It's just gone eight in the morning and it feels like it has been raining for weeks. The rather bedraggled pigeon sitting on the roof opposite doesn't look best pleased either.

By now, I'd been hoping to write a little something about things I have seen through my telescope. Instead I've had to make do with trying out various different eyepieces in Stellarium to see if it helps me decide what to buy next. It hasn't really, but given that I've not been able to make full use of my current collection of eyepieces yet, I'm not too worried. :)

But I have had my equipment for a couple of months now and I have managed at least two good nights observing giving me a change to get to know how everything works. I've also had many failed nights observing where nothing seems to have worked. Fortunately, these failed nights has also been my biggest learning experiences. Nothing teaches a lesson you never forget than having to pack up after less than an hour and spending the rest of the evening researching what actually went wrong! On a couple of occasions, this has lead to new purchases.

Previously, I wrote about the events lead me to buying a power tank. The next of my purchases came after a very pleasant camping trip to Cornwall. The weather was perfect and the camp site was quite a distance from any major sources of light pollution. To help things, it was on the coast so no lights or obstructions anywhere to the North of me! Even more exciting, Comet McNaught was also at its peak so I was hoping to finally get some great views through my little scope. The purchase of a slightly more portable scope was going to pay off for me on this holiday!

That was the plan anyway.

Now, I'm sure this will be nothing new to anyone who lives by the sea (or even anyone who regularly visits the coast), but the combination of a long hot day and a large body of water equals lots of moisture in the air and a very quick temperature drop once the sun goes down.

I was suffering from dew far more than I ever expected to. It look less than half an hour for the front lens to completely mist over. I could see absolutely nothing through my telescope! My plans were ruined!

After a couple of nights of this, I simply gave up and left the telescope in the back of the car for the rest of the holiday. On my return home, I bought a cheap dew shield to prevent a repeat of this when in my back garden. I've imposed a simple rule on myself with regards to purchases in order to stop myself getting carried away which is that I only allow myself one purchase a month. The dew shield meant that I wouldn't be buying any filters or eyepieces until next month. The lesson learnt here, there's no point spending a large amount of money on fancy equipment if you can't actually see out of it! :)

If I were to return to Cornwall (or anywhere else by the sea), I'd probably also need to invest in some dew heaters, just to be sure I don't suffer the same fate again. I'm slightly glad I bought the 17ah power tank than the 7ah tank now. The heaters can be a future purchase though, I've just got to make sure I remember to add them to the check list.

None of this helps solve my current problem with the rain and clouds though. The weather report doesn't look too promising for this evening and that's one thing I have yet to find a solution to...