Works getting in the way

[bomberbaz]

Guess I wont be the first to complain about this but I am so missing it. At a customers tonight I found myself delaying for a minute just to stare up at the night sky before I knocked at the door.

I shouldnt complain too much as I do work fir myswlf and afford myself more freedom than most but tonight just hacked me off to have that appointment.

Hope you all had a good nights viewing where possible.

Baz

[JamesF]

Work always gets in the way. It's a very poor show, really.

James

[KevUU]

Hmmm. I finished at 8 tonight and came back to a semi-clear night, but I'm far too knackered to bother. I did go for a cycle ride to destress, and spent more time staring up at Orion et al than actually looking at the lanes...

Nevermind. These things come and go, hopefully your turn will come soon enough Baz

[nephilim]

I know exactly how you feel mate, I'm a chef & at the moment due to staff shortages i'm working 6 nights out of every 7 (normally its 5 so no better really ), although i'm usually out by 9:30pm, ive lost count of the nights when its been crystal clear (tonight for example!!) and the second i step out of that damn kitchen the clouds ALWAYS roll in!!! It drives me insane

Steve

[bomberbaz]

@ KevUU. I know what ur saying and thats exactly where I am coming from. The hassle of carting a big scope and associatd paraphenalia. So that is why i have bought a cheap skywatcher ota to stick on existing mount. Much lighter and can do basic planetary, moon and brighter DSO without all the faffing around of the 8SE. Also will be better for basic umaging. Also on lookout for a cheap zoom EP and that should make quick viewing sessions so much easier. Amazing how 2 bottles of cider can help you reach those important decisions so much easier, haha ;-)

[bomberbaz]

With my last post ref zoom ep in mind, has anyone got an opinion on this here?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00663XV8S/ref=mw_dp_mpd?pd=1

[jonathan]

@ KevUU. I know what ur saying and thats exactly where I am coming from. The hassle of carting a big scope and associatd paraphenalia. So that is why i have bought a cheap skywatcher ota to stick on existing mount. Much lighter and can do basic planetary, moon and brighter DSO without all the faffing around of the 8SE.

That's also why I have my CG-4 / 150P setup, although I have to lug a similar number of items out into the garden, there's no heavy battery pack and far fewer cables and heater tapes etc to think about, and the mount is so much lighter that it can be managed in one piece with tripod (compared to The Beast, NEQ6).

[bomberbaz]

That's also why I have my CG-4 / 150P setup, although I have to lug a similar number of items out into the garden, there's no heavy battery pack and far fewer cables and heater tapes etc to think about, and the mount is so much lighter that it can be managed in one piece with tripod (compared to The Beast, NEQ6).

I will still use the 8SE for longer sessions, I am thinking about the odd hour/two hour sesh where you have the cooling down and setting up, just takes too long. So small 80 refractor, out to garden, connect up small power pack to mount, zoom lens and barlow in pocket, away you go, bosh

Just realised I will new another mousemat, come dew shield but other than that, simples

[KevUU]

I will still use the 8SE for longer sessions, I am thinking about the odd hour/two hour sesh where you have the cooling down and setting up, just takes too long. So small 80 refractor, out to garden, connect up small power pack to mount, zoom lens and barlow in pocket, away you go, bosh

Just realised I will new another mousemat, come dew shield but other than that, simples

Powerpack? How sophisticated! My ST80 lives on the tripod by the back door, I can be observing in minutes

But still, sometimes it just seems too much hassle all the same

Saturday night looks promising though

[jonathan]

Powerpack? How sophisticated!

The power pack for the CG-4 is permanently dangling on the end of the wires, it's just four AA batteries in D cell spacers. Hmm, maybe I could make a far smaller 4 x AA battery pack for it, or run it on a suitable small sealed rechargeable battery pack.

[Dunkster]

I will still use the 8SE for longer sessions, I am thinking about the odd hour/two hour sesh where you have the cooling down and setting up, just takes too long. So small 80 refractor, out to garden, connect up small power pack to mount, zoom lens and barlow in pocket, away you go, bosh

Just realised I will new another mousemat, come dew shield but other than that, simples

If you're going to all the trouble of using a powered mount, might as well use the 8SE don't fret about the cooling, let it cool while you're using it - it doesn't affect DSO viewing as much as planetary, so just stick to the low mag stuff

[Daniel-K]

work deffo gets in the way for me when im on 12 hour nights and its clear it sucks big time.

[bomberbaz]

If you're going to all the trouble of using a powered mount, might as well use the 8SE don't fret about the cooling, let it cool while you're using it - it doesn't affect DSO viewing as much as planetary, so just stick to the low mag stuff

Yeah I know what you mean there Dunkster but I also want a shorter focal length scope for my webcam imaging. The 8SE is far to big for the moon and drags in too much light from Saturn ruining the contrast. Played around for ages with the laptop but couldnt get a decent image so I have two reasons for wanting a little grab and go

[foundaplanet]

Baz, What you need is a nice dob, easy to pick up and plonk outside and just get on with it.. Then just plonk it back in the corner of the conservatory when you done... Hassle free..

[Dunkster]

Yeah I know what you mean there Dunkster but I also want a shorter focal length scope for my webcam imaging. The 8SE is far to big for the moon and drags in too much light from Saturn ruining the contrast. Played around for ages with the laptop but couldnt get a decent image so I have two reasons for wanting a little grab and go

Too much light?!? You can never have too much light, that's why we always want bigger scopes :D you just need to dial the gain down a bit, a fair bit by the sounds of it! The long FL of the C8/SE and larger SCTs make them good for planetary imaging. Also, you want to be using a barlow of some kind, 2.5x or higher... the extra magnification will also dampen the brightness a little because it's spreading the light out over a larger area. HTH...

Shorter FL scope is great for wide field viewing and DSO AP, don't get me wrong, but you can't trump aperture, except with darker skies

[bomberbaz]

I will let you all know how I get on first time I manage some CS and get it out into the night sky. I shall also post some pics up of my first few webcam playarounds