Out of the woodwork

[Scorpius]

Crawled out from under a log and found IIS quite by accident. I recalled I used to log in a couple of years ago, but then I put my gear in storage - Offered it for sale, no takers. But Having found a new prospective partner, who is keen on the Astro malarky. Have recharged the batteries, washed the reflectors etc. Learned how to drive the EQ6Pro again. Memory was lacking somewhat, but amazingly I remembered my password and login. So have not gone completely batty up top yet.

I was reading some posts about the old USB-Serial cables. Some were not that reliable, but recently have found one that costs a tad more (45db) But is WHQL certified for all platforms 32/64 bit, incl Win8. Guess what? It aint made in China either. Comes from Bonny Scotland from FDTI - Got one en route to Parkwood Towers. Will be interesting to see how good it really is after a 4.5db cable decided to drive my EQ6 in the opposite direction - Duh
Anyway, wonder if any of my old mates are still alive and kicking?
Dave Parkwood WA:)

[Stardrifter_WA]

Welcome back Dave. Wow, found a partner who likes astro. Every time I meet a new lady, first thing I ask, do you like astronomy? If she then asks what it means, I run away :rofl:

Not many clear nights here lately, I live not far from you. I bought the new EQ6 Alt/az about a month ago and still haven't used it. Mind you, we did have one good night, but I used my other scope that night.

Cheers Peter

[bloodhound31]

Welcome back Dave.

Baz.

[cfranks]

I told one lady once that I was interested in Astronomy. She said "oooh, What's your sign!" I too, ran away! :shrug:

Charles

[Scorpius]

Thanks Guys, yes does help to have compatible partner. I was going flog my N Gauge rail system, but No that must stay, she is a retired Architectural Graphic Artist and wants to get into the scenery and complete that.
The enthusiasm with Astro is going to be great.
Observing from home is impossible - I now have 7 street lights in my FOV including one which bathes the front of my house like the Taj Mahal.
I can get away with moon watching and the more visible planets but beyond that it is hopeless. Plus the lights remain on all night now until dawn.

Peter, I am now using Carte du Ciel V3. To drive the EQ6 and Ascom. I did use V2 as V3 was quite buggy, but seems it has been tidied up and the latest version appears to work well. At present I have the beast set up in the front room and last night tracked a couple of objects off the map.
I also now have a hand held Garmin GPS which is great for setting the tripod to True North. I have never used the alignment scope to view Octans as invariably the horizon is too cluttered. I also have a drift alignment plossel. I must re-learn how to use.
Check my Astro page http://dsmithdale.net its a bit old, but interesting info there.