Latop Stepper Motor Controller: I would like to directly control the Vixen MT-1 stepper motor using my laptop, with the ultimate aim of autoguiding. This should be made easy by using a USBMOD4 device from Elexol, which allows the control of 8 digital I/O lines using a simple USB2 interface. Check out the project page for more info...

Mirror Collimation: This week, I finally plucked up the courage to extract my telescope mirror (Europa250) and give it a collimation spot.

I also added some feet to the mirror cell, so that it doesnt rest on its nuts when stood upright. You can read about the adventure on the project page here.
Also, I just had a copy of Practical Astronomer drop through my letterbox and Im well pleased with it.

Progress on Gal3D at last! I now have the best looking real-time galaxy collision simulation that Ive come across. Its currently happily churning along with about 8000 stars at 30fps all rendered using DirectX 9. It's no PPP3 quality algorithm, but it captures the best bits and the graphics have come a long way Alar and Juri Toomre created their version in 1972.



There is only one hard-coded set of start parameters at the moment and very little user control, but if you want a sneak peak of what it'll be like then download the demo...galaxy.zip (454kb)
Camera controls:Gaze=Arrow Keys. Move=Q/A W/S Z/X
I tend to use the arrow keys and Z/X to pan around the scene....enjoy!

I think this might make a nice screensaver, with random collision scenarios playing out? Comments welcome!

Ive given the site a new 'astro' look and feel, since the standard Blogger template wasnt exactly what I wanted. Now Im happy enough to start putting something interesting on here...

This week I have been mostly working on a new type of pattern matcher which can match patterns even when they are distorted and on curved surfaces. Still in MATLAB though, no C code yet.

Now to work on my galaxy crasher....

Today I have been feeling enthusiastic about finally activating this website and filling it full of all the cool stuff I do, or at least earnestly intend to do one day when I get around to it.

I do stuff like astronomy and image processing and smart swishy graphics and things that might actually be of vague interest to people outside my immediate circle of friends and family (four people in total).

In fact, Im probably already working on my next great (astronomy/image processing/graphics) idea. And now theres somewhere to put the stuff when its done.