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I hope I'm not the only one who has done this...


Galen Gilmore

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So yesterday was a clear night, what a good time to do another test run with my new equipment! So I pack up my stuff and drive a half hour to a nearby astronomy park, when I get there a lot of people are already out imaging and observing! So I get out everything and start setting up, wait where did I put that screw? I searched all the boxes and bags, and I searched the entire car...nothing. Out of rage I just packed everything up and left for home.

You really take an easy setup for granted when you have a small dob...

*sigh*

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Definitely not!

I once got to a dark site about an hour away and had forgotten an essential cable for my Goto mount. I did manage to use it with the clutches loosened and had some good views of Saturn.

The other one I did (mentioned elsewhere on SGL a couple of times) was to lock my kit in the car whilst under a splendidly dark and transparent sky. I sat and 'wept', not 6 feet from an 8" Mak but unable to use it!!

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3 minutes ago, Stu said:

Definitely not!

I once got to a dark site about an hour away and had forgotten an essential cable for my Goto mount. I did manage to use it with the clutches loosened and had some good views of Saturn.

The other one I did (mentioned elsewhere on SGL a couple of times) was to lock my kit in the car whilst under a splendidly dark and transparent sky. I sat and 'wept', not 6 feet from an 8" Mak but unable to use it!!

Sounds awful!!!!

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Touching on a car keys subject - in my teenage years I together with my father went out to my grandparents farm to help with hay.  As we were in the fields, he allowed me to drive. Of course, I managed to lock keys inside. Luckily, we were already in the farm and the window was slightly opened, so with a help of a bit of wire my father managed to save the day. Or so he thought. I can't remember how I came to possess the keys again, but I did and... less than an hour later - lost them in a huge hay stack in the hay storage building. So, he had to rip off petrol tank cap that had the same lock as the doors, get a coach and drive back to our home city to get new keys made. After he swore a lot at me :D

my grandfather eventually found the keys, some three years later.

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I had a list as long as your arm,  all checked and verified as it went into the car boot..... from tripod anti-vibration pads to focus mask ...... 

......shame I did not put a memory card in the Canon 600D.

Discovered after total set up.... under crystal clear, remote dark skies site...and a 2 hour drive and 50 minute walk in.........

There were expletives....

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Im a bit of a serial offender for forgetting things...lol. I always manage to forget something when going to a star party.

And, on a couple of trips to my dark site - one night I forgot the power cable for a dew heater, which was fixed with a dew shield made from a jaffa cake box. The other was when I forgot the tripod EP tray/leg spreader and counter weights for the mount.... which would usually be a session killer for anyone. However, a quick rummage in the car turned up a pringles tube and a roll of electrical tape... filled the tube with rocks, then taped it to the counterweight shaft.... sorted ;)

20170418_005424.jpg

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I'm sure we've all done something similar, I certainly have. If you are caught out but in the company of other astronomers it's a good idea to ask around as someone may well have a spare of that forgotten something or even a good idea for a workaround.  :icon_biggrin:

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Oh yeah - this reminds me of the time I took my Celestron CPC 800 out to meet all the guys at our dark site (about 20 miles away) - got it all set up then tried to plug the handset in - puzzled why it didn't fit, I suddenly realised it was the handset from my Skywatcher NEQ6 mount. We sure have all done something daft at one time lol. :)

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I keep the mount head in a case, all the other peripherals in another case and the tripod in the corner, unfortunately I decided to put the weights on the floor in the corner of the obsy and went without them :hmh:

Dave

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Hi

on my way to the DIY star party in March the wife phoned me up when going down the M1 to say I had forgotten my food , no problem get some from the camp site when I got there started emptying the car I found I had left my food my boots and a gas bottle for the cooker, all was not lost didn't forget the beer?

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I have owned up to this before but at one of the peak star parties i arrived, set up the tent, set up the mount and scope, now where did i put my eyepiece case, oh i left it in the front room, drove all the way home and back and it was cloudy all weekend

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I've gone to a star party 1 1/2 hr drive away only to forget the controller for my auto focuser and had no tools on me to disengage it :BangHead: They really should employ some sort of clutch mechanism on those things to allow for manual focusing :icon_rolleyes:

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Lol to many.  Reading Rob's post reminded me of the time I decided to change my scope between imaging nights at Astro camp and found I needed a bit more weight on the counterweights.  

I needed 1 1/2 weights to balance my kit on the mount.  Two was too many and 1 wasn't enough, at least i think that was the case.  So like Rob I had a rummage around and found a pair of pliers and some knicker elastic (don't ask), and strapped the pliers to the counterweight, and bingo it balanced.  

Looks like a bit of blue tac was involved too. 

4756cef0d616c1a65bbff9fe88aee057.1824x0_

 

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When I was a kid my pal had an obnoxious, know-it-all father who liked to say, 'I'm not paid to make mistakes.' Well, I'm not paid to make them either, but I like to think that I'm a generous soul so I make them for free!!!

:icon_biggrin:lly

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3 hours ago, Uranium235 said:

Im a bit of a serial offender for forgetting things...lol. I always manage to forget something when going to a star party.

And, on a couple of trips to my dark site - one night I forgot the power cable for a dew heater, which was fixed with a dew shield made from a jaffa cake box. The other was when I forgot the tripod EP tray/leg spreader and counter weights for the mount.... which would usually be a session killer for anyone. However, a quick rummage in the car turned up a pringles tube and a roll of electrical tape... filled the tube with rocks, then taped it to the counterweight shaft.... sorted ;)

20170418_005424.jpg

That's one way to fix it! 

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1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

I have owned up to this before but at one of the peak star parties i arrived, set up the tent, set up the mount and scope, now where did i put my eyepiece case, oh i left it in the front room, drove all the way home and back and it was cloudy all weekend

Bummer.

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2 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

I'm sure we've all done something similar, I certainly have. If you are caught out but in the company of other astronomers it's a good idea to ask around as someone may well have a spare of that forgotten something or even a good idea for a workaround.  :icon_biggrin:

Well unless somebody had an entire spare mount and tripod, that would not happen.

My missing piece was the accessory tray bar that holds the mount head onto the tripod

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I haven't done this with astro gear so far as I haven't yet headed out to a dark sky site, but with my history I'm likely to leave the scope behind! I do things like forgetting to take the birthday present for a birthday visit to family, the card for my niece's wedding, the camera but not the rest of the kit for photographing an event, and my waterproof coat when holidaying in Dublin in the 'dry' season.

Best that when I take my stuff out I make a list and check everything 37 times, just to be sure :-P

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Generally I keep a list of everything I pack for Astro camp and check through it every time.  I do have to remember to update it every time.  The danger is when i think to myself, oh I won't need that this time, and you can bet i probably will.

Carole 

 

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Many years ago we lived with our three young children in Scunthorpe and my mother in law lived in Chesterfield. One day we set off in the car to visit her. Twenty-five miles down the Motorway my wife said the baby is quiet. Our five year old daughter said that's because he's in the hall in his pram. Thankfully, It turns out I' m a lot more organised when it comes to astro Bits and Bobs. :help:

George allegedly looking after Grandchildren in Southend.

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The other was when I forgot the tripod EP tray/leg spreader and counter weights for the mount

OMG Rob, just looked at your post and photo again.  You mean to say you did the entire imaging trip with no spreader, and it's an EQ6 !!!!   

Carole 

 

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