[ARCHIVED THREAD] - So about this eclipse... (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/7/2017 1:32:11 AM EDT
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I guess I'm late to the party.
I'd like to take the family to go see the eclipse in August. Thinking about heading north to Nebraska as I feel like it will have the best chances of clear weather without having to drive half way across the country. Obviously all the hotels are booked. I guess anyone with any land is already parceling it out for primitive camping. Or I'm considering trying to rent a pop up camper if I can find any available. What are you guys doing? Anyone here have a line on a camping spot that may not be full up already? |
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I'm going to drive north to Wyoming, probably, about four hours one way. I'll return the same day. I've considered driving to NW Nebraska instead, but it will add an hour or more to the drive. You might do a search for "eclipse camping spots Nebraska", or similar. Craigslist might be a good place to try.
ETA: Here, try this: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=eclipse+camping+nebraska&spf=75 |
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I need to figure out how to A)safely view and B)Photograph a solar eclipse There's a site: http://www.eclipse2017.org/eclipse2017_main.htm with all that information. And links to buy the special glasses. From my research you have to wear the glasses the whole time, except for during the one or two minutes of totality, during which time you can safely remove the glasses and view with the naked eye. |
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So about this eclipse............. Yeah, it will be neat but what a bunch of hyped bs. I live in central OR, and hotels are gouging at $1000/night. Now there is a DOJ investigation into hotels that canceled reservations made last year and people were told to rebook at the "new" price Some camping spots I've seen advertised are at 200+/ni9ght with some places requiring a 3 night stay for your bargain price.
Summer traffic between Bend and Madras is horrendous normally with all the tourists, but they are expecting between 500,000 and 700,000 more people for the eclipse. One article in the paper said it "may" take 5 to 8 hours to go from Bend to Madras. I think we will just hang out at our place west of Salem until the hullabaloo is over. |
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I only have to drive 30min to an hour depending on traffic to get into the path of totality. Plan is to find a parking lot... preferably also around other people viewing... like at a national park and set up my telescope there.
I've got proper viewing glasses and built a solar filter for my telescope. I'll be projecting the sun onto a piece of foam core and then recording that on a go pro. I'm in the process of building a way to attach that foam core screen to my telescope... Then I pack up and head home... upload the video on youtube and send links to family and friends. I guess at this point... if you have a long way to go... some sort of camper trailer where you can just pull off to the side of the road anywhere is your best bet. eclipse glasses https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013CTWO54?tag=vglnk-c102-20 Solar filter material you can use to construct a solar filter to place over the end of your telescope. https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7SCBQ?tag=vglnk-c102-20 |
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So about this eclipse............. Yeah, it will be neat but what a bunch of hyped bs. I live in central OR, and hotels are gouging at $1000/night. Now there is a DOJ investigation into hotels that canceled reservations made last year and people were told to rebook at the "new" price Some camping spots I've seen advertised are at 200+/ni9ght with some places requiring a 3 night stay for your bargain price. Summer traffic between Bend and Madras is horrendous normally with all the tourists, but they are expecting between 500,000 and 700,000 more people for the eclipse. One article in the paper said it "may" take 5 to 8 hours to go from Bend to Madras. I think we will just hang out at our place west of Salem until the hullabaloo is over. |
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http://i.imgur.com/7w0m8w6.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lXoTaoh.jpg Got the Screen rigged up... Now I just need to put the solar filter on and check the projection position and figure out where I want to mount the go pro to record it. ETA: once upon a time the cheapo 60mm refractors sometimes came with projection screens to show solar images. The scope was used unfiltered and aimed directly at the sun. This is not safe practice by modern standards. It would probably destroy your telescope and eyepiece. |
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I suspect the filtered image is going to be quite dim once you project it onto the screen. It might help if you can put a black drape at the front and sides to cut off any incidental light. If the lens on the Go Pro is removable, why not just use a T adapter and mount it facing into the telescope? Get the image at prime focus, in other words. ETA: once upon a time the cheapo 60mm refractors sometimes came with projection screens to show solar images. The scope was used unfiltered and aimed directly at the sun. This is not safe practice by modern standards. It would probably destroy your telescope and eyepiece. This model of telescope can flip the mirror that would send the image to the eyepiece out of the way so it comes out the back end of the telescope. There is a place there to attach an adapter for a Camera... but if I do that the telescope can no longer be pointed at objects high in the sky... like the Sun and Moon will be... Also I've never managed to get the image to focus in the camera when trying it out... so that feature is basically useless. The only way to get an in focus image out of this telescope is for it to pass through an eye piece lens. So projection is the way I'm going. ETA I've heard differing opinions on that... but will be going the safer route of having the solar filter on the telescope. |
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Lens isn't removable on a Go Pro. This model of telescope can flip the mirror that would send the image to the eyepiece out of the way so it comes out the back end of the telescope. There is a place there to attach an adapter for a Camera... but if I do that the telescope can no longer be pointed at objects high in the sky... like the Sun and Moon will be... Also I've never managed to get the image to focus in the camera when trying it out... so that feature is basically useless. The only way to get an in focus image out of this telescope is for it to pass through an eye piece lens. So projection is the way I'm going. |
