclipse 1954. I got an enormous response with lot of stories about this. I have collected them on a separate page and included some other information:

The Solar eclipse 1954 in Sweden:

Other astronomy articles:

Solar eclipse 1954 in Sweden

December 6, 2022 Astronomy: Events reports

Other astronomy events reports:

MAK, Mariestad Star Party, 2018

November 24, 2022 Astronomy: Project

  • I have the last twenty years thought about medium format cameras for astronomy. Later years digital mirror less cameras are much cheaper and have CMOS sensors which make them better. Maybe I will stay with full frame, but now I try to design an off-axis adapter with two filter drawers, just to see if I can fit it in the limited space:

    astronomy/ projects/ project-medium-format-offaxis/ 01-project-medium-format-offaxis.html
    (Medium format off-axis adapter 3D CAD)

Other astronomy projects:

Projects: Medium format off-axis adapter 3D CAD

September 11, 2022 HIFI

  • At a car meeting I sat with my friends and got nostalgic. We talked about old HIFI and what we have had in earlier days. Here I have wrote it down:

    sound-image/ hifi-1970s-1980s/ 01-hifi.html
    (My HIFI in the 1970s to 1980s)

Other Sound and Image:

Sonab 2212

August 21, 2022 Boats / Monalisa

Other ships and boats:

Evert's mahogany cruiser Monalisa

6 juli, 2022 Sweden Historia, Galgbackar

Andra saker om Sveriges historia:

Avrättning och galgplatser i Stockholm

June 2, 2022 Travel Sweden

Other travels in Sweden:

From Stockholm City to Nynäshamn by steam train, from 2005 to 2009den 2021

28 mars, 2022 Sweden

Mörka observationsplatser: Astronomi

Andra observationsplatser i Stockholm:

All other news: News.

Observationsplats Örudden på Torö

October, 2022 Astronomy, Impact structures (meteorite craters)

In Mars 2022 I passed close to the lake Västra Styran. I know I have read about it somewhere that it's maybe an old meteorite crater:

It's number 10 on the map.

other meteorite craters:

Meteorite craters, Västra Styran Sweden, 2022

January 16, 2022 Astronomy, Seven stars in Big Dipper, part of constellation Great Bear

Tonight I have problem which object on the heaven I wanted to take photo of. Then I saw that I had the constellation Great Bear outside the window. Why not take photos of the seven stars that built the Big Dipper which is a part of the Great Bear ? Afterwards I can analyze the images and see what's more there, sounds a bit exiting to me:

Other stars:

Seven stars in constellation Big Dipper, credit CdC

January 5, 2022 Astronomy tutorial: Ekos Sequencer

  • Included in the KStars is the Ekos. Ekos control the devices in your astroequipment. Included in this is a sequencer, a tool where you can hold your evening objects and the sequencer pick them up one by one in the most useful order. This is something new to me and all these advanced function is operated by the tiny Raspberry processor:

    astronomy/ tutorials/ tutorial-ekos-sequencer/01-tutorial-ekos-sequencer
    (Ekos Sequencer)

Other astronomy tutorials:

Ekos sequencer

January 11, 2022 Astronomy: Lens data base

Other astronomy tutorials:

Data base: Lenses with focus motor that works for astrophotolens

September 1, 2021 Bilskrotar kartor:

  • För dig med gammal klassisk bil, när reservdelarna inte finns att köpa nya längre så blir man hänvisad till bilskrotarna. Jag har kompletterat mina tidigare listor med kartor för att lättare finna dom:

    vehicles/ bilskrotar/ bilskrotar-sverige.html
    (Bilskrotar Sverige)

Övrigt skrotbilar:

Bilskrotar

April 15, 2021 Astronomy: Project

Other astronomy projects:

Lars B's projects

Mars 23, 2021 Astronomy

prof Gösta Gahm

Gösta Gahm, 1942 - 2020 professor emeritus of astronomy

I, prof Gösta and Peter at the Sweden Solar system presentation, Gunilla is the photographer.

Something very sad has happen, in January 2021 I got the information that Gösta had passed away. We had known each other for more than 25 years, both I and Gunilla had him as a teacher in more than one of the courses we took in astronomy from 1995 to 2002 and we kept the contact since then. This meeting with the Jupiter model was the last time we saw him and at Christmas I got a greeting from him, since then nothing. Goodbye Gösta, we hope you have a great time up among the stars !

Gösta has one asteroid named after him: 10997 Gahm.

Lars and Gunilla

Other astronomy events reports:

29 januari, 2021 Sweden Resor till sjöss

Nyheter om det år 1940 förlista fartyget S/S Sylvia:

Other history related:

Fartyget S/S Sylvia

January 9, 2021 3D CAD

Other 3D Printer and CAD projects:

3D CAD: making drawings for GT2 pulleyes to lens focuserder

29 juli, 2020 Sweden

Modellbåten Flamingo från Wentzel: Hobby

  • När jag var omkring 9 år köpte min pappa mig min första modellbåt i trä. Den har nu efter 25 år på irrfärder hamnat hemma hos mig igen:

    vehicles/ models/ 02-wentzels-flamingo.html
    (Modellbåten Flamingo från Wentzel, hobby)

Andra båtar i full skala:

Modellbåten Flamingo från Wentzels

November 8, 2019 Astronomy / seminar

Other speech, seminar and articles:

Seminar: How does the galaxy cluster environment affect molecular gas and starformation ? by Nikki Zabel

May 19, 2019 Sound / Image

Other things about sound and cinema:

Biograf (Cinema) Sländan Museum, 2019

27 januari, 2019 Sweden

Nya kartor över fornlämningar: Fornhistoria

Other history related in Sweden:

All other news: News.

Gånggrift Hallarör i Västergötland
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