Another nice night at Wallaroo

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Sorry..just lonely ..clear, still, dark, transparent and reasonable seeing, galaxy subs look good (second night in a row)...2ltrs of great beer gone, one large coffee drunk and 200g of chocolate munched down..cant complain

So, how's your night going?...hic..

Mike

[RobF (Rob)]

Has been a nice night in Brissie too Mike.
Hitting the sack now - wish I'd had some relaxing ale, and double wish didn't need to wake up for work in 5-6 hrs

p.s. Sounds like you're due for a major diuresis any moment now

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by RobF

Has been a nice night in Brissie too Mike.
Hitting the sack now - wish I'd had some relaxing ale, and double wish didn't need to wake up for work in 5-6 hrs

p.s. Sounds like you're due for a major diuresis any moment now

Nice to hear Robbo, not the having to go to work bit , I've taken a weeks leave between two long weekends here in Canberra, to grab some photons and so far, I've two clear nights under the belt...

Yes..arhem, time for a pee....

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Doh!..well, not all good...after last nights all nighter run, my batteries look to have not had enough sun during the day to recharge fully...sooo, I'm about to run out of power...and of course the sky conditions are almost perfect...damn! ..I should squeeze a few more subs out and go until my inverter starts alarming

And of course the seeing is now really good too...sheesh

Mike
Sorry...noone to talk to

[dylan_odonnell (Dylan)]

How frustrating eh!

I only get 2.5 hours on a target from my urban obs so I image whatever I can get weather permitting and have started taking a couple of nights worth at least.

I ran out of alcohol early tonight (doh), plenty of power though! Maybe we can trade...

d

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by dylan_odonnell

How frustrating...

I ran out of alcohol early tonight (doh), plenty of power though! Maybe we can trade...

d

Ha ha ha..be a bit of a toss up that one Dylan

Mike

[xelasnave]

Hi Mike, do yourself a favour get yourself a little Genny, $750 for a key start or remote controlled Genny or even a $400 one, I have one of each and of course when you have one the Sun will always shine. There is little more annoying than a flat battery bank. Anyways don't you have an assistant to take care of details.

Enjoy your break.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Aldi have a 2 kva $500

[Atmos (Colin)]

You've had more clear nights this week up there than us Melbourne people in the last month!! Teaser

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Hi Mike, do yourself a favour get yourself a little Genny, $750 for a key start or remote controlled Genny or even a $400 one, I have one of each and of course when you have one the Sun will always shine. There is little more annoying than a flat battery bank. Anyways don't you have an assistant to take care of details.

Enjoy your break.

Alex

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Aldi have a 2 kva $500

Cheers Alex...yes something to think about...or maybe I need a bigger Solar Panel, the current one is only 160w to charge 2 X 150amhr batteries and probably isn't enough if the day between two clear nights isn't perfectly sunny

Originally Posted by Atmos

You've had more clear nights this week up there than us Melbourne people in the last month!! Teaser

Looks like another tonight and tomorrow night too Col but some high cloud is in the mix tonight and tomorrow will be clear skies after good rain - both factors always make conditions unpredictable....err? like the weather

Mike

[LewisM]

Was driving back through country QLD last night, WAY WAY WAY out of ANY lightcone. Stopped for the call of nature,looked up....


2 hours later I was driving again.

What I saw with the Eyeball 20mm scope was simply flooring - Magellanics looked like clouds just as I imagine Magellan saw them, M8 and M20 standing out like dog privates amidst the glowing swathe of the Milky way.

And no problem celestial navigating even with high beam on - the pointers were so stand out, they almost looked like farmhouse lights on a close hill.

[tonez]

not sure about clear nights in SA for the next 3 days atleast, worst storm front coming through here since the late 40's

last night was a cracker here though, great seeing and my mount was guiding beautifully.. only realised at the end of the night id had my camera settings wrong

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

Was driving back through country QLD last night, WAY WAY WAY out of ANY lightcone. Stopped for the call of nature,looked up....


2 hours later I was driving again.

What I saw with the Eyeball 20mm scope was simply flooring - Magellanics looked like clouds just as I imagine Magellan saw them, M8 and M20 standing out like dog privates amidst the glowing swathe of the Milky way.

And no problem celestial navigating even with high beam on - the pointers were so stand out, they almost looked like farmhouse lights on a close hill.

Sounds positively divine while I have been under some dark skies (Wiruna, Coona) I haven't really experienced an horizon with no light dome at all (except on a cruise ship but the deck lights and sea spray hide pretty much everything)...must feel a little surreal

Originally Posted by tonez

not sure about clear nights in SA for the next 3 days atleast, worst storm front coming through here since the late 40's

last night was a cracker here though, great seeing and my mount was guiding beautifully.. only realised at the end of the night id had my camera settings wrong

Well always best when the good weather precedes the bad, makes you feel like you got away with something and nothing better than the feeling you get when your gear is purring perfectly ....realising you have wasted it all however is not so good

Mike

[xelasnave]

Mike you could add another 160 watt panel will take you to near the max charge rate.
However your current panel should put in approx 10 amps so four hours of reasonable Sun should top them up.

However if you are running the batteries down the sooner you can recharge the better and so a Genny can be useful.
I use my small Genny to top up if the inverter protests simply to do the right thing by the battery.
One litre usually is enough.
Alex

[xelasnave]

I have been up home for a week and managed some time under dark sky and hate my return to Sydney.
Alex

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Mike you could add another 160 watt panel will take you to near the max charge rate.
However your current panel should put in approx 10 amps so four hours of reasonable Sun should top them up.

However if you are running the batteries down the sooner you can recharge the better and so a Genny can be useful.
I use my small Genny to top up if the inverter protests simply to do the right thing by the battery.
One litre usually is enough.
Alex

Hmm? yeah perhaps worth considering. My batteries are now over 2 years old and they seem to have lost a little of their performance and resilience, should be better in Summer of course, a higher Sun for better recharging and it was still down near 0degC here last night, so battery performance was hampered a bit by that too I guess? When they were new I managed two all-nighters in row a couple of times, even in winter and the voltage under load never dropped below 12.0V.

Mike

[xelasnave]

Make sure you keep the area between the terminals clean as.
Putting a multi meter on mine showed 2 vlt leak and they looked clean.
As you gather cold is not good so don't rest your beer on them.
Anyways look forward to seeing your next image.
Alex

[xelasnave]

And check utube for a bicycle powered Genny system but you may need more chocolate.
Alex

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Make sure you keep the area between the terminals clean as.
Putting a multi meter on mine showed 2 vlt leak and they looked clean.
As you gather cold is not good so don't rest your beer on them.
Anyways look forward to seeing your next image.
Alex

Originally Posted by xelasnave

And check utube for a bicycle powered Genny system but you may need more chocolate.
Alex

Terminals look pretty schmick

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

..clear, still, dark, transparent and reasonable seeing, galaxy subs look good (second night in a row)...2

Hmmmph!! Night before was okay. Last night was all over the shop. Gathered 45 mins of usable data - gave up when seeing refuse to drop below 3.25 arcsec. Sky was bright both nights which doesn't help imaging a low surface brightness galaxy. Hmmmph!!