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Mouldy old observations
Hi Doug,
Yep, I now keep my observations in a database application called "Deepsky". Up until 2002, All my observations were hard-copy kept in loose-leaf binders until it got to the point where my log was in imminent danger of undergoing gravitational collapse. The index alone was over 95 pages long with 30 entries per page!
Our first PC came into the house in 1999 and by the end of 2002 I figured that it was "now-or-never". It took 4 months part-time to type them all in from the strange shorthand I used, but I am very glad I did it. They are so easy to extract nowadays and instead of carting around 4 lever arch files of my log plus another file of things to do, it is all on a laptop (backed-up 2x elsewhere). Almosty without exception, the observations I base my Deep Sky Delights articles on are my own and extend back to about 1993 (when I first started to keep a log seriously).
Best,
Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T
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