Almost ready to quit...

[Bivanus]

Since taking up arms err...scopes , sorry 😜 I have found myself in a totally diferent world that atracts and distracts me from the day to day hussle of job &co. I have also become more atunned to my soroundings and the weather and as other have said 'the great outdoors' So no , not by a long shot , not even if pink sky becomes a sad reality. How can anyone think of quiting just as the Powers to Be start oficially talking about  Aliens and stuff , aren't you courious to see the Mother Ship aproaching ? 😁

[JeremyS]

Powerful endorsement of the broader benefits from an interest in amateur astronomy, @ScouseSpaceCadet and @Bivanus

Thanks for sharing your positive sentiments 👍🏻

[Mr Spock]

Oh look, it might be clear next Friday. I might get to use the doubles chart for Hercules I've had out for the last two months...

[Alan White]

Michael, CO app is great but very often wrong, don’t be disheartened from that app.
Its had clear spells many nights when CO is all red.

I think finding something positive to focus on might be a good idea perhaps.

[JeremyS]

As Alan says, Apps are often wrong. 
ive kept observing stats at my location on recent years and there is no annual trend in number of nights I observe. Typically 30% (would be higher but I don’t record nights I am away). This summer has been spectacularly bad, but still some clear spells.

[SteveNickolls]

Sorry to read your plea, still a problem shared is a problem halved, so they say.

The light nights from June to early August make any night time astronomy difficult but you could try solar or imaging in the NIR during daytime. They do require the absence of clouds but a grab and go set up allows prety rapid set up to get the most from a clear spell. You could try meteor detecting using reflections from the Graves radar in France, that operates 24/7 except odd times when the system in under maintenance. 

Tbe truth is we get these periods unsuited to the hobby and sometimes they linger too long and patience is tested. Some turn to retail therapy, a hope that better kit brings better prospects. We must also remember our collective duty means new ponies for the children at Christmas in the many FLO households.

It will however all come to pass and on that first clear, dark night all troubles will fade away as you gaze up to the night sky.

"I stood and stared, the sky was lit,

The sky was stars all over it,

I stood, I knew not why,

Without a wish, without a will,

I stood upon that silent hill

And stared into the sky until

My eyes were blind with stars and still

I stared into the sky."

 

Cheers,

Steve

[jjohnson3803]

You could buy a subscription to a remote imaging service.  I tried SLOOH for a year.  It was ok, not great, but was inexpensive and gave me something to play with when I couldn't observe at home.

 

[Mr Spock]

It's looking clear at the moment. CO says cloudy tonight - BBC says clear. Who knows?

One advantage of having a 4" is it can be outside and in use in a couple of minutes.

[Xilman]

2 hours ago, jjohnson3803 said:

You could buy a subscription to a remote imaging service.  I tried SLOOH for a year.  It was ok, not great, but was inexpensive and gave me something to play with when I couldn't observe at home.

 

In my case I use the 50% of the time spent in Cambridge to analyze data taken in La Palma. Keeps me active doing astronomy whatever the hour and whatever the weather.

Indeed, so many images have been taken that I have difficulty keeping up. Some from 2020 is still on disk and waiting to be processed properly. Only urgent stuff can be analyzed quickly.

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

It's looking clear at the moment. CO says cloudy tonight - BBC says clear. Who knows?

One advantage of having a 4" is it can be outside and in use in a couple of minutes.

That 4” advantage is a big one and the 4” is a very versatile scope too

 

[LaurenceT]

The BBC weather app shows a completely clear night, no clouds at all, however the ClearOutside app shows heavy cloud cover.

Bit of a dilemma so what to do? Simples, I deleted ClearOutside and kept the BBC app so it's going to be clear. Just set up to do a whole nights astrophotography, what could go wrong?

[Mr Spock]

At the moment CO says 43% cloud, BBC says clear. However, I've got a much better weather app. Hang on a minute...

...yep, just looked outside and it's sunny with about 10% cloud. Most accurate weather forecast ever 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

3 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

The BBC weather app shows a completely clear night, no clouds at all, however the ClearOutside app shows heavy cloud cover.

Bit of a dilemma so what to do? Simples, I deleted ClearOutside and kept the BBC app so it's going to be clear. Just set up to do a whole nights astrophotography, what could go wrong?

CO has been my third choice for quite a while now. The Met Office plus the Weather&Radar apps do the job. I've found the latter's cloud radar reasonably accurate. This last few days both apps have accurately predicted the weather. Today here has been very warm and the sky is clear but the wind is blowin' a gale! At least the washing is dry. 👍

[WolfieGlos]

Fairly clear all day here, I was really thinking it might be clear like the BBC app says.

Now? A big, grey cloud has just rolled over the whole area. Hopefully the wind picks up and blows it away, or else Clear Outside will sadly be right 😪

[John]

12 minutes ago, WolfieGlos said:

Fairly clear all day here, I was really thinking it might be clear like the BBC app says.

Now? A big, grey cloud has just rolled over the whole area. Hopefully the wind picks up and blows it away, or else Clear Outside will sadly be right 😪

Same here 40 odd miles south of you 😒

Sigh .... another evening tweaking my backlash 🙄

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

9 minutes ago, John said:

 😒 Sigh .... another evening tweaking my backlash 

John, please remember this is a family forum! 🤣

[WolfieGlos]

13 minutes ago, John said:

Same here 40 odd miles south of you 😒

Sigh .... another evening tweaking my backlash 🙄

Haha! Wonder if it’s the same cloud. Since then, the wind picked up and blew it away. 2 more have come and gone since, and left lots of streaks and high level cloud.

I think it’ll be one of those nights if any of us do set up tonight.

[bosun21]

Unfortunately I don't trust much that comes out of the BBC so it's the MET weather app for me. I've found it to be reasonably accurate over the past few years (for my area at least). I've found the map for cloud cover to be pretty accurate.

[HollyHound]

On 28/07/2023 at 14:56, JeremyS said:

Nice try John. But I’d insist on the viewfinder presenting an inverted image.

Well they can certainly present the viewfinder in a nice shade of "night friendly" red 😁

[Marvin Jenkins]

2 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

At the moment CO says 43% cloud, BBC says clear. However, I've got a much better weather app. Hang on a minute...

...yep, just looked outside and it's sunny with about 10% cloud. Most accurate weather forecast ever 

There you go… get out there. It’s going to happen and you are going to be happy again.

I have not liked seeing a Spock down in the dumps. I didn’t think Vulcans had emotions?

Marv

[Paul M]

The thing to remember is that the Met Office is the national weather service. No other source has better data. Maybe different but not better.

The Beeb going over to some French provider was entirely political. But still they are in many cases, buying data that originates from the Met O.

Forget apps that do no more than produce a graphical output of raw model data. And anything beyond 3 days needs a great amount of consideration.

The way I've done it for years is to keep an eye on the general synoptic situation: http://www.metbrief.com/resources/asxxfsxx.html

The Met O forecasts on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@metoffice

Satellite imagery: https://www.met.no/vaer-og-klima/satellittbilder

And a general interest in meteorology. 

 

[Earl]

I'd never invest in imaging gear for this country with its weather unless it's multifunctional, hence my GoPro stuff

[JonHigh]

I’m done with the weather forecast. Clear until 01:00 give or take. Ha. Was clear just long enough to do my PA and start imaging and then PHD was binging and flashing at me…

 

The epitome of wishful thinking!!!

Edited July 29, 2023 by JonHigh

[Mr Spock]

Hmmm, guess what - it clouded over. Sigh...

[PeterCPC]

No surprises there then 😟