out of practice

[LeeB]

As any astronomy in the recent past is grab and go dob stuff because of the weather, tonight I thought goody clear skies get the eq6 out and 10" , set up three star align ,........cant find anything align stars miles out etc..., then the penny drops 4th of july (7,4,2013 not 4,7,2013) Its been a long time..... then sorted it out spot on great , clouds you have to be kidding , midnight white out , pack up go in sulk....

[firstscope]

the things we go through in this hobby should be clear tomorrow night so get ready lol

[cotterless45]

Last night was very frustrating, set up was followed by increasing cloud.

This was against the forecasts which gave clear skies.

I got 11 very close doubles in Cygnus including down to 1.9" in light cloud before packing it in.

It's still worth trying, especially when you glue your findings in the notebook and find you've used skin cream instead of UHU,

Nick.

[JamesF]

I probably don't get out as often as Nick does, but lack of practice is a really time-waster and I do try to make some attempt to do something whenever the conditions allow just to avoid falling into the trap of not feeling familiar with the kit when the occasion demands. It may seem tedious, but if you know you're not going to be out every night, writing sets of instructions can well repay the time spent.

james

[ibraidwo]

...writing sets of instructions can well repay the time spent.

Or record the instructions on your phone/MP3 player/etc that talks you through what you do, but record it at the actual pace that you do it. Then you don't have to pause it or rewind it, you can listen to it in the dark, and would have both hands free to set-up.