What else could go wrong?

[D33P]

Hi all,

Finished work late last night, and as it was clear wanted to get at least a couple of hours worth of subs on Andromeda.

Got home and put the scope in the garden to cool whilst I had a shower and some dinner.

Polar aligned, got stellarium aligned/sync'd, calibrated PHD, fired up Byeos, focused, moved to target, short exposure just to check. All ok, start capturing and go back inside to the warmth. Job done!

A couple of hours later just before bed, grab everything inside and retire for the night.

 

This morning, checked the results.

Fail 1: Spec of dust (several light years in diameter) on the LP filter

Fail 2: 3 subs with plane trails

Fail 3: Dew heater not cranked high enough. Less and less detail in subs as the evening progressed

Fail 4: PHD had crashed an hour in (nice star trails thought)

 

So, an evenings worth of imaging wasted. At least I remembered to take the lens cap off the scope!!

 

Just remember, when it all goes pear shaped. The world is not against you, it's against all of us!

 

Clear skies (clean lenses, trail free images, crash free imaging runs) to you all

[iapa]

Seems about an average night is it not ?

Similar the other night with the addition of using 0.9 focal reducer/coma corrector (for 8" reflector) on my ED80 refractor instead of the optimised non-reducing field flattener for the 80mm

1. Fail2 - EDI approach runs overhead. Missed an excellent shot of a A380 passing the sun one afternoon
2. Fail3: dew on my lens froze over completely when I forgot the dew strip completely
3. Fail4: non-human; does not count as fail.

 

[Garethr]

I Feel your pain James.

Had similar myself.

 

Gareth 

 

 

[yelsac]

Oh boy I feel your pain

I had an absolute stinker last night, I made the mistake of saying to myself after a half hour setup how content I was that all was going so well.

Then the gremlins started, eventually after 1 & a half hours trying to figure out why several things weren't doing what they should had to give up on guiding & went for 30 sec subs instead

All in all pretty cheesed off

AH well never mind!!

[PeterCPC]

It's all designed to try us - and try us it does!

Peter

[iwols]

it must have been the gremlins  night out last night,tried plate solving for the first time which went ok eventually ,then dew set in even though i had a dew strap on my ed80,not turned up high enough,then found out for some reason my efw was somehow out of sync so yeh bit of a bummer but hay ho 

[D33P]

Nice to know I'm not alone 

I'm still very much in the n00b category, but it seems calamities like this can happen at all levels. I wonder if the guys working at the big scientific installations have nights like this? If so it would be funny to read some of their tales of woe.

[iapa]

Things that have happened:

• forgot to remove Bahtinov mask after focussing
• didn't lock focusser after set up; focus drifted off all night
• set wrong time; failed completely to 'goto' targets
• set wrong location in software
• wind blew over my complete rig
• PC set to power save (shut down) after an hours inactiviy
• Set up and balanced, before adding guide scope - didn't rebalance
• Selected wrong start for polar alignment when using a polarscope 

I challenge anyone to say at least one of the above has not been on their list of 'not best nights' at one point or another.

LOL

[D33P]

All of those brought a little chuckle to my face, except one.

I hope there was no damage to your setup after taking a wind induced topple... Ouch!!

[iapa]

1 hour ago, D33P said:

I hope there was no damage to your setup after taking a wind induced topple... Ouch!!

CGEM DX mount was sent for repair twice - just need to check it out now. 8" newt, a starsense and Canon 700D were write offs.

[iapa]

1 hour ago, D33P said:

All of those brought a little chuckle to my face, except one.

I'm thinking a new topic - 'what to remember to check'.

I forgot to add -

• battery going flat
• 90m trying to figure out why the StarSense was not aligning - left lens cover on

 

 

[D33P]

Aw man, really sorry to hear that. That must have been devastating.

I fly RC gliders and its inevitable that occasionally the planet gets in the way, buts its still a sad moment. It's the last thing you expect to happen to your scope!

I love the new thread idea, I could pick up some essential tips 

[laudropb]

Just put it down to being one of those nights we all have and give it another go.

[iwols]

worst for me was when i actually picked the scope up with the guide scope and it fell off,from about three foot ,my ed80 got a dint on the dew cover and focuser was a total right off,luckily cover straightened and new focuser which was an upgrade sorted things

[iapa]

On 29/12/2016 at 22:23, D33P said:

I love the new thread idea, I could pick up some essential tips 

what to remember to check PT I

last contribution included a word document ready use.

[RSM]

Two biggest blunders (many others)

1. leaving the bahtinov mask on the end of the scope which then promptly fell off when I slewed the scope to my target and because it was -6 it then shattered. Thankfully I found all the bits and now held together with duck tape and superglue. 

2. Perfect set up, quite late in the evening. Put the synscan handheld back in its holder and on the way back up to my feet smacked my head on the counterbalance moving the whole set up sufficient that I lost the target. Went to bed with a sore head that evening.

Good luck in 2017 to al!

Richard.