how to go berserk - a cautionary tale

[adman]

:question: OMG what have I done....? I have just opened the flood gates of my wallet and emptied its contents into southeast asia....and a little bit to sydney

It all started last weekend when I dusted off my 8" newt and stuck it on top of the G11 in place of my ED80 that I have been imaging with lately. I only have a single small counterweight which is nowhere near enough for the newt, so after duct taping a few heavy workshop items to the counterweight bar we were ready to go.

Shopping List Item # 1 - 21lb losmandy counterweight $180 (highway robbery - but what are you gunna do?)

I had forgotten how great the newt is to image with - f5 makes a big difference! On top of this the Argo Navis was working a treat and I was swinging the scope all over the small patch of sky I have available to me and took a few happy snaps of Centaurus A, the Antennae, Omega Centauri and a couple of others that I can't remember, just for the hell of it.

All this swinging around the sky gave me a blister tweaking the clutches on the mount, and I had been meaning to get a set of clutch knobs, so...

Shopping List Item # 2 - Losmandy Clutch Knob Set $149

The slightly eggy stars made me wonder (among other things) whether the guidescope focuser had finally packed it in giving me some flexure. I have had an ad in the [WANTED] section for a Takahashi FS60 to use as a guide/widefield scope to no avail, so what the hell - Peter Tan is a nice bloke - good prices too:

Shopping List Items #3, #4 and #5 - Takahashi FS-60CB OTA/Clamshell/Flattener about $900

The flash new guidescope would look all wrong stuck on top of the newt with a skinny little vixen rail - one of those chunky male-male Losmandy ones should do the trick - but wait my losmandy guide rings only have the V-adapters:

Shopping List items #6 and #7 - Losmandy DMM plate and 2 D-adapters $230

Right. Wallet looking very skinny now, but I should get some great shots now, right?? Well, no. My 550D is pumping out noise in this heat like its going out of style, and I have been eyeing off the QHY8's coming up in the classifieds....there's got to be some more money around here somewhere...down the back of the couch, in the car ashtray...check the wife's wallet....wait, my paypal account still should have something from selling those few astro items a while ago shouldn't it - YES!

Shopping List Item #8 - QHY8 color/power supply/dessicant dryer/sealed case about $1200 from hong kong pete!

Now, how to hide all those packages arriving.....

[wasyoungonce]

My place!;)

[Exfso]

Far out, you are a gamer man than I. I am still trying to work out how I can get a new CCD cam, gonna cost over $7k before filters etc, think I need lotto to hit me....

[JethroB76]

Send 'em to work address :lol:

[FlashDrive]

And now Ladies and Gentleman .... as we can see .... Adam's wallet is now on " LIFE SUPPORT " .... for the duration of the year....:D

[pmrid]

The distance between hobby and obsession is very short and is well behind me. Welcome to the obsession side of the line.
Peter

[adman]

:doh:didn't think of that one! probably because we work together!

[adman]

Its going to need a few transfusions to regain its mojo

[RickS]

Love your work, Adam :thumbsup: I prefer not to make a list of my recent purchases ;)

[adman]

Having seen your mount I am not so sure it's because they don't match up to mine ;) :lol:

This has been my biggest single purchase (well - biggest single day of purchases) - and looking at the trend they seem to be increasing at an exponential rate....

[adman]

I think I had been sitting with one leg firmly on either side of that particular fence. This has been a decisive leap in the direction of obsession.

[[1ponders]]

Adam my Man!!!!! Now your talking padawan. None of this wussin' about spending piddling little bits and sneaking 'em through the door. You go boy!!! May the force be with you :bowdown:

Oh and if we get any more clouds and rain up here ITS YOUR FAULT!!!!! :rofl:

[adman]

Well - I don't know about that...I'll go 50:50 with La Nina - that's my final offer..

[RickS]

Yeah, well if there was a list it would include a new AP 900GTO mount :ashamed:

[adman]

does that mean you are donating your old mount to a worthy cause...:whistle:

[RickS]

Dunno about *donating* but it will be up for sale when I get around to it. Any funds resulting will immediately be spent on more astro gear, of course...

[adman]

"donating" here is used in its loosest sense - it means selling it for less than 70% of the new price :lol:

[DavidTrap]

So eloquently put Peter! Maybe we should get this printed onto T-Shirts!

DT

[pmrid]

I'll order a medium for my ego and an XXXL for my gut.
Peter

[keni]

I'll definately buy a shirt after having a look at Adam's setup the other night.
I knew it was a mistake but now I'm standing at the top of that steep, slippery, expensive slope.

Ken

[[1ponders]]

Aint it a fun slide though :lol:

[keni]

Oh yeah............it sure is Paul.
Must have more gadgets....:rofl:

Ken.

[DavidTrap]

My out-laws bought me a sign to hang on the wall in my "shed":

"He who dies with the most toys is none-the-less dead".

Most inappropriate I think...

DT

[[1ponders]]

:rofl: don't tell h0ughy :lol:

[DavidU]

Adam, what you do with these cardboard boxes is to use the words "power tool's" !
From a multi decade marriage I have found that the war department (wife) will steer well clear of any sort of power tool.
"Hey darl,come and look at the 9 1/4" carbide rip blade on this 1500 watt saw".
Works like a charm.:D

[adman]

David it's always good to learn from a master! I was just going to go with "box? What box?"

[toc]

Yeah, kind of going through that myself.

In the last month I have got:

- Williams optics Megrez 90 ($700)
- Vixen porta mount (free with above mount)
- Televue 6mm Radian ($70)
- Binoviewer ($220)
- 2 inch WO diagonal ($149)
- two pairs of TMB planetary EP's (6mm and 9mm) ($230)
- Orion Flip mirror. ($75)

:screwy:

[Octane]

Welcome to the club of big spending. :)

I bought my FSQ-106N, FS-60CB and STL-11000M all at the same time. lol.

Also, you guys thought Yasi was bad, wait until you see what's coming next -- nice one, Adam. lol.

H

[TrevorW]

Well we could spend it on the wife or buy boats, holiday homes, caravans, expensive cars, wine, women and song but we choose to spend our money on more practical things such as a new mount or scope :shrug::screwy:

[Hagar]

The big buy. It's fun and always a challenge to work out how to break the news to SWMBO.

My latest feast:
Observatory $4000
Deck etc to mount dome on $1000
Dome Rotation Kit $3400
Lathe, Mill and tooling $4200
and a few other bits too cheap to mention but in total about $700

She Loves Me. Or at least wants me outside at night.

[renormalised]

Don't tell Marcus:):P

[mithrandir]

I want astro toys, and a dark location to play with them. She wants overseas holidays.

How to you sneak a C11 into the garage without anyone noticing, even if you have it delivered to the office? An ED120 I could probably hide.

Andrew

[RickS]

My wife can actually tell that a C11 is not the same as a FSQ-106 :)

[Barrykgerdes]

I don't have any bother. All it cost me is. She loves tennis
1. Trip to the Australian open every year ($4000)
2. Ocasional trip to Wimbledon ($11000)

I can then stay home and do what I like! Luckily I am an OAP so I can afford these extravagances. (Thanks for all the lurks Mr Politician)

Barry