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Your scope appears to be a Meade ETX. Does it have an equatorial wedge you can use? That would allow you room to use the back view instead of the 90 degree eyepiece mount. You can also do what's called afocal projection--a low power eyepiece is in the scope, the camera with lens is firmly attached to the eyepiece, or to the scope via a bracket allowing the cam to face directly into the eyepiece. This is often done nowadays with point and shoot digital cameras, cell phone cams, etc. The eyepiece final lens and camera lens should be quite close together to minimize magnification via projection between the two. This still tends to make high power magnification, though, possibly making a full image of the sun too big for the camera to capture it all. This is the problem I'm facing if I want to use my 5" Mak scope with a point and shoot camera--the magnification via afocal projection would be so high that I couldn't capture a full image of the sun, just a bit of it at a time. The other part of this is that anyone around me... like my family and friends can watch the projection while I'm recording it... Where as all other methods prevent anyone from seeing the event until after and we replay the recording... Also my DSLR can only record for 5 min... and the Go Pro can go for hours. Projection is my best option. Though I guess I could tape the Go Pro to an eye piece... Tomorrow looks like it'll be nice and clear... I'm going to do a test and see how well everything works or doesn't... 3 months to tinker. |
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I made reservations in Kearney about 4 months ago. We plan on driving up on Saturday, watch the eclipse on Sunday and come home. |
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Not that I'm aware of. The other part of this is that anyone around me... like my family and friends can watch the projection while I'm recording it... Where as all other methods prevent anyone from seeing the event until after and we replay the recording... Also my DSLR can only record for 5 min... and the Go Pro can go for hours. Projection is my best option. Though I guess I could tape the Go Pro to an eye piece... Tomorrow looks like it'll be nice and clear... I'm going to do a test and see how well everything works or doesn't... 3 months to tinker. You know, for real time viewing, eclipse glasses are cheap and effective. Also, if you have binoculars, you can make or get solar filters to fit them. |
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why are they expecting soooo many people to watch it? |
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why are they expecting soooo many people to watch it? A total solar eclipse passing near you is something you aren't likely to ever see again. Therefore people are making the effort to see this one. There's millions of people on or near the path of totality (the 30 mile wide swath where the moon fully covers the Sun.) And they'll mostly be packing themselves together into that swath to see it. But there are people that don't care to see a rare natural wonder... and those people are weird. |
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My house is right in the path. I guess I'll sit on the back deck and watch, then head to work a couple hours later. 7 acres of forest, I wonder if I could rent campsites......    Me too. We're at "Ground Zero" for this thing (A little North of Dallas, OR).
121 seconds. If you can drag yourself up here you're more than welcome to watch it from the property (You'll have to bring your own tent/camper/shitter etc) though and we won't charge you if you're an Arfcommer. We WILL accept "love gifts" of .22 however 
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Those are both on my current list of research. There's a site: http://www.eclipse2017.org/eclipse2017_main.htm with all that information. And links to buy the special glasses. From my research you have to wear the glasses the whole time, except for during the one or two minutes of totality, during which time you can safely remove the glasses and view with the naked eye. Quoted:
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I need to figure out how to A)safely view and B)Photograph a solar eclipse There's a site: http://www.eclipse2017.org/eclipse2017_main.htm with all that information. And links to buy the special glasses. From my research you have to wear the glasses the whole time, except for during the one or two minutes of totality, during which time you can safely remove the glasses and view with the naked eye. |
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partial eclipses aren't that rare... But total solar eclipses are a once in a life time event unless you seek them out. A total solar eclipse passing near you is something you aren't likely to ever see again. Therefore people are making the effort to see this one. There's millions of people on or near the path of totality (the 30 mile wide swath where the moon fully covers the Sun.) And they'll mostly be packing themselves together into that swath to see it. But there are people that don't care to see a rare natural wonder... and those people are weird. There's going to be another total solar eclipse in April of 2024 that will stretch from Texas to Maine. And the then next one to cover the continental U.S. Will be in August of 2045, which has a similar track as the one this year, but a few hundred miles further south. Hopefully I'll still be around to see that one as our land will be right in the middle of totality. But, I'll be 63 years old by then. |
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I'm right in the path of it in Central Wyoming. Everything is booked. You might have some luck with airbnb. Or if you've got a trailer you can pull up, I bet I could find a place for you to park it. 
Don't have a trailer. And I think Wyoming is too far for us. Probably looking at camping anyway. My dad has a big 12 person teepee tent that got flooded that last time we used it. So we're planning to make my daughter and niece stay in it again.
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 Me too. We're at "Ground Zero" for this thing (A little North of Dallas, OR).
121 seconds. If you can drag yourself up here you're more than welcome to watch it from the property (You'll have to bring your own tent/camper/shitter etc) though and we won't charge you if you're an Arfcommer. We WILL accept "love gifts" of .22 however |
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I guess I'm late to the party. I'd like to take the family to go see the eclipse in August. Thinking about heading north to Nebraska as I feel like it will have the best chances of clear weather without having to drive half way across the country. Obviously all the hotels are booked. I guess anyone with any land is already parceling it out for primitive camping. Or I'm considering trying to rent a pop up camper if I can find any available. What are you guys doing? Anyone here have a line on a camping spot that may not be full up already? Check Air BnB. Seriously. When we booked things last month, hotels were either all book, or prices increased 100%+, wife went on AirBnB and we found multiple private stay listings with excellent reviews for less than the hotels. |
I wouldn't bother driving 20 minutes south for a better look
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So about this eclipse............. Yeah, it will be neat but what a bunch of hyped bs. I live in central OR, and hotels are gouging at $1000/night. Now there is a DOJ investigation into hotels that canceled reservations made last year and people were told to rebook at the "new" price Some camping spots I've seen advertised are at 200+/ni9ght with some places requiring a 3 night stay for your bargain price. Summer traffic between Bend and Madras is horrendous normally with all the tourists, but they are expecting between 500,000 and 700,000 more people for the eclipse. One article in the paper said it "may" take 5 to 8 hours to go from Bend to Madras. I think we will just hang out at our place west of Salem until the hullabaloo is over. |
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I envy you guys that either live in the path or have family that do. We'll have to wait until 2045 for the next solar eclipse to cover Oklahoma, but our family land should be right in the path of totality. I can't wait! |