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Old 27-09-2017, 04:27 PM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Here come the clouds ..

Looks like Aotearoa is going to have some clouds for a while.

I've ordered the ASI1600mm-c Kit 3 and the front heater for it.
Kit 3 includes the Ha filter with the LRGB set in 1.25" and filter wheel. I already have an O III filter and just need to find an S II filter at some point in time and I will have all the bases covered.

Time to get serious ...
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  #2  
Old 27-09-2017, 05:04 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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GOOD! NZ can suck away Melbourne’s perpetual cloud cover
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Old 28-09-2017, 09:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Atmos View Post
GOOD! NZ can suck away Melbourne’s perpetual cloud cover

Sorry Colin, But I might be sucking half of those clouds back again.

I'm just waiting on an adapter from Precise parts, due early-mid Oct. so I can connect my new Esprit 150mm to new Moravian CCD with filter wheel with set of LRGB, Ha, OIII and SII filters. All of which are waiting for first light. Might be another 6months of clouds.
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Old 28-09-2017, 11:04 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Phew !! saved by the adapter ....
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Old 28-09-2017, 11:25 AM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Sorry Colin, But I might be sucking half of those clouds back again.

I'm just waiting on an adapter from Precise parts, due early-mid Oct. so I can connect my new Esprit 150mm to new Moravian CCD with filter wheel with set of LRGB, Ha, OIII and SII filters. All of which are waiting for first light. Might be another 6months of clouds.
I went all the way to Heathcote last night for the proposed clear skies (four websites declaring clear skies all night). They eventually cleared at 11pm! And then they came back again a few hours later. The weather gods are just getting ready for your adapter!
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Old 28-09-2017, 11:46 AM
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rustigsmed (Russell)
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Congrats Brent looking forward to seeing your pics when you're up and running.
I can concur with col on the Melbourne cloud I've been waiting ages to use my new gear. At his stage next wednesday might be clear ... just in time for full moon conditions.
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Old 28-09-2017, 01:37 PM
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I went all the way to Heathcote last night for the proposed clear skies (four websites declaring clear skies all night). They eventually cleared at 11pm! And then they came back again a few hours later. The weather gods are just getting ready for your adapter!

Yes I noticed that too. Let the dogs out for a run before heading to bed around 2am and noticed how clear it was. Pity they came back again. Hope you got some nice data in between.
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Old 28-09-2017, 01:38 PM
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Phew !! saved by the adapter ....
Glad to help.
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Old 28-09-2017, 05:07 PM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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See ! Aussies and Kiwis CAN get along nicely
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Old 28-09-2017, 07:46 PM
04Stefan07 (Stefan)
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I went all the way to Heathcote last night for the proposed clear skies (four websites declaring clear skies all night). They eventually cleared at 11pm! And then they came back again a few hours later. The weather gods are just getting ready for your adapter!
How is Heathcote?

I am an ASV member but haven't had a chance to head up that way yet.
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Old 28-09-2017, 09:16 PM
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How is Heathcote?

I am an ASV member but haven't had a chance to head up that way yet.
It’s a lot clearer than Melbourne, there are nights where it has been raining in Wallan but perfectly clear in Heathcote. Heading towards NSW/Vic boarder has more clear nights however. It’s all a matter of balance. I can spend a night at Heathcote on a Work night and still be able to work, I cannot do that if I have to drive 4 hours each way.
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Old 04-10-2017, 06:25 PM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Got home tonight and there was a box on my front door mat. 'No' I said,' it can't be' but I opened it and it was full of clouds.
"Dammit" I mumbled as I opened the box and glimpsed the red shiny object within. My dreams, and nightmares have all come to pass.

1 week and here it is. The website said 3-4 weeks but it has arrived. With clouds obviously. Tonight was not good for personal reasons, we have a sick feline companion but I will try the camera out soon under test before I move it onto the scope. Now I have to get my stuff together and make it work.

( We've also had a couple of bottles of wine and hence the slightly poetic turn of phrase - I hope )
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Old 11-10-2017, 10:50 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Camera is still waiting to join the scope. Weather has been atrocious and I need to finish some small tasks with the 1300D before I switch over. I may set up the 80F11 SW on a spare tripod looking out the window just so I can run some test pix. Already tested on the Office PC and it looks good. Thought the EFW wasn't working but was just so silent I could not hear it moving !
Feline companion is still with us after nearly $2000 worth of vet bills although we haven't quite pinned down the cause or more importantly the fix.
Just wish these clouds would go away, it's been solid cloud cover now for nearly 3 weeks. The box must be nearly empty by now.
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Old 11-10-2017, 09:47 PM
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GOOD! NZ can suck away Melbourne’s perpetual cloud cover
I haven't managed to take any pics since January.
I work full time.
I need a night with no Moon, no clouds & during the weekend
so I have a chance to recover from staying up all night.

I think this hobby is better for retired people with an observatory.
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Old 12-10-2017, 06:51 AM
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I haven't managed to take any pics since January.
I work full time.
I need a night with no Moon, no clouds & during the weekend
so I have a chance to recover from staying up all night.

I think this hobby is better for retired people with an observatory.
I work full time but I have the Observatory. Makes a big difference to using the gear as it only takes 10 minutes to be open and ready to go for even quite short sessions.
Retirement, I am still working on ...
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Old 12-10-2017, 12:10 PM
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I work full time but I have the Observatory. Makes a big difference to using the gear as it only takes 10 minutes to be open and ready to go for even quite short sessions.
Retirement, I am still working on ...
It looks like I'll have to move house within 4 months so
I can't set up an observatory - not yet.
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Old 15-10-2017, 07:10 PM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Must have been the weekend for everything to come together finally.
Our fibre install was finally commissioned after 6 months of technical incompetence so we now have some serious download\upload speeds.

And I found enough sucker holes in the clouds to get the camera on the scope and working. It's not fully functional yet, I haven't loaded the filters but I've got the focus sorted and managed to grab a live stack fits or two while the scope was in home position. Interestingly the Live Stacking can manage a bit of target rotation during the capture.
Clouds were not being very considerate so called it a night. I'll load the filters in and move to the next step as soon as I get another clearish night.
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Old 19-10-2017, 12:30 PM
pjphilli (Peter)
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Hi Brent
Are you aware of a site called Cloud Free night which uses the Himawari-8 satellite run by the Japan Meteorological Agency? See this url for access.
http://www.cloudfreenight.com/meteogram.view.
It covers the main sites in Australia and New Zealand (including Auckland).
Have a look at the faqs for details.
The meteogram view gives hour by hour details of the cloud and rain projections for the current and following two days. I have been using it for some time and find that it is pretty accurate and allows better planning of astro outings.
Cheers Peter
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Old 20-10-2017, 11:05 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Hi Peter, Yeah, I am aware of it. Still doesn't make the clouds go away.

I use our local metservice site mostly. They have good IR and visible cloud satellite pics and I can make my own assumptions from what I know about weather and NZ local patterns.

This time of year around the equinox is always unpredictable but this latest lot has been particularly persistent.
I've since gotten one clearish night and had the camera going but haven't had a chance to complete the processing yet and the target was not really suited but it will at least let me play with my own real data.

With retirement on the horizon I wanted something to do with all my future spare time. Looks like I found it.
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