JamesF

Indeed so. I've had my original ST80 from new since Christmas 2010, and my blue ST102 and 127 Mak were bought used in 2011 but are almost certainly older still, as is my "gold" ED80 which I've not owned quite as long. All still get used and in fact the Mak has even come with us to France on a number of occasions. Come to think of it, much of my kit is probably at least ten years old now. The newer bits are more likely to be the likes of cameras and filters. James

Judging by the topic title, you've been sampling the local refreshments as well James

The colour of the PLA may have some effect as well. I printed a mounting bracket for my weather station in white PLA which has been fine outdoors for a couple of years now. It is somewhat heftier than the brackets above, but still only 30% or perhaps even 50% infill (I can't recall which). Of course, under a cover it probably gets warmer than out in the open which won't help. James

You'll still be "those newcomers" for the next twenty years though James

Don't tell everyone how good it is down here! We don't want them all moving! Best of luck in your new home, Stu. I seem to recall a few SGL members being over in that part of Somerset. James

Do you have a reference for the details of the satellite at all? I posted in another thread that it sounded unviable as something visible to the unaided eye, so it would be interesting to find out exactly what they (the company that appear to be providing the satellite) are planning. James

By "your roof" there, I meant the OPs, not Olly's. Apologies if that wasn't clear. James

Very much so. In the wind a roof can work exactly the same way that a wing does. Obviously it was designed with the intention of flying, but the 22.5m² area of a Spitfire's wings was enough to lift three tonnes of aircraft off the ground. I can't see the size of your roof after a quick scan through the thread, but I'd guess it is perhaps a third to a half of that area, and maybe less than a tenth of the weight? It probably doesn't need to be very efficient as a wing to generate enough lift to match or even exceed it's own weight Civil engineers do actually have to take this problem into consideration when they design buildings, and modern houses have the roof plate strapped to the walls with steel bars to prevent the roof lifting in high winds. James

I keep telling myself that I can't afford to save that much James

Entirely possible there were specks of dust inside the cap that might not have been noticed or even visible when it was put on that have been dislodged in the post. James

Very best wishes to Steve. I don't often "do" binoculars, but that's no reason not to read his posts and other writing which I've always enjoyed. James

I honestly have no idea. Depends on the application, I guess. I'd imagine Touptek's own application (or their rebadged versions) have it, but I've not looked at theirs for years. James

It does. There's a control to turn it on and off in the SDK for all Touptek-based cameras. James

That's very true. The ZWO cameras do have a metal case however, unlike the Neximage models, which is probably quite helpful from a DIY cooling point of view. It may well be that some of the ideas would transfer over though, even if exactly the same method wasn't possible. James

Unless she has big ears and big teeth. James

I reckon you'd need a very wide head to get the spacing James

Years ago I ran my EQ3-2 dual axis motors off a regulated PSU on an extension lead, but getting the extension lead from the house was no big deal for me and it was also handy for powering the laptop when I was imaging for quite a few hours. I'd wrap the extension lead sockets in a plastic bag or put them in a plastic box to stop the dew getting to them. James

That looks dreadful. If they were mine then I'd pursue it further just to protect the potential resale value if nothing else. James

Tomorrow looks a bit "exciting" weather-wise Mind you, they regularly forecast thunderstorms that then fail to arrive, so it could well turn out to be another sunny day... James

He's worried that we might not let him back down James

That is lovely. Well done. James

What?! You've never heard of the Patchy Unnamed Cloud Nebula?! James

Have to admit that's my feeling too. James

Hmmm. A tripod might be more of an issue from a stability point of view, but as a temporary workaround you could try not opening the southerly legs of the tripod all the way, so the top of the tripod is at an angle, meaning the alt angle of the mount itself doesn't need to be so large. I did actually consider doing something similar when putting a NEQ6 on a pier using a wedge on the top of the pier to offset the base of the mount. There have been a number of mods for this problem produced commercially over the years and most seem to have disappeared after not very long which suggests that they're not considered worth the effort. I'd guess that's either because not enough people actually want one, or that it isn't possible to make them for a price that people are willing to pay (which may both be effectively the same reason). Part of that could be down to the fact that the manufacturing tolerances for the mount are sufficiently loose that it's hard to make a "one-size-fits-all" solution. It's a problem I still need to solve for myself though. I keep telling myself I'll give it more thought when I have time. The way my life is though, the only way I'm ever going to get more time is to fake my own death James

Do you use the mount on a tripod or a pier? James