How do you image for 6 hours a night?

[skybadger]

Hi all

I'm sitting here freezing my butt off wondering how those that do manage it, manage to image for all night straight to get those subs that make a deep photo. After all, if the cold doesn't get you the tiredness or the clouds will, and we don't want to waste those clear hours that have been so few lately.

For those that do manage all-night stretches, what do you do to achieve it and what is your rig that allows this to happen ?

How many are using full auto rigs with guiders and leave it to its own business while they sleep on, who is manually guiding all night on the patio ?

For those that leave it running - what preparations do you make against dew or rain - semi-cover the scope or leave it cooling or ... ?

I'm in the process of resurrecting my dome drive at the moment to be able to leave the dome to its own activity, following the scope, which would allow me to leave it imaging while I keep warm. So this is a topic i'm very interested in at the moment.

My kit I want to use is SKyMap->ASCOM POTH->SS2K->Vixen GPDX with a Vixen Visac 8" at f/6 guided by a St80 using a modded webcam through Guidedog. PEC is also on.

The camera is a DSLR with a cable interval timer that is not computer controlled but it will take up to 999 images so I don't need to go out and reset it if I don't need to.

Cheers

Mike

[dark knight]

Quite often I will do an all night session until 6ish in the morning. Lots of hot drinks and adequate clothing including a good pair of Aigle boots. For me, it's the tops of my legs that feel the cold, however this has now been rectified thanks to a pair of sallepettes I picked up from a charity shop, I also picked up a Goose Down filled jacket retailing at £150 for £12 at the same time. i then top it all off with a proper rabbit skin Russian Ushanka. Warm as toast all night long no matter how cold the outside temp gets,,happy days..

Next on the list is to construct a 14ft x 8ft obs complete with warm room.

Carl

[adamsp123]

For an all nighter, I set everything up, make sure the guiding is behaving itself, dew straps are on, get the subs rolling in, check the first couple, then retire to the house knowing what time my target will either meridian flip of go out of view in the west, cat nap setting an alarm and go and check all is well on a regular basis.