What do people do when the clouds are in? - Forums

Topic starter

Mar 30, 2022 · Edited: Mar 30, 2022

OK, clouds came in 2 days ago so I had a choice:

1) Do more image processing OR
2) Do something with my hardware

This time I went down the hardware route …

1) Spent time yesterday tuning my HEQ5 Pro mount. Hopefully I have the RA and DEC worm gears better meshed … only time will tell.
2) Ordered a better guide camera which was delivered today (moved from the Orion SSAG 1.3MP 5.2u pixel size to the ASI290 MM mini 2.1 MP 2.9u pixel size). In theory this combo with my guide scope should improve my guiding by up to 30%. I'm currently typically running at 0.85 arc secs, so maybe I can get to 0.6 arc secs RMS.

I can't test any of this until the skies clear, but at least I moved my hobby on a bit.

What do you guys do on the cloudy days?

Well Written Engaging

kuechlew

Mar 31, 2022

Weather forecast predicts no clear skies for the next 2 weeks where I live. It's galaxy season anyway and I'm not yet able to handle long focal lengths well with my transportable equipment. So I'll continue practising PixInsight, plan upcoming targets, continue reading my astronomy book (The Astrophotography Manual by Chris Woodhouse) and spend some time on my other hobby of playing chess …

Good luck with tuning your equipment and clear skies
Wolfgang

Well Written Respectful Supportive

Olaf Fritsche

Mar 31, 2022

Trying to better understand my equipment.
Trying to learn more about PixInsight.
Trying to neatly transfer my handwritten notes into a typed manual.
Using a microscope to look at life in a drop of water.
Making a tit nest box with a camera.
Sharpening my razors.
Tinkering with an Arduino weather station.
Finally answering my emails.
Talking on the phone with friends.
Hanging out on the sofa thinking about all the things I could be doing but am not right now.

Brian Boyle

Mar 31, 2022 · Edited: Mar 31, 2022

January and February were awful months for weather so I had time to:
1) help found a charitable trust Winterstellar.com to promote astronomy education, dark skies and Maori culture through astrophotography in my local region of Otago (www.winterstellar.com).
2) learn how to make my own astrophotography website deepsky-45.com. I needn't have bothered, as I still think astrobin does a much better job!
3) get the tilt spot-on with my ZWO sensors using my homemade optical jig

daywalker

Mar 31, 2022

Catch up on sleep

Sean van Drogen

Mar 31, 2022

1) rebuild dark library
2) reprocess data
3) build my next setup on paper around an RC10 (get told by my wife to not spend anymore on gear)
4) update my year planner with future targets I want to capture
5) check weather app twice a day at least to see if maybe something changed

last dream about building a nice garden observatory with permanent setup

CS
Sean