wookie1965

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

Sirius B aka The Pup. It’s one of those that I really feel I should have been able to see by now but never have. I don’t do a great deal of double star observing so maybe it’s just my skills aren’t sufficiently honed for this. 

I have caught it once when I had my 5" refractor I had to move Sirius just out of the FOV to spy it.

35 minutes ago, jetstream said:

You hang in there Paul! I give you a lot of credit and respect for all this. The other day I slipped and wiped out on some ice carrying firewood and landed right on my hip bone hard...I lucked out and didnt splinter my thigh bone but have some bone pain atm. My back went into nerve pain fits from overdoing it last week and I thought I was screwed but it has settled down. I hate nerve pain.

After surgery the had me on gabapentin for nerve pain, Doc ever give you this to try? another buddy has to take it all the time after a brain cancer removal years ago- he is the longest known survivor of this they know of around here. We have excellent Doctors in T Bay.

This is what they might do to me- and I'll do it if it comes down to it. Hopefully releasing the pressure on your nerves will get rid of the pain. Thats what I had from the hips- massive radiating back, leg, feet and upper back pain, baffled some local Docs and thought it was from the back, but my ortho surgeon- a top of the top Doc said he felt it would go away with the hip op. And it did.

I had this pain for over 2 years, couldnt sleep, barely walk etc. I know somewhat of your pain.  Keep on fighting Paul and explore these surgeries with specialists, its your chance for less pain.

What cause the arthritis?

I asked my surgeon that and was going on about it and he said "I dont care what caused it, Im just going to fix you".  I just loved his answer.

My family is rife with arthritis and I have a condition called Idiopathic Intracranial hypotension I have had 17 lumber punctures to release the pressure from the cervical spinal fluid so I dont go blind and to help with the headaches, I blame these for my damaged discs I could be wrong. 

I have always done manual labour just before I got diagnosed with IIH I had put myself through electrical installation and got my 17th edition and started working in the industry no more heavy lifting but that was scuppered.

Paul

A warm welcome to SGL 

11 hours ago, Moonshed said:

Oxycontin is of course an opioid and carries all the risks that go with that, including possible addiction. I have been on Fentanyl, another opioid, for the last 15 years to control pain in my lower spine caused by cancer. It controls the pain just great but I have become highly addicted to it to the extent that if I miss renewing a patch then the withdrawal I go through is absolutely intense. It took me a while to figure out what the hell was going on just because I missed replacing a patch, I was climbing the walls the entire night! This last happened about 5 years ago I make absolutely certain I have patches in reserve and that I never forget to renew one, won’t ever happen again, that’s for certain!

As with all powerful drugs it’s a question of striking a balance between an acceptable level of pain and the unfortunate side effects. I’m sure you must have it all under control.

I wish you well

Keith

 

 

 

11 hours ago, jetstream said:

I wonder if the operations might be a good option- They might get right to the cause of the problem and help a lot. I too have it my spine but thankfully little to no pain. If I overdo it, it feels like I have glass shards in my spine.. and was checked to see if I broke the fusing disks apart. 2 new hips here, full mobility, zero pain and I dont take painkillers. In the last 10 years Ive had 6 operations and never thought this could happen, but these surgeries have kept me alive and now able to move my 24" around no problem, and truly enjoying myself.

I would keep your mind open to more surgery if its recommended. Gerry

Thank you Keith The Oxycontin takes the edge off I dont want to take more I dont want to be out of it all day.

Gerry I have 3 collapsed discs the pain clinic want me to have the epidurals rather than surgery but I have had one already and it never touched it. I cannot stand to have a shave my feet go numb and pain in my back is excruciating. 

If I knew the op would take the pain away I would push for it but the doctor has said they can fuse the discs which will give me less movement but the pain is from damaged nerves because they have been pressed on too long.

It did take them 3 years before the first epidural because of covid so I am stuck.

My right hip has a narrowing of the channel the nerves go through still waiting to see the orthopaedic  doctor for that.

Had first op on shoulder doc said it was a mess in there and I would need another one 18 months later I was in again her explained he has took as much bone as he could but it would come back again it has.

My elbow I had numbness in my hand started when riding my bike I just thought it was because of that but got worse, doctor said I would have a 2_3" incision no more like a six inch said they scored the channel wear the ulna nerve goes through. That didn't last long so had another op said they were going to put the ulna nerve under the muscles that was better but now my other elbow has started.

