- This is not a cheap hobby, once you decide to leave visual viewing the cost gets more.
- One can not take short cuts with Darks, and Flats, Yes you need them, no you can not reuse them, and if you use a filter, you have to take flats with the same filter or you end up with a hot mess.
- Whenever you purchase a new bit of gear, you are for sure going to have bad weather, the number of days is dependent on cost.
- Do not talk about Bias frames unless you wish to start a war.
- As soon as you go too bed, you are for sure going to have some type of equipment issue and run most of your session.
- Once weather clears up from item 3 on this list, you are assured to have issues getting your system back running correctly, you will spend half the night trying to resolve odd issues.
- PHD2, if you even breath on your equipment, you will need to re-calibrate PHD2, if you do not, the mount and guiding software start to fight each other.
- Sleep is a thing of the past, if there is a slight break in weather, you will be outside trying to image, even if you still see clouds.
- You will start talking to people about DOS objects, half the time they have no clue WTF you are talking about.
- If you are married, it is best to keep wife happy so you can buy more equipment.
- What happens on astrobin stays on astrobin.
- You will find yourself buying spare cables, because last thing you want is a cable to have issues and you can not iimage. I now own back up cables for my backup cables.
- Filters are fantastic, but not cheap, I recently picked up a new filter, 700 bucks, thats almost as much as some people spend for there scope.
- You can not just have one scope.
- You can not just have one camera.
- Your life will never be the same, I find myself wishing I was imaging.
Things I have learned over the last 6 months.
I agree with all but there are two of your points that I want to highlight! 
And related to this... I've never been so dependent of the weather and have noticed that in our planet there are so many cloudy days average in a year!
Robert Winslow:
Whenever you purchase a new bit of gear, you are for sure going to have bad weather, the number of days is dependent on cost.
Robert Winslow:
If you are married, it is best to keep wife happy so you can buy more equipment.
And related to this... I've never been so dependent of the weather and have noticed that in our planet there are so many cloudy days average in a year!
Daniel Arenas:
I agree with all but there are two of your points that I want to highlight!Robert Winslow:
Whenever you purchase a new bit of gear, you are for sure going to have bad weather, the number of days is dependent on cost.Robert Winslow:
If you are married, it is best to keep wife happy so you can buy more equipment.
And related to this... I've never been so dependent of the weather and have noticed that in our planet there are so many cloudy days average in a year!
Same here, I also find myself constantly checking the cloud cover map. If I even see a hint of open sky, I am out there fighting clouds the rest of the night.
Well Written Engaging
I guess you get philosophical about a lot of these issues over the years. Funny enough I never experienced the "new gizmo" weather syndrome. On balance it's equal chances.
Agreed on a lot.
- Purchased a new camera, arriving tomorrow. And the weather for the whole week is set to "crap" and rain.
It's a 2600MM, So I reckon it will stay cloudy for the next 3 weeks or so. Is there a scale somewhere where it says how many bad days per xx amount of dollars you get? Does that take into account discounted prices? coupons? What if your neighbour buys something?
Do we all need to agree to buy gear on 1 day of the year, have 2-3 weeks of hurricane weather and and enjoy cloud-free months after?
- cheap.. I mean, it can be.. a star tracker and a nice DSLR could do the job just fine for some impressive shots. but it depends on the results that you want. - Unfortunately it's a hobby where the equipment and gear make a big difference in the results. Doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable "on the cheap".
- Flats, I sometimes reuse them. Permanent rigs help reduce the need a little if you don't rotate the view and such. This doesn't take care of any new dust spots, but I haven't really had any issue with dust collecting enough over 3-4 imaging sessions for it to become an issue.. benefit of a semi permanent rig that rarely comes apart.. But, I purchased a "flat panel" now. So will be taking flats for most sessions now.
- spare cables, I don't really buy many. I bought short ones for cable management purposes. But every piece of equipment comes with cables. So I do have a drawer full of them..
- the sleep thing, not really an issue anymore for me. It's worth trying to automate a lot of the process. I set up, plan the imaging for the night, press play and either monitor it for a bit, or go to bed. But yea, there have been all nighters when that wasn't an option, or waking up in the middle of the night to switch targets.
- talking to others, - yea you sometimes have to be a little less technical on what they're looking at. "space dust" is usually the best answer on what it is they're looking at. It's hard to visualise if you don't see it yourself and more importantly; can't see it yourself.
People "know" that that stuff is out there, but don't think about it much.. And showing a picture or a screen doesn't always help to make the connection that that stuff is actually out there because most of it isn't visible.. But… take out a visual scope, show them Jupiter, Saturn, or even better: Orion, and it clicks really quick.
- and no, you can't have one camera or one scope.. or even one mount for some *glances over at my 3 rigs*.. oops.
Oh well, no wife here to get angry at me!
- Purchased a new camera, arriving tomorrow. And the weather for the whole week is set to "crap" and rain.
It's a 2600MM, So I reckon it will stay cloudy for the next 3 weeks or so. Is there a scale somewhere where it says how many bad days per xx amount of dollars you get? Does that take into account discounted prices? coupons? What if your neighbour buys something?
