Physopto

I hope you both enjoy the forum and the night skies 😃

Hi Damian,

I haven't seen Richard for a few years now. I hope he is well and going strong.

Sutton Bank, you get around 😂

🔭🔭🔭🔭

3 hours ago, jamie56 said:

 I have to move a few days about in spring cos holidays were messed up, still be there from the tuesday onwards  though.

Hi Jim,

Yes it will be good to catch up once again. Just as long as we are able to do so!

The news of several possible Covid inoculations becoming imminently available is a welcome respite to the ears. Let's hope it works out for us all.

The Scottish Star Parties at Drumroamin are one of  the highlights of our year 😃🥃😃.

I hope you and Dawn have a nice Christmas and New Year. Keep well.😷🥃🥃🥃

 

 

Hi Adrian, I hope you are doing OK.

The above announcement  was not a post that I wished to place here on the forum, but the present nightmare of Covid -19 has changed a lot of things and expectations.

Still, there is now some hope on the horizon as to how we may be able to deal with this terrible outbreak, in the form of the up and coming inoculations promised some time in the New Year.  Hopefully for some even earlier. 

A return to happier times will be a very welcome boost to every ones moral I think.

It will be very nice to be allowed to return to the way The Scottish Star Camps were held in the past if that is ever possible!

Stay well Adrian.

Derek

1 minute ago, Astroscot2 said:

Comet Hyakutake viewed from the darkest clearest skies I've experienced in Scotland. I was staying in Sourlies bothy at the end of Glem Nevis, the comets tail Stretched across 2 thirds of the sky. 

I saw it from just outside of Alston in a very dark area. Fantastic sight. So clear, just a pity I did not have any Astro gear then.

Duratool  is the name to look for.

29 minutes ago, tonylumley said:

Hi all, just wondering if anyone on here has a storage/transport solution for their mount, have just upgraded to a Sky Watcher EQ6 pro mount and its a bit larger than my EQ5 mount, so would like a fairly robust ,preferably hard plastic case to transport and store it in,anyone have a link for similar would be appreciated, thanks Lum Essex

Look on CPC website there are several good water proof (to an extent) cases.

You get the idea. About £30-40 ish but the foam is the costly bit. I try to use packing foam I keep from other deliveries.You can use spray glue or water based types suitable for foam otherwise it cam melt the foam. Efoam sell loads of different types. All mine in the photo are reclaimed.

40 minutes ago, mapstar said:

I'm struggling lately with the editor sometimes underlining words? 

Well well Damian ! Are you being rude then? 🤣

中文

But I do get your point. It has become a bit of a pain in the rear end to me. We should have the option to switch it off really. Mind you I don't mind the highlighting as my spelling can be abysmal at times. It depends upon how tired I am.

 

2 hours ago, Mr Flibble said:

Forgot to mention I've booked 9th to 16th. Hopefully Cardiff won't go into lock down just prior to this and I'll be able to make it this time!!

I hope none of us is in Lock Down and we can all make it !!! 🤔

 

 

 

This word correction thing is painful !

It is taking me ages to write a few words. May be I should write in Chinese and see the outcome! 😂

Stay safe.

Derek

49 minutes ago, mapstar said:

I booked when leaving this years autumn event and I'm in from Tuesday 2nd to Tuesday the 9th.

If what they are saying about the current situation with the pandemic carrying on then I can see the pitch restrictions still being in force with limited numbers.

Looking forward to next years events 

My fingers, toes and everything else is crossed !!!!

Derek

52 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

The origin of the word amateur is from the French, meaning lover of something, i.e. you pursue the hobby for enjoyment , not for payment. If the enjoyment goes, and disillusion sets in only you can decide if it's likely to be permanent or not, and if there will be any point in having money sat uselessly tied up in unused kit.

Living on the western edge of the landmass means you get more precipitation then we do in the middle or east of England, not a dramatic difference like relocating to the Canaries or Arizona I know, but perhaps a more plausible move .

In the final analysis, one of my rules of life is 'If it's not fun, don't do it.' 

Heather

Sorry Heather it is from Latin !

Quote :“Amateur” comes from “amatore”, Latin for “lover”. It means “someone who does something for love rather than money” or “someone motivated by love rather than money”.

Derek

4 minutes ago, matthasboldlygone said:

Shame about the purple blob

Enjoying taking snap shots of these bright objects, make's me feel like a pro. 

SW Evostar 100ed + 0.85 reducer
ASI294MC - cooled -10c
HEQ5 Pro rowan
ASIAir Pro
Pixinsight
50 x 2 minute - no calibration

You could mess around in Photoshop or on of the free programs to get rid of the purple blob as you call it.