So as of now I dont know what is going to happen. 

Thank you for the encouragement really appreciate it.

Paul

6 minutes ago, Moonshed said:

And you only mentioned your thumb? 

The others I get by with taking oxycontin but my thumb is really hurting. 

I am waiting for a epidural injection for my spine. 

I am trying not to have anymore ops if I can. 

6 minutes ago, Moonshed said:

Sorry to hear your bad news, you will most likely find that a high number of  members suffer with the same problem, it’s a real curse. Hope the strap support helps and relieves the pain and you manage to get back to observing in a degree of comfort.

Ohh I have it in my spine my shoulders elbows knees and hip had two ops on shoulder and two on elbow. 

I didn't expect to get it in my hands or fingers it's so painful. 

Thumb been giving me jip for a couple of months managed to get in docs. Sent me for a xray then called me in severe arthritis in it recommended this for a week or two try and settle it down. 

[removed word] off to say the least. 

A warm welcome to SGL 

A warm welcome to SGL

A warm welcome to SGL

A Warm welcome to SGL

 Nice UOVT 12.5mm from Steve (Saganite) cannot wait to try it. 

If I could collimate my laser Its not far off it would make life easier with the 10".

I have a cap and a Cheshire/sight-tube and just got a 1.25" Concentre Has anyone tried one of these.

56 minutes ago, mapstar said:

I never set the scope up as there wasn't a night where there was a full hours clear sky. The aurora shots were taken in gaps which were clear for 20mins 

That`s a shame I have a 10" dob now, its the weather that puts me off going all that way and not get a clear night although I would love to catch up and meet other astronomers. 

I have a TV 11mm it's one of my goto eyepieces so clear and bright. 

Signed

A warm welcome to SGL 

A warm welcome to SGL 

1 hour ago, mapstar said:

Made the trip home yesterday and managed it in four and half hours. Pretty uneventful thankfully. 

Only had 20miles of dry road all the way back. The weather over the A66 was shocking. 

Good to see old and new acquaintances and had a relaxing time.

Thanks to all that attended and sorry those that didn't attend missed it. 

Here's to autumn which I've already booked. Clear skies 

 

Did you get any clear nights with your scope I saw a couple of pictures of the aurora.

A warm welcome to SGL

18 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

I have a Baader RDF on my frac and a Telrad on the Dob. I do prefer the Telrad as it's rings are very useful. It's too big for the frac though. A negative is the Telrad is prone to dewing.

 

Make a dew shield dead easy get a couple of files from poundland take the black plastic off then cut to shape out. 

Strong double sided tape and bobs your uncle. 

Just my two pennorth I have just bought a 10" dob it had a red dot finder I have now taken that off and put a Telrad on with a riser for better position. You would have to be careful with a laser so it doesn't interfere with aircraft. 

1 hour ago, michael8554 said:

Hi Paul

During the day, unpowered, pointing roughly south, focus on a distant landmark.

Is it inverted ?

North is at the bottom of your view.

Is it lateral flipped ?

West is to the left of your view.

Or as Craig suggested, look at the moon, before powering on for the night's viewing.

Either compare the view with reality.

Or with only finger pressure, give the front of the OTA a tiny push to the west.

And to the south.

Note which way the movements are in the eyepiece view.

Michael

 

That makes more sense thank you easy to follow guide.

If you have a laser collimator put a piece of paper over the front, now check where the dot lands without the diagonal spin 180°  check again then do the same with the diagonal you will see if they are out. With my Tal obviously different to a ED I loosened the retaining ring then slapped hard on the cell all the way round that seemed to get the crown and flint aligned whether you can do that I am not sure.

Paul

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 I don't use go-to Paul, so I'm only guessing. If you were to disengage your RA axis while the mount was tracking, would that not give you the preceding direction so you'll know where north is? I wouldn't know if that would cause any coordination problem, or whether you could simply renegade the drive and recentre the star without issue. 

1 hour ago, CraigT82 said:

On my skywatcher handset you can go into settings>tracking and switch off the tracking momentarily. However I imagine that will mess up your alignment (it doesn’t on mine as it’s the AZ-EQ6 with freedom find).

The other thing might be to look up the view on a planetarium app to begin with the compare it to the view through the scope, relay on the view being distinctive enough to compare. 

If the moon is up you could look at that first to gauge the orientation, should be fairly easy. 

 

By disengaging any Axis I am going to have to align again I am trying to avoid doing this thanks.