Gear

Notes on the gear I use for computing, astrophotography, coffee, and more — and why I settled on it.

This is less an inventory than a set of notes. Everything here is something I own and use, and where the reasoning behind a choice turned out to be more interesting than the product name, I have tried to explain how I got there.

It is a living page rather than a one-time roundup — things get added as they earn a place, and retired when they stop pulling their weight.

15 items across 3 categories

Observatory

11

A backyard rig outside Scottsdale for deep-sky imaging. More on how I got here, plus the images themselves, on the astrophotography page.

Observatory / William Optics ZenithStar 73iii

Doublet apo refractor, 430mm f/5.9

Observatory / William Optics Flat 73A

Field flattener for the ZS73iii

Observatory / iOptron GEM45

German equatorial mount

Observatory / ZWO ASI294MM Pro

Cooled monochrome imaging camera

Observatory / ZWO narrowband filters

Hα, OIII and SII — how I cut through light pollution

Observatory / ZWO EFW

8-position filter wheel, 1.25" / 31mm

Observatory / William Optics UniGuide 50

Guide scope

Observatory / ZWO ASI120MM Mini

Guide camera

Observatory / ZWO EAF

Electronic autofocuser

Observatory / ZWO ASIAIR

Runs the whole session — mount, camera, filters, focus

Observatory / PixInsight

Calibration, stacking and processing

Home lab

1

Systems I keep running around the house for fun.

Home lab / Rooftop ADS-B receiver

Feeds a live map of everything flying overhead

Coffee

3

I have been making coffee the same way for well over a decade. I wrote up the inverted method back in 2011 and never found a reason to change it.

Coffee / AeroPress

Inverted method, fine grind, 175°F

Coffee / Stovetop kettle

Metal, for at home

Coffee / Electric kettle

Faster, for the office

Curious about the telescope side of things? The astrophotography page goes into how the imaging setup came together, and what it can see.