Not stargazing? So what are you doing then?

[swamp thing]

Sleeping. 

[scarp15]

Yep catching up on some sleep can be good, I quite like to take part in the local organised Sat morn Park Runs, except that I did my ankle in a few weeks ago whilst out hill walking and just don't seem to bounce back as I would have done   Got some antique door furniture off ebay to fit, matching some upstairs doors with the rest of the house. Also still like to look through Ordnance Survey maps plotting walking or cycling routes. A useful bi product is locating a potentially tempting bolt hole for those once in a while dark sky trips.

[Alfian]

1 hour ago, cloudsweeper said:

WW2 airfields interest me too.  I have a number of volumes by Kaplan et al, the "looking back" sort of thing.  And a neighbour used to relate how as a boy he'd stand on a farm gate in Norfolk and watch B17s coming and going.

 

My parents told me stories of mainly Fortresses and Liberators flying low limping into local airfield (mainly Grafton Underwood and Deenethorpe I think) with engines out and chunks of wing and tail missing. Heroic stuff to a young lad then, but much more sobering now. Its kind of interesting in a suitably reflective way, to put names and faces and planes to those stories.

[laser_jock99]

Spin a few CD's or better still some good old vinyl.

[RikM]

I've been spending quite a bit of time playing my guitar recently.

[Jonk]

Right now I'm waiting for Pixinsight to create a master bias from 2000 bias subs.

It's been running since about 4pm!

[cloudsweeper]

17 minutes ago, RikM said:

I've been spending quite a bit of time playing my guitar recently.

Me too, in my stuck-in-the-1960s sort of way!

Doug.

[cloudsweeper]

1 minute ago, Jonk said:

Right now I'm waiting for Pixinsight to create a master bias from 2000 bias subs.

It's been running since about 4pm!

Sounds more complicated than the maths I'm wrestling with!

Doug.

[Jonk]

Averages....plenty of them! 8 million + pixels to do x 2000.

Calculators would run out of numbers!

[Gina]

And I thought I might be going OTT with 100   Do you really think using that many biases helps?

[Chris]

Astronomy club this evening, so sat in a village hall due to cloud and did pretty much what we do here, only face to face. That's my once a fortnight escape, other than that the 3 nippers keep me fairly busy  

I quite enjoy riding my ancient mountain bike from the 90's to work and back, nice to get some exercise! I wouldn't mind a road bike, apparently it's the thing to do when you're middle aged, maybe in the spring time though it's getting too cold now and I'm a wimp   

 

[Jonk]

8 minutes ago, Gina said:

And I thought I might be going OTT with 100   Do you really think using that many biases helps?

Yes, PixInsight has a superbias feature to synthesise thousands of bias subs.

Instead of a synthetic superbias, I figured I may as well do it properly and just do 2000 proper bias files.

It's no big deal, set it off last night and this morning it was complete.

Moved all the files onto the PC and set it work this afternoon. It's still running now, and presumably will be better than a synthesised superbias.

My thinking is, if it didn't make a difference then PixInsight wouldn't have the option.

Plus I've only just got my new CCD so I'm preparing everything before I get proper first light. Gives me something to do!

[Gina]

I have a lot to learn about PixInsight!

[Jonk]

After reading this --> http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/552560-questions-for-the-experienced-re-inside-pixinsight

I have to run a couple of tests to find out the optimum for my ccd.

I certainly have a lot to learn too, nut have made the effort to get started!

I understand the need for more bias subs, especially with narrowband filters - it's to remove as much fixed pattern noise when calibrating, and not removing fine detail hidden within that noise.

Or something.

Back to the original topic eh?!

Summer time I'm out on the bike, other times I'm usually trying to learn AP techniques, and tinkering.

Love a good tinker.

[Helen]

Current project - sampler for my new first great niece Alice  A labour of love!

Helen

 

[L8-Nite]

I'm taking it easy, and trying to recover from this month long bout of flu, or what ever it is; can't seem to shake it, but I still look out the window every now and then to see if there's a quick opportunity for a peek through the clouds. Other than that, I'm surfing Ebay, Gumtree, & Craig's list for a few old school quality Model Engineering tools.

[AlistairW]

Watching Carlsen Vs Karjakin

[cloudsweeper]

9 hours ago, Chris Lock said:

Astronomy club this evening, so sat in a village hall due to cloud and did pretty much what we do here, only face to face. That's my once a fortnight escape, other than that the 3 nippers keep me fairly busy  

I quite enjoy riding my ancient mountain bike from the 90's to work and back, nice to get some exercise! I wouldn't mind a road bike, apparently it's the thing to do when you're middle aged, maybe in the spring time though it's getting too cold now and I'm a wimp   

 

Same here - that, plus a recent painful fall at about 10mph has put the brakes on me.  

Stick with the mountain bike, and enjoy being middle-aged!

Doug.

[cloudsweeper]

8 hours ago, Helen said:

Current project - sampler for my new first great niece Alice  A labour of love!

Helen

 

Helen - that's really beautiful.  Alice will no doubt treasure it.  Are you going to add a caption - names, date?

Doug.

[cloudsweeper]

7 hours ago, L8-Nite said:

I'm taking it easy, and trying to recover from this month long bout of flu, or what ever it is; can't seem to shake it, but I still look out the window every now and then to see if there's a quick opportunity for a peek through the clouds. Other than that, I'm surfing Ebay, Gumtree, & Craig's list for a few old school quality Model Engineering tools.

Now three weeks into a lousy cough - but as you say, can't resist checking the sky for opportunities.

Ebay - brilliant for flogging off stuff from my old hobby to pay for this even costlier one!

Doug.

[Helen]

2 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Helen - that's really beautiful.  Alice will no doubt treasure it.  Are you going to add a caption - names, date?

Doug.

Thanks Doug Yes, her name and birth details will be added in the space at the bottom.  The animals will come to life when I do the remaining backstitching and the faces (at the end or I get lots of eyes staring at me as I sew!!)

Helen

[L8-Nite]

3 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Now three weeks into a lousy cough - but as you say, can't resist checking the sky for opportunities.

Ebay - brilliant for flogging off stuff from my old hobby to pay for this even costlier one!

Doug.

Yeah, the cough is brutal.  I don't know if I have any internal organs left.  The really good tools for sale on line are few and far between, but occasionally I get lucky. Astronomy can be an expensive hobby, especially if one doesn't do their research. I have a ton of stuff to flog of from old hobbies and have been slowly downsizing, but I doubt I'll be buying any more telescopes (  ), as the ones I have don't get much use here in the cloudy UK.

[swag72]

I've decided that I'm a bit into fossils and fossil hunting.... I can often be found researching areas to look, as well as reading about them and cleaning the ones I've found

[iPeace]

There's always a piano that needs playing, horses that need riding with hooves that need trimming. Studying maps of the Moon, committing names and locations of features to memory. Books that need reading, music that needs listening. Soon the Christmas tree will be up again. In the kitchen, our oven has expired so I have removed it from its pigeonhole and a nice new one with obligatory touchscreen is being delivered today.

Not a bad life, really.

[brantuk]

Crikey! I find it hard enough playing piano sitting on a chair - never mind on a horse.