Why invest in a hobby that doesn't return the investment. n

[VNA]

8 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

This is why, despite having some astrophotography equipment,

Hello, not wanting to upset anyone with the weather. But I can leave my gears for a good 6-8 months outside.
But it does not make my "investment" more expensive.
On the other hand my house stays outside  is easily worth 6 or 8 or more times its initial price of 30 years!!!!
NO I am not moving, I will go the same way as my very dear departed wife. :- (

[Hawksmoor]

Expectation and anticipation followed by anticyclone. ‘Ardest game in the UK- is Astronomy ‘😹

I am very lucky that I am retired and in the ‘short term’ have plenty of time.

I do not have room for an observatory in our very small backyard but do have a permanent pier, which I built several years ago. This made a considerable difference in reducing set up time and the number of nights I used my big refractor.

I also had enough cash to buy alternative kit, which enables even quicker set ups and remote locations to be used.  A Star Adventurer EQ mount plus DSLRs ,a 66mmED doublet and a very old 90mm Meade ETX all provide great views at the eyepiece and reasonable Astro-imagery.( Weather permitting).

I also have a couple of pairs of binoculars, which see regular use as they are always ready to go in the shortest of weather windows.

A homemade objective mounted solar white light filter, ( Baader solar film) provides daytime opportunities for safe observing and imaging the Sun.

I will be 75 years old this November and have been messing about with lenses, mirrors, gratings, telescopes, filters and cameras since I retired 15 years ago. Even though the weather is invariably bad on the UK East Coast, without Astronomy projects to replace the architectural ones I had to leave behind when I retired, I would have been lost.

I realised some time ago that age would eventually  preclude messing about in the garden and pitch dark at 3:00am with a heavy 5inch refractor over my shoulder. More and more I use the smaller scopes and cameras on the Star Adventurer. I have also taken up low res-low cost spectroscopy as it requires shorter imaging runs and can be accomplished through hazy cloud and with moonlight.

A couple of (fast ) fixed focal length F1.4 or F1.6 lenses for a DSLR is a canny investment as it enables astrophotography from a fixed tripod with no driven mount. It is still possible to pick up pre-used lenses at budget prices. Modern free software can achieve excellent results with lots of stacked short exposures.

I also enjoy making bits of kit and processing data both new and old. All of which keeps my old brain going. 🧠

I am living proof that you don’t have to be any good at stuff to give it a try, set oneself goals and in doing so have a great time(Even when it rains). I have a dry shed and a forgiving wife👍😊

The sun will return along with all the other stars and then all will be right in the Universe. Be of good cheer!

George in Lowestoft where currently the sky is blue and its warm. Yay!
 

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

I feel everyone's pain. Even down here at 44° the weather has been really bad for a long time.

Pressures of work and finishing my house for a sale and downsize, it actually feels more like astronomy gave up on me rather than the other way around.

I am still so enthusiastic but the weather, work, life never seem to align. The plus side is that I have stopped 'wanting' new kit.

Marv

[jjohnson3803]

On 17/07/2024 at 17:33, saac said:

You should try supporting Scotland  

JIm 

Or any Chicago professional sports team.  But I can't complain too much - I gave up on all of them many years ago.

 

[kirkster501]

I haven't bought anything substantial - more than £20 -  for over three years now.  I cannot justify it to myself, let alone to my partner.

I've started to become a lot more sensible and realistic about the future of practical astronomy in the UK, especially AP.   I am moving home next year and I had planned to move my observatory and gear when I do so but I am seriously reconsidering the feasibility of that now because of the recent appalling weather for astronomy which I think is the start of a long term trend.  Let's face it, astronomy in the UK has always been challenging but since I started in 2006 it has steadily got worse, year on year.  However, this last 12 months have been nothing short of diabolical, I have not had the confidence to leave my scope running overnight for 18 months. Last winter I think i managed to get two sessions in.  So I am thinking of moving to a more portable setup with my FSQ/DSLR lenses with smaller mount and selling off the other stuff including the obs.  I will keep my Dob to bung into my car and drive out to dark skies.   I will continue to think about this and need to come to a decision soon because if I do move the obs I need to get a new base down at my fiancee's house where I will be moving to.

Sometimes we have to be brutally honest and realistic about the situation. 

[Xilman]

On 18/07/2024 at 09:15, alacant said:

Idea: take your stuff to somewhere where there are better conditions and share it with someone there on the ground? You control it from wherever and they get use of the stuff in return for hosting. An INDI server at the telescope would only add €100 or so. Works well. 

Cheap new-moon-flight weekends away too:).
Cheers

I have a spare pad equipped with ethernet and power at my place in La Palma. Another robotic observatory, run by a chap from Cheshire, is on my land.

I am also building a roll-off roof observatory to house an old Meade Schmidt-Newtonian. That kit will be fully automated from the start.

Paul

Edited Tuesday at 10:37 by Xilman
Added ROR paragraph.

