Thursday, April 23, 2026

Fun With Batteries

A couple years ago, with the help of a nuclear scientist who is handy with a soldering iron, i built a largely American astronomy power supply. 

What is an astronomy power supply? Amateur astronomers need typically a 12V power supply to power their equatorial mounts and the increasingly complex gadgetry for modern astrophotography. These are pretty much all made in the PRC, so after the last stopped recharging, i said I would make my own.

The  LiFePO4 battery was from Dakota Battery in Seattle. Very little of the other parts seem to be made anywhere but the PRC now: a 12V cigarette lighter socket, and a really cool digital voltmeter display. It works with most of the mounts that I have that need 12V power.

A couple years back, I bought a Losmandy G811G mount. This is a very fancy go-to mount. Pick an object and across this sky it roams. I was never able to get it to work, partly out of frustration because thousands of others use it just fine. (SuperGrok may have figured out what I was doing wrong.)

So I rolled it out a couple nights ago, and before doing the needed setup, I grabbed the hand controller and told it to slew across the sky. Beep! RA STALL. This usually means you do not have enough voltage.  The port says 12V-18V but moving those motors actually needs more like 14V. The battery was at 13.3V. After a couple attempts, it was down to 10V. It turns that this little power glutton tucked more ampersand than it could give. 

SuperGrok said get a larger capacity battery. I ordered a 20Ah Dakota. When it arrived, the built-in voltmeter said 13.1V. The Dakota 3A tender could not raise that at all. It turns out something called the Battery Management System decided to protect by refusing to charge. After much study, I learned you defeat BMS by wiring a higher voltage battery positive to positive and negative to negative then disconnect and resume charging. So no astronomy tonight?

The older Losmandy GM8 mount is far less demanding. It runs just fine on 13V. Do I rolled the 5" f/9 apochromat out. I had forgotten how sharp and crisp it is. With a 50mm eyepiece (22x) Jupiter's cloud bands were easily visible. At 32x, even more details.  Then I remembered the last time I used it, i had some focuser difficulties that I did not adequately address. Evening over.

Also, the tripod at its lowest position. This is good for sitting in a chair to look at stuff below 45 degrees altitude, but the Moon was  almost at the zenith and Jupiter was not much below it. I was down on my knees and rear.  Clumsy.  I think i will raise it up tomorrow.  It will still be some work looking at the zenith but it will be worth the effort to be standing up.

The Blazing World (Not Execution By Grizzly Bear This Time)

I am learning a lot reading this book. I was never terribly clear on all the religious disputes behind the English Civil Wars but this gives details that are new to me. Calvinists dominated the Church of England and were therefore advocates of predestination--the idea that God chose which persons were doomed to Hell and which were from before the beginning of time guaranteed salvation. (This has/always struck as a weird idea but let's not get distracted.)

Arminianism is the belief that we have free will and choose to follow God and thus salvation through belief in Jesus as Son of God. 

The Calvinists, including the emerging cranky Puritans and Pilgrims, considered this crypto-Catholicism for reasons that are unclear, but may just have been that Anglicans who favored high liturgy (lots of robes and ceremonies which just smacks of Popery) leaned towards Arminianism. 

Like I said, I am learning a lot.

There Are Lots of Chemistry Videos on YouTube

And only some of them are instruction on making things that go boom! I ran into this video that is full chemistry nerddom. "The densest element on Earth has almost no uses." Osmium of course. I knew it was used at one time for ballpoint pen balls, although apparently no longer. It was however used for fountain pen nibs. I am old enough to have used a fountain pen. Of course, I am old enough to have learned on a manual typewriter  




Great Moments in Packaging Abuse

Fedex delivers package. Okay.
Inside is a Priority Mail box. Not okay, these are reserved for Priority Mail.
Inside the Priority Mail box is a Priority Mail envelope.
Not getting better. Inside it in bubble wrap are the little containers of scent that our wives use in outlets to keep the house smelling nice.

Someone clearly learned about the nesting Russian dolls and thought it was a how-to.

Is All Blue Public Assistance Corrupt?

Implausible growth in Minnesota autism cases and treatment. 97% survival rates for hospice agencies in Los Angeles County, some of which are apparently sharing addresses with tire stores and burrito shops. 4/22/26 KIRO:

Mayor Katie Wilson of Seattle said all options are on the table after a forensic evaluation found $13 million in public funds are unaccounted for at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

According to the evaluation, the financial troubles do not end with the missing money.

A 43-page report outlines the findings of the investigation. It states in 2025, more cash was leaving the authority than coming in to the tune of more than $40 million.

The evaluation was ordered by the city and county in August in response to a series of financial issues. It covers the KCRHA from mid-2021 to mid-2025. Among the money mishandling it cites are $1.26 million in interest charges, $2.96 million paid to a staffing company and $6.4 million in unapproved overspending in 2025.

“I think we need to take this seriously,” Maritza Rivera of the Seattle City Council said. “We need to disband KCRHA.”

This is not just defrauding taxpayers; it is reducing aid for the needy, instead of the greedy.

It Is Always Nice When Police Get Out Ahead of This

4/23/26 CNN:

A former police officer and sheriff’s deputy was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after authorities found information suggesting he planned a mass shooting at a festival in New Orleans, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is wanted in Orleans Parish on a charge of making terroristic threats. “Authorities obtained information Gillum planned to travel to a festival in New Orleans to conduct a mass shooting and then commit suicide by cop,” the sheriff’s office said.

The question, of course, is what information did they have. 

Moving is Getting Serious

I ordered boxes for my telescopes.  Finding 16x16x72 for the 8" f/7 was impractical but 16x16x36 can be mated to the right size. Ditto 12x12x36 for the 5" refractor. The big Dobsonian disassembles into a lower cage and an upper cage. Both will fit in 30x39x20 boxes. 

A friend has some DCM shipping boxes for my long guns. I need to check with UPS for any strength specs on shipping ammo.