AP has come a long way....

[chubster1302]

I remember years ago, sitting outside in the freezing cold, with my laptop and a red torch....

Edited July 6, 2023 by chubster1302

[PhotoGav]

That made me chuckle. I let the dog out an hour ago. I stood in the garden, about where I used to set up my picnic table for the laptop in a cardboard box, looked up at the beautiful sky and thought to myself how I missed those times, sitting outside, waiting for a sub to complete, leaning back in the picnic chair and just taking in the heavens. Tonight my dome is running and I’m lying in bed monitoring progress on the iPad!

[John]

19 hours ago, chubster1302 said:

I remember years ago, sitting outside in the freezing cold, with my laptop and a red torch....

Just us visual folks left to continue that now. A dying breed I reckon 😬

[pipnina]

I do feel a bit detached from my setup these days after robotifying it, but the results I get are a lot better now that it guides and doesn't need to be packed up before I go to bed so I can't complain. It also lets me make the most of the very little clear sky we do get.

My visual kit has been gathering dust since at least christmas a mixture of limited clear sky and the heft of my setup and work... I just can't fit a visual trek in. I intend to make a concerted effort to do one this late summer or early autumn when astro dark comes back. Last year I failed to see the NAN from my B4 dark site, but this year I have both a visual OIII and UHC filter to help me out!

[carastro]

I’m in the middle.  I have an obsy which needs opening manually and rotating manually and sometimes needing unclipping and rolling off and back onto the walls if the target is high. (SkyPOD). I use the handset so stay with the rig until it is all up and running.  Only then do l retreat inside and watch all the subs come in on Teamviewer.  I can control the software from indoors.  
 

Since l live in Bortle 8 there is not a lot to see up there anyway.  
 

Carole

[DaveS]

I have a completely automated obsy thanks to the ASA software. I can turn the power on remotely too, so I can set up a sequence and go to bed, closing down when the sequence is finished without even getting out of bed.

[chubster1302]

1 hour ago, DaveS said:

I have a completely automated obsy thanks to the ASA software. I can turn the power on remotely too, so I can set up a sequence and go to bed, closing down when the sequence is finished without even getting out of bed.

What obs do you have 

[DaveS]

It's a home built RoR that just looks like a shed. But it has automated roof opening and closing.

[mcrowle]

I’ve been into astronomy since the 1980s, though only dabbled in imaging until the early 2000s. Now I’m mostly an imager, but although I started autoguiding for the first time last year I’m still mostly hands-on. So, yep, still outside with the red torch, though at least not in the freezing cold at this time of year .

Of course I can retreat indoors once I’ve star-hopped to my subject, set focus and calibrated the guiding, though I’m outside again to manually dither and check focus every few frames. However, this time of year it’s nice to sit outside while the rig is imaging, enjoying the quiet that’s only interrupted by tawny owls.

Regards, Mike.

[Fegato]

My rig wheels out and is quite quick to set up, and then fully automated. I have the telegizmos lightweight covers, so can leave it out a few days when there are multiple clear nights. It does somewhat detach you from it all, but I try and get out with my bins when I can to keep engaged with the sky! 

[Mr Spock]

13 hours ago, John said:

Just us visual folks left to continue that now. A dying breed I reckon

There's still a place for 'proper' astronomy, we aren't extinct yet 

[Paul M]

While I don't use eyepeices these days, I don't really consider myself to be an imager. I don't image stuff for the purpose of imaging, if that makes sense. I just observe with a camera using modern imaging techniques!  Set-up outdoors then feet up indoors, stylee

My get-out is that I'm only interested in the object, not peeping at pixels or stressing over defects. Why? I still love looking up at the sky, but at home, light pollution and insecurity lights and external decorative lights on neighbour's houses  mean it's not much fun any more

Bad back, stiff neck (struggling to get in and out of my car with a particularly stiff neck just now) and eyes that are showing their age make eyepiece observation less  rewarding and eventually painful. Up in Cumbria at our Luxury Vila, the sky gets much darker. Naked eye Milky way etc. I do have a "grab and go" visual scope there but seldom use it. So much more enjoyable to just look up and soak it up!

 

[Elp]

It's certainly a bit "easier". I feel a bit detached from it if I'm not outside doing something, I set up and break down so going out is part of the workflow. Cold temperatures are no fun but I have sat outside quite comfortably in the freezing cold with the right clothes for a few hours. I usually try something with a second setup whether it be visual, change of equipment or another target so it eats up some of the waiting time. Otherwise sleep is too precious.

[DaveS]

I still remember one early December a couple of years ago when I went out at about 4 to lock up and the sky was pitch black and glittering, with the clusters in Auriga like gems. Triangulum and Andromeda were still quite high in the west. M31 was huge, and I noticed a faint grey fuzzy that I only later twigged as M33, seen directly without needing averted vision.

But I was only wearing my dressing gown so didn't hang about too long.

[FenderGreg]

There’s nothing more I loved when I started than going outside and trying to see it all, hint down every object I could think of…..then I started astrophotography and my aim was to get inside and just let my rig do it’s work haha!

I am fortunate to be in a position now where I can do just that! Some times the camera battery lets me down so I do have to keep going to check!

We are very very fortunate. 20 years ago I probably couldn’t get into this hobby, now it’s a tech lovers dream.

why do I enjoy all the troubleshooting?!

[FenderGreg]

On 07/07/2023 at 19:17, John said:

Just us visual folks left to continue that now. A dying breed I reckon 😬

I always encourage others to start visual, enjoy it, learn something, find the love for it, then think about astrophotography because the pains and cost could put you off in the long run

[Paul M]

1 hour ago, FenderGreg said:

why do I enjoy all the troubleshooting?!

I think that's how we learn, how we progress.

I get frustrated by my silly mistakes but proper trouble shooting is a big part of it for me. 

When I returned to astronomy from the usual life-gets-in-the-way hiatus, I started right here on SGL. The imaging talk left me bemused; "Plate Solving?", what are they even talking about? Etc...  And I didn't understand many of these things until I started gearing up for imaging. 

90% troubleshooting, 5% test runs and 5% poor images! But I loved it all.

I'm now at the 5% troubleshooting, 95% poor images stage 😁

[John]

1 hour ago, FenderGreg said:

I always encourage others to start visual, enjoy it, learn something, find the love for it, then think about astrophotography because the pains and cost could put you off in the long run

I started visual. 50 Years later, I'm still visual 🙂

Never been tempted by AP, bar the odd mobile phone snap through the eyepiece. 

I do love seeing the results from the many that do image though and some really impressive results are now within reach of the amateur👍

Edited July 9, 2023 by John

[Ags]

Being outside is the whole point of astronomy for me. I can sit inside with a cup of coffee watching some monitors whenever I want 😀

[PhotoGav]

11 hours ago, Ags said:

Being outside is the whole point of astronomy for me. I can sit inside with a cup of coffee watching some monitors whenever I want 😀

Absolutely, Astronomy happens from outside under the sky, though of course, a clear sky is still needed to enjoy monitors as data is being gathered, and that can be a rare thing! My visual Astronomy really took off again once I fully automated my imaging dome, so thank goodness for how far AP has come! That can now be ‘fire and forget’, leaving me time to go to my other observatory (I run the Blackett Observatory) and enjoy showing people the skies there! Whatever form it takes, Astronomy is so wonderful and the general public’s interest in it seems to be growing. 

[russ]

The more automated and high tech AP has become, the more I don't want to do it. And that's how i felt in 2008  

But I really get the appeal to those that love their tech. It looks absolutely awesome.