dannybgoode

I have never seen it either and I am one of the few people that got on OK with Vista . I tried it indoors, outdoors, via RDP, different monitors, different resolutions, restarted Explorer.exe, spoke to it a stern voice, closed my eyes and opened them again just in case it was just pretending etc. So decided to bite the bullet and do the re-install. At least this way all the drivers, apps and everything else are all up to date.

No this was definitely a software issue. Moisture etc would not corrupt the OS...

Interesting - I have never had an issue with an update messing things up even through the Vista era but I did update this mini PC to W11. It was working fine immediately after the update but this next night it was unusable. I have gone back to W10 for now and may consider upgrading the whole thing to something with a bit more grunt if my imaging goes to plan otherwise.

This was weird as I had updated everything just a couple of days ago specifically so it was ready to go but it looks like Windows got corrupt. I've love to leave everything outside - I'd get so much more imaging done - however, I strongly suspect my scope would get promptly get stolen...

Well the good news is the PC is just about re-built and everything is talking to it and each other as it all should - indoors at least and during daylight. I am pretty convinced it all knows when it is a perfectly dark, clear night . I have also got my little standalone wireless hotspot working so I can take everything out portable should I wish. So, fingers crossed next clear night it all plays nicely this time!

Thanks everyone - very much appreciated. I am hoping people will find the talk interesting even though it is not really related to ham radio.

The basics are done. Just wading through installing Ascom. Nina will have to wait until tomorrow as well PHD etc. Then to plug everything in and test it all and then hopefully next clear night it'll all actually work

I have been asked to give a talk on AP at my amateur radio club - not sure why but hey, always happy to talk about my hobbies!! As it will be an intro talk I am going to try and cover off all the basic areas including mobile phone AP etc. With this in mind I was hoping for some images taken with the following: 1. Mobile phones 2. Something like the SeeStar 3. Widefield dSLR 4. DSO dSLR I know could trawl the AP sections however I would rather use photos with consent and of course all images will be credited. They are only going to be used in a Powerpoint presentation and won't be shared online etc. If anyone has any images they would be happy for me to use I'd be grateful if you could pop them in a reply. Thanks in advance

I got the keep at it mate - it is the bit I have quoted I can't work out...

Sadly that does not work. I have been dabbling with PC's since the days you had to change jumper settings on motherboards and write config.sys files to avoid IRQ conflicts and I have never seen this behaviour before. Going to just try a completely fresh installation, could do with it anyway as it will give me chance to properly update all the software etc. I know there's less drastic ways to do this however a nice clean install can be satisfying

Oddly I find CW really hard to read as I only ever listen to it so it is sound not a visual thing for me. I['ve got keep at it mate but I cannot work out the last bit. I will though - I will fix it...

Well if that isn't very annoying. I finally got my mojo back enough to do some imaging having been somewhat distracted by learning morse code which has become something of an obsessions! Anyway, last night I got everything out, dusted down - tested all the bits, got remote access to my mini PC working etc. All was good. Tonight, with really nice skies in the offing, I got everything set up and powered it all up. A couple of connection issues were quickly sorted and then I RDP'd into my mini PC and... the task bar is completely blank, the Windows start button is missing, some of my desktop icons are missing, I can't right click anywhere at all - basically the PC, whilst I can load programs, is unusable. I have even plugged a monitor in and a mouse and keyboard and even with it all directly connected it is not working. Double bottoms! So, no choice but to reinstall Windows and set everything back up however I very much doubt I will get it sorted for tonight. I may just about get it rebuilt but won't have time for actual imaging.

Interesting. I don't think I have the nerve to leave my mount and never mind my scope outside 24/7 although it is a pain to deconstruct it, particularly when I know it'll be out again the next night. May have to investigate a TG cover. Would still bring the scope in but more because of its value and fear of it getting stolen.

I am a plonker - but good to be back on under my proper username.

It doesn't *have* to be expensive. Actually I really enjoy flying pretty cheap secondhand models. You could get airborne and have a lot fun for £2-300. But like astro, yes it is addictive and yes you can spend. One of my friends is just putting together a new plane at around £5k and has another that he has around £10k in and the actual airframe is secondhand. Just the gubbins that go in the big planes is expensive!

This is an interesting point. I mean people travel to dark sites that are not secured in any way so having a gate is useful. This is where numbers come in as well. 3 or 4 (or more) people are better than 1 perhaps but again that is the same regardless of location. I am confident enough to set up on my own though and will be doing in the coming weeks. I could easily clear it for people to visit and see what they think. It is not in the middle of nowhere rather on the edge of a small town and no less safe than most other places would be.

And of course if anyone wanted they could learn to fly planes as well. It's immense fun

Bit of a leftfield question this. I am a member of an RC flying club who have a field near Doncaster and I figure it would make a really good astro site. Pretty much 360 skies, Bortle 4/5, locked gate, parking etc. I have bounced the idea of opening membership to astro folk to make use of the field at night and bar some admin our side it could be a goer. Don't know what the exact price would be however it would be discounted from what people who fly pay so probably £40-50 per year-ish. Would this be of interest to anyone? Cost maybe a shade lower and if there is interest I can get something concrete.

@Sheffield Col - bit OT but WAWAW or UTB (or neither) 🤣

To expand a bit on Robert's response. No, the lenses will not be the same as the focal lengths of the two scopes are different so they'll have different properties to get the light to focus at a different point

Toric contact lenses are the solution for me. I can't stand wearing glasses when looking through any form of eyepiece, it never feels comfortable, but I a) I also hate constantly putting my glasses on and off (pretty short sighted so need them on even for things like changing eye pieces) and b) have an astigmatism. Recently been trying toric multifocals and they're life changing for me. Tried them Erth binoculars the other night after wearing them for a day in the office and they're pretty much the perfect solution for me.

I am fortunate that RVO is local to me so have used them for a good while now. I have just encountered my first issue with something I had bought from them though (a Pocket Powerbox Advanced) and I am pleased to say they sorted it out as I expected / hoped they would without any fuss at all. It is often said that you only really know how good a company is once you've had them resolve an issue and based on my experience both with their sales support and now their aftersales I can highly recommend them.

Slightly less boring - perusing Stellarium and looking for imaging targets. Building up a nice list but just need to keep my motivation going to actually capture some of them this year (well next year - you know what I mean!). Don't know how achievable some of them will be from my Bortle 1m+ skies however I have access to a lovely dark field with 360 skies as well once I am confident my whole setup works portable.

Ooo, I'll add that to my list of things to do whilst I'm feeling similarly shabby. Got a stack of shredding to do...

Got some form of lurgy, feeling sorry for myself and not really up to doing the interesting tasks I had lined up for this extended weekend never mind actually getting some astro time in so running through some menial tasks. Not really be doing much since February so running through such exciting jobs as updating Windows and all associated software on my rig control mini PC, dusting down my scope and accessories, processing old data that is still rubbish not matter how much my processing abilities have improved and otherwise reminding myself how everything works 🤣 Anyone else got an evening of fun planned?