Derek

There will always be someone who tries to make a profit by underhand means. There are loads of examples on line. One for instance was a bar of soap for sale from Aussie. They were advertising it at around £14 and £9 plus for shipping! The actual soap was available from Loccitane for £9. Yes I know a daft price even direct  from the maker, but there are many such crazy sales pitches going on at present. What I want to know is which idiots actually fall for it 🤣

Derek

On 11/10/2020 at 13:33, gaz81 said:

So last night... thought excellent, weather kind of clears up later on and it’s weekend.. nice. 

I recently got a Baader modified 100D and a cheap Skywatcher filter to try out.  Also had remounted my guide scope in some little rings so it wasn’t sticking right out on the skywatcher finder one (the 9x50).  

First off found out my filter had a scratch... had it couple of weeks already, maybe I did it somehow.. Duno, but bit late now to send it back.  So thought let’s just see how it goes. 

So got set up outside... seem to be getting faster at Shapcap polar alignment with my AZ GTI, so that is always cool, try not to stop until I get excellent (garden is not flat, so always differnt when I set up). 

So after polar alignment was done... time for a little dark rum... 

Plugged in my little dew heater and all that jazz and turned it on

Now scope alignment time, tend to only need 1 star alignment. What a pain though, not sure if it’s a difference between the 50D and 100D but Vega seemed much dimmer in APT live view, so took ages.

As I had the camera and bits off and remounted the guide scope the focus was out of whack (as was aligning them in a terrestrial object in the afternoon), so took some time to get that sorted so I could see the stars in the first place. Doh. 

After all the messing though I got it aligned, flipped between Mars and Vega and Goto was all good. 

So... next fire PHD up. Here is where the next set of frustrations came. PHD just would not talk to the mount despite connecting  (had it working on my only other 2 proper imaging sessions).  Kept getting an error saying that pulse failed. 

So thought let’s try connect the mount in APT and see if that moans (I just use the SynScan app in windows for slew and Goto ). So APt connected to the mount... but failed to move it as it said it was ‘Parked’.  The unpark button just gave an error. 

In the end I had to uninstall the windows SynScan app and reinstall... then it started working.  

I think I broke it when messing with NINA, I pressed the park button and it didn’t work from there... but forgot I did that and didn’t think it would mess it up for other apps.

So thought ok... let’s go. My target was NGC7000. 

Started up PHD again... forced a proper calibration and guiding started. All good. 

Did a 200 second test... and it just didn’t look right. 

It seemed the focus was way out... which was odd as I used a Bhat mask to focus earlier. 

Looked at the scope... realised with all the time messing around with the software, the dew heater had turned itself off (was running off a USB battery... so next lesson it will run off the mains). 

So looking at the lens there was a whole load of dew gunk mess on it 😞 Maybe this was also giving me my dim stars also  

Then some bigger clouds started to drift over  

At this point... I thought I’m done for the night, was about 12:30am.  Didn’t want to start cleaning it at that time  

Put all the kit in the garage and went for another rum  

Checked the scope this morning, and the lens is a mess, so need to clean that 

So lessons learned 

1. Double check all the software is talking during the day... and while messing with ‘new software’ take extra care  

2. Maybe make a mark on the draw tube for focus

3. Pay attention to dew... in the past I must have been lucky with very dry nights 

4. Trying to get to peeved off when it all goes ‘tits up’

The set up was a SW 72ED, AZ GTI, Canon 100D, SW 9x50 finder with QHY5 guide camera (ye old one). 
 

Oh well.... will have to wait for the next clear night. 

So many times in the same position where everything goes wrong, one after another. It gets almost to the point of a Keystone Cops comedy, without feeling so.

You probably did the right thing, another quiet drink  and give up until the next day. No point in bashing your head against a brick wall. There is always another day/night in the future. 🙂

Derek

19 minutes ago, Alan Tommy G said:

Hi all

Just joined sgl

Had a great few days at the star party. 

Turned up late Thursday and got some great skies before heading for bed around midnight.

The following 2 nights made me wish I'd stayed awake longer. 

Already booked in for March and Nov next year.

Hope to meet you all again. 

Hopefully I will have an eq mount by then and not just be salivating over other peoples mounts. 

 

Hi Alan, I am glad you enjoyed the Star Camp and have booked up for the next two camps. It is always nice to see newcomers to the party, especially the ones who have enjoyed the clear skies that Galloway can offer. Just remember to bring plenty of warm clothing including warm socks and good boots.

If we manage to beat Covid-19 the warm room will be available once more, and that changes everything for the better. 😃

Derek

Cracking images! Must have taken some considerable effort and time to accomplish this set of images. Well done and thanks for taking the time and effort to post them all.

Derek

Hi John and welcome to the forum. Have fun exploring 😃

Derek

Cracking image with lots of detail with the dust lanes beautifully clear.