[Martyn87]

When I first bought my telescope, I had a good few nice nights where I sat out looking at stars, the moon etc for a few hours, but I didn't have the gear to do any proper astrophotography. Now I have most of the gear, those nice nights seem to have vanished completely. I'm hopeful it'll clear up soon but I'm also a realist, I like in the UK, the weather is crap. The way I look at it though, once my rig is built, it costs me nothing. I've bought most parts used so they're unlikely to lose too much more value, so if I only get enjoyment out of it a few nights a year, I need to make the most of it. 

[tomato]

Provided you have rain protection  to close your roof/shutter, I think it is worth running as many unattended sessions as you can. Ok, I have to delete a lot of subs due to passing cloud and interrupted guiding but I still collect more data than if I hadn’t kept the session going. 
I’d love to collect several hours of data from a clear sky all night but it just doesn’t happen anymore in the UK.

One other point to beat our rotten weather. Today’s fast scopes and lenses coupled with a sensitive CMOS camera means you can get decent results in a fraction of the integration time that used to be required.

[Earl]

On 17/07/2024 at 23:18, Bigwings said:

It's been a year since my considerable investment in astronomy has returned an ounce of pleasure. 

I work one night per week as a care worker. 

The cloud and poor seeing has deprived me of a decent night at the Eyepiece. 

Im getting to the stage where I struggle to remember how to work my mount. 

Perhaps it's time to sell up and invest the £4K released on a big screen tele to watch YouTube video of clear skies and....... Oh damn can't even remember what they are. 

 

The cloud is a major problem here in the UK, I invested tens of thousands into gear about 10 years ago, and yes I did enjoy what I did, the money would have been much better spent on a remote imaging subscription for me. I appreciate that not all feel that it's a valid way of doing it, however for me it would have worked out fine. Currently, I cannot afford to consider even that option so I tinker with old camera gear, a drone and a GoPro (the drone is a debatable luxury as it also suffers from weather restrictions, and flight restrictions (not too bad as it's a sub 250g drone)).

I keep looking at star trackers but is it worth the outlay for it to be sat in the house 300 plus nights a year?

[Ags]

I buy Astronomy gear for the same reason I buy lottery tickets, you never know, you might get lucky!

[Elp]

On 19/07/2024 at 13:05, Hawksmoor said:

I would have been lost.

I think I might go a bit mad without this interest so I try to stick with it. I've generally explored most physical opportunities to speed up image acquisition, if my latest project doesn't work then I'll likely rationalise everything into one smart telescope instead. Although I've got the kit, opportunistic visual is a waste of time for me due to LP, and there's only so much you can keep looking at the same solar system objects over and over.

[Elp]

2 hours ago, Earl said:

I keep looking at star trackers but is it worth the outlay for it to be sat in the house 300 plus nights a year?

Probably not but this applies to all kit. It's not as good as is massively overpriced but maybe a Benro Polaris might suit you as I believe you can also do panoramas, timelapses with it so at least you can use it for daytime.

Edited Tuesday at 14:43 by Elp

[Martyn87]

What about doing some Solar photography maybe? We seem to have clear skies during the day much more often than at night

[Elp]

5 minutes ago, Martyn87 said:

What about doing some Solar photography maybe? We seem to have clear skies during the day much more often than at night

Hardly for me, same problem lots of cloud but I suppose the sessions can be short and in between clouds (which in the heat is a welcome break). For me also I can only practically do it during and around summer, sun is too low and obstructed by trees otherwise.

[kirkster501]

5 hours ago, Martyn87 said:

What about doing some Solar photography maybe? We seem to have clear skies during the day much more often than at night

Agreed,  That and lunar.  You may be sure that when it *is* clear, rare though that is, the moon will be full.

[Earl]

23 hours ago, Elp said:

Probably not but this applies to all kit. It's not as good as is massively overpriced but maybe a Benro Polaris might suit you as I believe you can also do panoramas, timelapses with it so at least you can use it for daytime.

I was looking at the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini which is more to my budget and as I understand it has daytime uses, now if I get an automated dolly with it....

[TiffsAndAstro]

On 23/07/2024 at 12:55, Earl said:

The cloud is a major problem here in the UK, I invested tens of thousands into gear about 10 years ago, and yes I did enjoy what I did, the money would have been much better spent on a remote imaging subscription for me. I appreciate that not all feel that it's a valid way of doing it, however for me it would have worked out fine. Currently, I cannot afford to consider even that option so I tinker with old camera gear, a drone and a GoPro (the drone is a debatable luxury as it also suffers from weather restrictions, and flight restrictions (not too bad as it's a sub 250g drone)).

I keep looking at star trackers but is it worth the outlay for it to be sat in the house 300 plus nights a year?

It's tough for me to argue against this. I'm only a beginner and my enthusiasm is high. How long that enthusiasm will last with UK weather is debatable.

[Earl]

3 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

It's tough for me to argue against this. I'm only a beginner and my enthusiasm is high. How long that enthusiasm will last with UK weather is debatable.

I also do try to have gear which is multi-use so you can get more bang for your buck.

[Elp]

5 hours ago, Earl said:

I also do try to have gear which is multi-use so you can get more bang for your buck.

This is where I'm thinking of diverting to, scopes barely get any use. Camera lenses on the other hand have multiple uses.