Do we all need to agree to buy gear on 1 day of the year, have 2-3 weeks of hurricane weather and and enjoy cloud-free months after?
- cheap.. I mean, it can be.. a star tracker and a nice DSLR could do the job just fine for some impressive shots. but it depends on the results that you want. - Unfortunately it's a hobby where the equipment and gear make a big difference in the results. Doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable "on the cheap".
- Flats, I sometimes reuse them. Permanent rigs help reduce the need a little if you don't rotate the view and such. This doesn't take care of any new dust spots, but I haven't really had any issue with dust collecting enough over 3-4 imaging sessions for it to become an issue.. benefit of a semi permanent rig that rarely comes apart.. But, I purchased a "flat panel" now. So will be taking flats for most sessions now.
- spare cables, I don't really buy many. I bought short ones for cable management purposes. But every piece of equipment comes with cables. So I do have a drawer full of them..
- the sleep thing, not really an issue anymore for me. It's worth trying to automate a lot of the process. I set up, plan the imaging for the night, press play and either monitor it for a bit, or go to bed. But yea, there have been all nighters when that wasn't an option, or waking up in the middle of the night to switch targets.
- talking to others, - yea you sometimes have to be a little less technical on what they're looking at. "space dust" is usually the best answer on what it is they're looking at. It's hard to visualise if you don't see it yourself and more importantly; can't see it yourself.
People "know" that that stuff is out there, but don't think about it much.. And showing a picture or a screen doesn't always help to make the connection that that stuff is actually out there because most of it isn't visible.. But… take out a visual scope, show them Jupiter, Saturn, or even better: Orion, and it clicks really quick.
- and no, you can't have one camera or one scope.. or even one mount for some *glances over at my 3 rigs*.. oops.
Oh well, no wife here to get angry at me!
Moving to an OAG from a guidescope was nowhere near as scary as I thought and has halved my PHD2 guiding error. I have no backfocus left though, so no field rotator for me now.
Well Written Concise
Robert Winslow:
- Do not talk about Bias frames unless you wish to start a war.
Do not talk about Reflectors vs. Refractors either and avoid Mono vs. OSC at all cost ...
Robert Winslow:
- You can not just have one scope.
- You can not just have one camera.
Alternatively: There exists always a better scope, a better camera, a better mount, a better guide scope, a better filter, ...
Robert Winslow:
- Your life will never be the same, I find myself wishing I was imaging.
After many tries we finally found something that is addictive and neither illegal nor unhealthy nor immoral ...
The most important things I have learnt since I started astrophotography is to deal with frustration and that "The universe was made to be seen by my eyes" (Saturn by Sleeping at Last)
My wife is tired of hearing me say: "if only I had a new or different______________________________, my imaging would be better!"
CS
Patrick
CS
Patrick
Well Written Engaging
Well listed Robert..
Adding..
- Doubt every single thing or step .. Is this cable connected good? Is this tight enough? Is this..? Is that ?
Adding..
- Doubt every single thing or step .. Is this cable connected good? Is this tight enough? Is this..? Is that ?
Robert Winslow:
- Your life will never be the same, I find myself wishing I was imaging.
After many tries we finally found something that is addictive and neither illegal nor unhealthy nor immoral ...
Agreed ... one of the most expensive and obsessive hobbies on the planet that doesn't break any of our rules
It ain't that expensive, compared to many others. Although some do their damned best to try and catch up with those others ;)
Robert Winslow:
- This is not a cheap hobby, once you decide to leave visual viewing the cost gets more.
- One can not take short cuts with Darks, and Flats, Yes you need them, no you can not reuse them, and if you use a filter, you have to take flats with the same filter or you end up with a hot mess.
- Whenever you purchase a new bit of gear, you are for sure going to have bad weather, the number of days is dependent on cost.
- Do not talk about Bias frames unless you wish to start a war.
- As soon as you go too bed, you are for sure going to have some type of equipment issue and run most of your session.
- Once weather clears up from item 3 on this list, you are assured to have issues getting your system back running correctly, you will spend half the night trying to resolve odd issues.
- PHD2, if you even breath on your equipment, you will need to re-calibrate PHD2, if you do not, the mount and guiding software start to fight each other.
- Sleep is a thing of the past, if there is a slight break in weather, you will be outside trying to image, even if you still see clouds.
- You will start talking to people about DOS objects, half the time they have no clue WTF you are talking about.
- If you are married, it is best to keep wife happy so you can buy more equipment.
- What happens on astrobin stays on astrobin.
- You will find yourself buying spare cables, because last thing you want is a cable to have issues and you can not iimage. I now own back up cables for my backup cables.
- Filters are fantastic, but not cheap, I recently picked up a new filter, 700 bucks, thats almost as much as some people spend for there scope.
- You can not just have one scope.
- You can not just have one camera.
- Your life will never be the same, I find myself wishing I was imaging.
Biggest for me : You will get rain on your equipment at least once. Hopefully you are lucky and its a learning experience. (happened tonight for the first time)
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