One to be proud of.

Derek

I hope you enjoyed yourself even after forgetting some gear. It does pay to check then check again before leaving home. I know as I have done plenty of forgetting myself. Anybody who says different is not telling the truth. 😱

Nice picture of the horses ....... 🤣

Derek

20 minutes ago, Adrian Condon said:

Hi Derek

Well Done!!!!

I am sorry I could not make it.

Great to see the thanks and praise you are receiving from the attendees

Yes I hope the Spring Star Party 2021 can go ahead without the Covid restrictions 

Trust those who have booked for the the Spring Party and cannot make it for any reason should cancel their booking with Lesley as soon as possible.

Glad you got home safely 

Cheers

Adrian

 

 

Thank you Adrian,

It was a different Star Camp as all who attended can attest to. But it was a good Star Camp with some very clear skies and good company. I am sorry you missed it and do hope you are well enough to attend the Spring event. We made  some new friends and reacquainted some old ones, (yes some very OLD ones 🤣 ).

 

We had some good laughs and although we could not shake hands, we still managed to greet each other in the usual fashion, er...... yes least said the better.....😱

 

 

I am sorry to say I cannot see Covid-19 restrictions being lifted at all in the near future. So I am planning for that contingency. I hope you noticed I have now posted the dates for the 2022 Star Camps. That gives everyone who needs it plenty of time to set holidays, get ready and maybe even book a pitch early. As pitches are at a premium it always is a good idea to book well in advance rather than be caught out. I know from my own experiences in the past at Kielder it can be a right disappointment to be told all pitches have been booked and there is nothing left. Missing a favourite event is so disappointing.

We all look forwards to seeing you at the next Star Camp.

Get well soon,

 Derek

 

 

 

22 minutes ago, jamie56 said:

Come on man, I can't get everything rite 😂,  the strip down was fairly easy, made a wee tool to remove the lock ring, then marked orientation of first glass removed it removed sealing ring and spacers, the same for inner glass, used the usual camera cleaning solutions with lint free clothes etc,  slow old process but worth in the end. 

Excellent news for you Jim, or should say for Dawn, as she would have had you wingeing for EVER aboot it. 🤣

Really though, good news 😃 I am glad it is sorted without spending a small fortune.

All the best,

Derek

 

3 hours ago, jamie56 said:

Stripped down the front objection glasses and cleaned, all back together now and nice and crisp, took a couple of hours getting the crap off the glasses.

Excellent news Jim. I hope it does not happen again. It looked dire. How easy was the strip down, cleaning with what and reassembly?

By the way you are in the wrong Star Camp posts 😂

Derek

Thanks for posting a few pictures there Jim. Nice to see a few, even with a sober Mapstar I believe..... 😱

OK I am only joking there Damian. 🤣

Derek

 

P.S.

Dates for the 2022 Star Camps have been posted as of now.

Derek

An important Note to all attending or wishing to attend any future Scottish Star Camps at Drumroamin.

 

This applies to any persons already booked or wishing to book a pitch.

 

If you have already booked and disagree, please can you cancel your booking/s preferably as soon as possible.

 

In general, you can cancel up to 30 days prior to any Star Camp. After that you will be expected to pay for the original nights booked, as refilling the pitches may not be possible due to time restrictions or contact problems.

 

 

 

 

We are and have been very lucky to be hosted by Lesley and Ralph Shell who genuinely want to see The Premier Scottish Star Camp succeed and they have gone out of their way many times in the past to accommodate us and our needs.

 

 

Unfortunately,  some attendees have been leaving the camp site earlier than their nights originally booked.

 

In future the owners cannot afford to continue to bear the costs of late cancellations or people leaving earlier than booked for.

 

 

Covid-19 restrictions have a severe and detrimental affected their profit margins.

 

Late cancellations affect the availability of places for those on the backup/waiting list as it precludes their attendance at such an eleventh hour. Spaces are at a premium due to the Covid-19 restrictions!

 

As such, the owners Lesley and Ralph have reluctantly decided

that,

in future ALL NIGHTS BOOKED must be paid for in full.

 

(Just because the weather turns cloudy or it rains during your stay is not a valid reason to leave earlier than planned without paying for nights booked.)

 

(Unless there are weather related reasons i.e. likelihood of damage to tents and life due to severe weather).

This will remain the owners decision at all times.

 

(In general you can cancel up to 30 days prior to any Star Camp which allows time for people on the backup list to take the spaces freed up.

But attempting to cancel after the 30 day limit will not be allowed and you will be expected to pay for the original booked nights.)

 

 

 

 

 

As always those wishing to attend a day or so early and/or stay longer can request this with Lesley at the time of booking!

(This depends upon availability due to other reservations by the general public.)

 

Best wishes

Derek