I just got an asi2600mc pro for Christmas and I have not had a chance to shoot with it. I attached it to the Askar V set at 270mm configuration waiting for the first target, the Heart and Soul nebulas. “…when you get Astro gear the clouds are here for a week” Long held to be true. Many years ago, there was a long stretch of partly to mostly cloudy nights. At the next Astronomy club meeting, the President said: “All right. It’s time for confession! Who bought a new telescope?” 😂
Ok, Fess up who got the new telescope for Christmas? It has been cloudy for over a week!!
Well Written Respectful Engaging
Yep, and there are no predicted clear nights for two weeks!
Well Written Respectful
Here in Monterrey Mexico it was the other way around, this christmas week has had clear nights so far, so I've made my best efforts to take advantage of it. I used to have an astrophoto setup and sold it like 5 or 6 years ago. I just managed to get a hold of new equipment like 2 months ago and so far I've been super pleased with the results!
this is what i just got a hold of:
Redcat 51 WIFD with Celestron AVX mount
ZWO ASI533MM as main cam, ZWO ASI120mm guidecam
EAF, EFW and ASI Air plus
a set of optolong narrowband filters.
this is what i just got a hold of:
Redcat 51 WIFD with Celestron AVX mount
ZWO ASI533MM as main cam, ZWO ASI120mm guidecam
EAF, EFW and ASI Air plus
a set of optolong narrowband filters.
I have all that stuff except the redcat. You should be having a blast. Congrats
Well, none for me but at my remote site someone installed a 6 RASA array and it has been cloudy ever since. Hopefully not by 6X!
Apparently nobody got a new telescope in Chile. At Obstech, it's been clear and we've had the longest string of nights with spectacular seeing in recent memory. On Christmas night, the seeing dipped below 1" (~0.7") for a 3+ hour stretch. I set a personal record with one sub at 0.79" FWHM among dozens in the range of 0.8" to 0.9"!
Yeah…I know that not everyone can image in Chile so before anyone jumps down my throat with accusations of bragging, I just want to point out that this last year has been really marginal down there. So, I just can't resist celebrating the turn of conditions that's happened only recently. Well, there's that and maybe nobody within 150 miles of the observatory really did get a new telescope! :-))))
John
Yeah…I know that not everyone can image in Chile so before anyone jumps down my throat with accusations of bragging, I just want to point out that this last year has been really marginal down there. So, I just can't resist celebrating the turn of conditions that's happened only recently. Well, there's that and maybe nobody within 150 miles of the observatory really did get a new telescope! :-))))
John
Well Written Respectful Engaging
Chile has been outstanding recently! Totally agree with John. I may need to delay shipping a GTX over there to continue stockpiling this great data.
As for new scopes we are setting up a new SVX180 in New Mexico at HCRO next week. Apologies to anyone in the area in advance.
As for new scopes we are setting up a new SVX180 in New Mexico at HCRO next week. Apologies to anyone in the area in advance.
Well, I bought myself a used Skymax 127 mak to have a go at planetary imaging, and the skies here in Sydney for the past week or so have been crystal clear.
I'm confused 🫤
I'm confused 🫤
Well Written Engaging
Bill McLaughlin:
Well, none for me but at my remote site someone installed a 6 RASA array and it has been cloudy ever since.
excuse me, who did that? I thought I was the only one dreaming of making RASA arrays.
I'm thinking about a purchase. Would anybody in the NW Florida area like to contribute to the, 'Please don't buy a new scope' fund? 
Well Written Engaging
Oscar:
excuse me, who did that? I thought I was the only one dreaming of making RASA arrays.
Not sure of their identity. Bryan (observatory owner/operator) did not say. I do know it was a group of several imagers who brought in their own prefab clamshell observatory structure. He also said they are using a mount from this company (who I had not heard of until now):
Xerxes
Bill McLaughlin:Oscar:
excuse me, who did that? I thought I was the only one dreaming of making RASA arrays.
Not sure of their identity. Bryan (observatory owner/operator) did not say. I do know it was a group of several imagers who brought in their own prefab clamshell observatory structure. He also said they are using a mount from this company (who I had not heard of until now):
Xerxes
I'm shocked of the photo showing 6 RASAs on a single mount https://www.xerxesscientific.com/mounts.html
that's pretty cool
SQA 55 here…I contributed…apologies!
I'm to blame for the weather in the NE. I just got a new SVX130t… sorry 
i got a sky-watcher heritage 150p virtuoso gti for christmas and I am planning to use it mainly for planetary imaging but some deepsky here and there
Oscar:
I'm shocked of the photo showing 6 RASAs on a single mount https://www.xerxesscientific.com/mounts.html
that's pretty cool
That is very cool! However, they should fix the monochrome photo at the bottom of the page showing slightly out of focus stars and a horrible horizontal diffraction spike. That's not a great message about what can be done with an array of RASAs.
John
Well Written
Here in Canada just thinking about buying a new scope makes it cloudy !!
Yep. Soz. Skywatcher Esprit 120ED ….. my wife bought it for me but did n't know until it turned up! LOL…..
Turns out my work had been underpaying me for at least 1yr and got a nice little back pay. Half of it went to good use with a telescope.
HNY everyone!
Turns out my work had been underpaying me for at least 1yr and got a nice little back pay. Half of it went to good use with a telescope.
HNY everyone!
John Hayes:
Apparently nobody got a new telescope in Chile. At Obstech, it's been clear and we've had the longest string of nights with spectacular seeing in recent memory. On Christmas night, the seeing dipped below 1" (~0.7") for a 3+ hour stretch. I set a personal record with one sub at 0.79" FWHM among dozens in the range of 0.8" to 0.9"!
Yeah...I know that not everyone can image in Chile so before anyone jumps down my throat with accusations of bragging, I just want to point out that this last year has been really marginal down there. So, I just can't resist celebrating the turn of conditions that's happened only recently. Well, there's that and maybe nobody within 150 miles of the observatory really did get a new telescope! :-))))
John
“ …..this past year has been really marginal down there”. Sorry, John. That doesn’t fly for making the rest of us feel sorry for the folks with scopes in Chile. 😂🤣. Stop by my place in suburban Orlando if you want to see (or rather not see) marginal skies! 😞
Ok- I confess. Santa brought me a new scope: Redcat WIFD 91 to place on top of my C11”EdgeHD in my observatory.
I had a new filter as a Christmas present so sorry for the continuous cloud here in NW England ….. that’s all it takes over here 🙄😆
Engaging
It has been so cloudy here north of Toronto I ended up buying a new telescope. So not responsible for the clouds initially but may be prolonging them hanging around……
Darryl Ackerman:
I'm to blame for the weather in the NE. I just got a new SVX130t... sorry
Got one of those in the summer. Fabulous telescopes. Definitely heft to them as mine dressed out with an OSC, filter wheel and guide scope comes in at 34 lbs. Enjoy Vic's craftsmanship.
All I know is clouds. It has been a night every three weeks and it is only about four hours worth of clear skies. It’s my fault really. I had just gotten my OAG to work and guiding is now a none issue so this is my punishment. It also does not help that my favorite targets are all winter targets.
The gods punished me last night it was completely clear last night went to put scope on mount and polar aligned , everything looked wide and focused and then the winds went insane. Gust up to 45mph. Took scope inside and tightly wrapped 360 cover on mount. Next morning mount is toppled on tripod/extension tube/heq5 mount. Bent the alignment pin , dremeled the bent brass, fit it into groove and found a longer bolt to replace bent one. Fixed, glad I brought scope in. Near disaster