I must have angered the gods...

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Forgive me, but I need to rant.

It seems every time I try to get more gear for astrophotography something goes wrong.

Originally I bought a Celestron CG5 GT + Skywatched BD ED80. When it arrived, I realised I needed a power source. I had assumed it would come with a mains connection which I could just use with a long extension lead. My bad I guess, didn't do enough research.

So I get my power supply, and then try to use it for the first time; hand set doesn't work. Ok, so I'll send it back to the retailer. Finally get the hand set back from the retailer, still doesn't work; looks like wrong firmware was put on the handset. Now I need to send back the mount and the hand set to ensure whatever the problem is is fixed.

Finally get the mount/handset back and am prepared to take some photos. Nope, not this time. Need to drift align and for that I need an illuminated reticule. Ok, I'll buy that.

Illuminated reticule arrives and I can finally, months later, take some photos. Only problem is, I'm limited to 30 second exposures and software can't extend that. Ok, I'll buy one of these intervalometers from eBay.

While I'm waiting for the intervalometer to arrive (more details below), I think about getting a modded dSLR for increased sensitivity. In the end I find out I can get an Atik 314E mono for about the same price as a modded Nikon D5100 (don't hate me, but I didn't want to go down the Canon path). Atik camera finally arrives.... and guess what? Yep, doesn't seem to work. Contact Atik, they ask for some more details, I respond ASAP and then easter comes along... I guess they're on holidays now because a week later I've heard nothing back. If I could get their confirmation is not user error I could send it back to the retailer for a replacement, but I guess I'll have to wait until next Monday for a response.

And then finally after over four weeks of waiting for my intervalometer to arrive, it did, today. I'm stoked. Ok, my CCD may not work but at least this long weekend I can take some longer exposures with my dSLR and maybe capture a galaxy other than M83. So I travel home (1h 45m journey), excited to get out as soon as I get home and get this party started, but, you guessed it, something went wrong. The unit is not compatible with my camera as advertised by the seller.

Good thing I'm a stubborn *******, I suppose, otherwise I might have given up by now.

[/rant]

[skytry (Peter)]

hi Lee,
patience is a virtue too have,
appears you have plenty, it is worth it in the long run,
when you post your first picture, that is a good achievement,
stubbornness is good,
regards,
Peter,

[Astro_Bot]

Man, you really must have been evil in a past life ....

These things are frustrating, but it's a l-o-n-g learning curve. On the upside, it's something you can enjoy for many, many years. Once you settle on your "arsenal" of equipment and everything is working, you should (hopefully) have years of trouble-free imaging .... well, apart from the variations in seeing, clouds, lousy neighbours with security lights, lack of sleep, dirty looks from SWMBO due to not doing enough around the house, cold-induced illnesses, etc.

[DavidNg (David)]

Lol, sorry I couldn't help but laugh. Hope your troubles will end soon. Sure enough the angry Gods will send plenty of rain and clouds.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Ah.... it's not just me then. I feel so much better

[Varangian (John)]

Ah first world problems...

[pgc hunter]

I must've angered the gods as well, because it's been a real crappy day on my end yesterday .

[julianh72 (Julian)]

You do realise of course, that once everything is finally working, THEN the cloudy season will REALLY set in!

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Originally Posted by skytry

hi Lee,
patience is a virtue too have,
appears you have plenty, it is worth it in the long run,
when you post your first picture, that is a good achievement,
stubbornness is good,
regards,
Peter,

This is true. Thanks Peter :-)

Originally Posted by Astro_Bot

Man, you really must have been evil in a past life ....

lol that must be it.

Originally Posted by DavidNg

Lol, sorry I couldn't help but laugh. Hope your troubles will end soon. Sure enough the angry Gods will send plenty of rain and clouds.

Yeah, I'm myself torn between having a tantrum and a laugh about it. Murphy's law, eh?

Originally Posted by el_draco

Ah.... it's not just me then. I feel so much better

Glad to hear it! :-)

Originally Posted by Varangian

Ah first world problems...

Indeed

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

I must've angered the gods as well, because it's been a real crappy day on my end yesterday .

Sorry to hear that, mate, hope things have picked up since!

Originally Posted by julianh72

You do realise of course, that once everything is finally working, THEN the cloudy season will REALLY set in!

lol. Sounds about right.

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by codemonkey

Sorry to hear that, mate, hope things have picked up since!

Thanks dude $900 car service yesterday, plus I was told I need to replace all 4 tires and the battery on top of that, so that's another 600 bucks at the very minimum. It's a 15 year old Falcon, which is worth 3000-3500 at best. All in all, a good 1.6K to get my 15 year old 3K car up to roadworthy condition (and every service thus far has been over $700 - as there is ALWAYS some niggly crap that manages to eff up ) Needless to say, I had a splitting headache all day. Woke up feeling like I just drank 2 bottles of whiskey the night before when in reality I only drank 5 beers.

Car ownership. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Ric]

Try sacrificing more chops on the BBQ, the Astronomy gods might be appeased.