Great weekend out observing

[rogerg]

G'day all,

I just got back from a 4 day/3 night weekend out observing with ASWA (http://aswa.info/) members. It was the November trip to Watsons Way B&B (http://members.westnet.com.au/watsonsway/) for ASWA's SDSO (http://aswa.info/sdso.html) section. Excellent trip with great dark skies, lots of astronomy, general photography, and comfortable accom.

I've got my share of pictures, and info, up on my website:
http://www.rogergroom.com/rogergroom/esh_rog_gallery.jsp?Item=661

Comet Holmes was definitely the astronomical hilight.

:thumbsup:

Now I have one day off to process images etc :) then back to work :(

Roger.

[Ric]

Looks like you a successful trip Roger. The site and the horizon look awesome.

Cheers

[iceman]

Excellent images, Roger. Looks like a great spot for a long weekend of Astronomy.

I know what you mean about needing a day off to process images :)

How do you power your whole kit while on a roadtrip like that?

[rogerg]

I use a good quality 40 amp hour SLA. I have mounted on it a amp metre, and keep an eye on the volts using my multi-meter.

While not using any autoguiding it draws about 2.5 - 3.5 amps (so would last about 13 hours), while doing autoguiding it peaks at 5 amps when corrections occur.

I charge it during the day using a 1 amp charger.

The lowest it got this weekend was 12.25 volts which is pretty good.

With more conservative usage I think it could last all 3 nights without a problem.

It powers:
- laptop
- usb hub
- 350d
- webcam
- telescope

Roger.

[beren]

Fine images :thumbsup: and looks like a great spot to