GrumpiusMaximus

I ended up putting an RTC in the Pi. I can't always guarantee a WiFi connection to an Internet-connected network so tit was by far the easier solution.

We got away with it here and our pressure was fine - but we're only a couple of miles from the affected treatment plant and about 200 Yards from one of the big reservoirs. Water tankers hanging around for several days. It was quite impressive.

There's a flood warning across much of my area. Not because of the threat of rivers bursting their banks but because of the incredibly high groundwater after several months of rain. A couple of weeks ago, one of the local water treatment plants had to shut down for a couple of days because of muddy groundwater contamination with the mud getting into the filters, etc. It's absolutely ridiculous. Even by the standards of the UK.

My last half-decent session was on the 4th of February. The weather here in East Kent has been absolutely shocking and there have only been a couple of nights when it would have been possible to observe and then for no more than a couple of hours. On Wednesday though, I managed to get half an hour whilst the seeing was reasonable. No particular targets in mind, I just ended up scanning the Mliky Way around Cassiopeia. Just doing that and seeing the star field density suddenly rise is somewhat rewarding and it certainly helped slow my brain down - which has been in overdrive for several weeks.

Just be aware that with an SE mount, you may be slightly hampered at higher altitudes due to the OTA potentially interefering with the mount, especially if you're trying to keep it in balance. This is more of an issue with the smaller SE mount (for the 4SE and the 5SE), so just take a few measurements of the mount and keep the length of the OTA in mind. If it is an issue I'd recommend something like an AZ-GTI. I've got an Altair 70mm F5 scope on one and it's an excellent lightweight setup.

Probably because many of them don't exist any more. The BBC had a policy of re-using or recyling their recording medium as it was very expensive. This is why the BBC are always putting out appeals for home-recorded copies of old programmes, be it on 8mm tape or even audio recordings. The most egregious example of lost broadcast is the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The version we see now is actually an recording of a screen from an Australian reception, so it's much lower quality than that which would have originally been broadcast. Some better footage of parts of the Apollo 11 mission have subsequently been found - but not the critical first step on the Moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes

Welcome! From about 20 minutes away! It's not been the greatest few weeks for observing but the Moon did look good. Fortuitously, last night was the first American Lunar landing in over 50 years so you chose an interesting moment.

And it's an excellent society. I've been a member for a couple of years but living in Kent I only visit occasionally. My Dad's a regular though!

Sounds reasonable if they're a combined outfit with the local Lodge... In all seriousness, I'm a member of an astronomical society in Devon. I live in Kent but my Dad is a member too, so I have hung around a few times. No questions asked about my membership. Ultimately the society's membership policy is entirely up to them provided it doesn't fall foul of discrimination laws - but they may find it hard to maintain a membership if they have onerous requirements.

My Dad sent me some pictures taken by another club member this afternoon of a large CME. Much suspect that the club member snapped the same one.

It's not so much the grabbing it and shoving it indoors that I take issue with. It's the inevitable ten minutes the next morning when you try and work out where you put the lens caps, eyepieces, Barlow lens, case for the above and start work on time with all of the aformentioned piled on top of my keyboard...

It was beautifully clear earlier but I had to pack some bags as I'm travelling for a couple of days. By the time I went out the seeing had deteriorated but I persevered for around 30 minutes with my 70ED. I purchased an inexpensive 28mm 2-inch eyepiece (the Skywatcher modified Kellner type) and despite the opinions of some, it was decent. I particularly like the twist-up eyecup which helps enormously align my eye given its long eye relief. Had a nice widefield look at M81/M82, then got out my 20mm and continued. Contrast was poor given the seeing but I can't help but enjoy the view, whatever the conditions. There's something about galaxies that hits me right in the brain. Had twenty minutes on them with the 20mm and 28mm, then had a bit of a scan looking at some nearby asterisms. Nothing structured, just a bit of a scan. Lovely to get the scope out, it's been over a week and given that it takes 30 seconds to get out, I really must take advantage whenever I can!

Also had positive experience with Astro Buy-Sell. The website is very 2002 but it has a lot of adverts on there. It is just a bulletin board rather than a 'marketplace', so just a much more populated form of the SGL Classifieds. All sales are private sales between individuals and the site takes on no liability. The last transaction I had was purchasing a 2" Altair diagonal. The seller was very trusting, expecting payment on it being delivered by post to my address! I was rather taken aback by that level of trust but he had hundreds of transactions listed. I'm very happy with the diagonal...

That looks a lot nicer than my effort! Exactly the same configuration in mine. It's good fun, isn't it?

A C6 and a C8 are very nice scopes indeed. Enjoy!