Show off your kit

[cjdawson]

Hi all.

Just saw the post about wanting speakers for the official talks and those subjects.    As an aside to that, I was thinking that for the last few times that I'd been to SGL, there were points where I was talking between the pitches, saw scopes out, but covered over and no one around.   There were plenty setups gave me pause for thought.  And for those of you that know me, you'll know that I have almost completely redone my setup over the last 3 years.

Something that I was thinking was, I'm sure there will be some people coming to the party, are still in the process of learning about which scope to purchase, what kit to get and what to avoid etc.  Whilst there are books out there like Making Every Photon count, what they don't do is give the first hand experience that all of us who have gone through the pain of the learning curve.  I know that with my kit, I've got enough stories and even old kit laying around to be able to put together a brief history of my setup.   And it is something that I'm more than happy to talk about.   That said, it's not something that I want to spend all week/end doing as I'd not get anything else done.

I don't want to do this as a formal talk in a tent - hence starting a new thread.

And I was thinking maybe there are other people about who would want to do the same sort of thing.

 

So, I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in coming to a kit run through, which is a talk in itself and shows the history of my journey into astrophotography.  The things that I learned, the mistakes that I made. Where I am now, and what I'm hoping to be able to achieve from here on out.

 

All comments welcome on this idea.

[SimonS]

Hey,

I think this is a great idea, I am in the process of growing my kit and moving towards a AP set up. I would be very interested in coming along  

Simon

[Anne S]

I'm going to be there this October and I'm bringing my portable imaging setup. I'm in a motorhome so will be on a hard standing pitch. My setup will just be covered when not in use so you're welcome to come and have a look in the daytime. At night I'll hopefully be imaging so there won't be a great deal to look at except the laptop screen.

Most people stay setup all of the time and are happy to show it off.

[LukeSkywatcher]

"Whilst there are books out there like Making Every Photon count, what they don't do is give the first hand experience that all of us who have gone through the pain of the learning curve".

Thats what SGL is here for. Dishing out advice  on all aspects of astronomy. Ive never had a steep learning curve with astronomy because i keep my gear simple and the less electronics, the better.

[cjdawson]

On 11/08/2018 at 13:02, SimonS said:

Hey,

I think this is a great idea, I am in the process of growing my kit and moving towards a AP set up. I would be very interested in coming along  

Simon

Sounds like the perfect time to get involved.  I'm wondering if saturday morning would be a good time - especially if the guys from Flo are there again this year.  If you have pennies and are itching to spend them, I think it would be better to have gone through the trials before spending on stuff.

 

On 12/08/2018 at 21:06, LukeSkywatcher said:

"Whilst there are books out there like Making Every Photon count, what they don't do is give the first hand experience that all of us who have gone through the pain of the learning curve".

Thats what SGL is here for. Dishing out advice  on all aspects of astronomy. Ive never had a steep learning curve with astronomy because i keep my gear simple and the less electronics, the better.

 

I'm planning on bringing gear with me that will show some of the setup phases that I've gone through.  Where I am now, and the reasons behind the decisions that I made.   There was a huge mistake that took me years to figure out.   Ironically, I'm still yet to capture any significant data with my current setup.  I'm hoping to rectify that this season.

My journey into AP started long before books like Making Every Photon count existed.  I had no choice but to learn it all the hard way.  It's been expensive at times, but frankley, it's been fun as well.  Not to mention the huge amount that I've learned along the way too.