Astronomical hates

[glenc]

I hate motion sensor spot lights and white telescopes.

[hector]

Interesting idea...
Alright I hate Bright red torches( they effect your dark adaption just like any other bright light source )

[Kevnool]

This thread you started Glen is gunna open a another can of worms.
.
. I,m keeping mine to myself (silence is golden).
.
. If i said just one this post would have over 50 or more replys.
.
. Its gunna be a sparkling day .....Cheers Kev.

[CoombellKid]

Stiff necks (via small dob) and Zodiacal light.

regards,CS

[seeker372011]

equipment that doesnt work as it should

[astroron]

Bright lights and noisy music:mad2:
Love the "Dark Of The Night" and the "Sound of Silence":)
Ron

[matt]

Definitely!

[Kal]

I hate the cold in winter, and the bloody mozzies in summer!

[Ian Robinson]

The things I hate :

-- stupid neighbours who keep their outside lights on all bloody night (sorted that one by writing a nasty anonimous letter threatening court action !!)
-- those dambed Na vapour street lights on the Pacific HW heading up towards Charlestown
-- idiots who shine car lights or torches in my eyes when viewing at a dark(ish) park site (buggering up your night vision or an image (esp on film ... grrrr!!!!)
-- sneeky clouds that show up as soon as you've got the scope rigged up and polar aligned and you are ready to get to work
-- the moon
-- the cost of good gear

[Starkler]

The inability to predict with any degree of certainly what those ever present clouds on the weather satellite pics are going to do. Packing my gear and travelling to an observing site takes an investment in time, energy and money. Many times clouds materialise out of nowhere once the temperature drops. Other times I have stayed home and the clouds have disappeared and I have missed an opportunity.:doh:


People who turn up to such sites with headlights blazing and then interior car lights on.

People who come over for a chat while using those overly bright head torches. While facing you and talking the blasted thing is shining straight into your eyes :screwy:

Bright laptop screens! One fellow I know has got it right. He uses a clip on shield with external red led to illuminate his screen from the front and it doesnt bother anyone and works well.

[Matty P]

I HATE CLOUDS!

:cloudy:

[theodog]

Definition?

Now, where are my glasses and observing list?:sadeyes:

[dalemadison]

Readjusting the tube on my reflector so I can look through the eyepiece. Yes, I know, buy a dob.

[sheeny]

Let's see...

Clouds, wind, fog, rain, work (getting in the way of my astronomy of course;)), work (the fact that I need to), light pollution, social / family events on clear nights, gear that doesn't work as it should or isn't reliable, the jet stream, that creaking noise that says my mount is garotting itself with a cable, kicking a tripod leg (after polar alignment or during an image), Packign the car and driving to a dark sky site with the scope only to find some critical part of the rig has been left at home:doh: (I left the tripod at home once:rolleyes: no idea how...), getting set up, polar aligned and then having the sky cloud over...

But hey, they are all character building facets of our hobby...:lol::whistle:

Al.

[Rodstar]

Tiredness. Far too many nights the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

[astroron]

noisy music?

This has been done to death in the past on this site, so I wont go into it anymore:P
Ron

[kinetic]

What about:
You have spent an hour getting an image on the screen preview, focused
and tracking sweetly.
You lean over to click capture and bump the scope off the object.

Or...you lean over to click capture and you bladder suddenly tells you
it's time to go.

Or you lean over to click capture and the dawg comes into the dome for
a cuddle and bumps the scope.

Steve

[pvelez]

or your battery gives out just as you are ready to roll with your imaging.

Also - when your Telrad fogs up with dew even though your scope isn't

Pete

[madtuna]

you do 10 5 minute subs of the back of your flip mirror

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Like Sheeny, I reckon travelling long distances to discover you've left something important or worse critical behind ... really cheezes me off.

Left the laptop at home last night didn't I!

Not critical at all but a pain in the the derriere all the same -- no megastar/realsky -- bummer! Lucky someone else turned up with one so I could check when necessary.

I can remember once forgetting to pack the freezer suit and/or other appropriate clothing and observed in almost freezing conditions with just trackies and a sloppy-joe for nearly four (teeth-chattering hours) hrs till I gave in (beautifully clear sky too).

Best,

Les D

[Ric]

My astronomical hate would have to be missing out on a clear night due to other commitments. Some I don't mind but others can be annoying.

[Jen]

ME TOO!
:cloudy::windy::cold::cold:

[AstralTraveller]

I think I have too many hates. Let's start with:

- Goto mounts that drive the scope into the tripod leg and so lose alignment
- That nights like Saturday have to end
- Monday mornings and having to return to the open prison.

[67champ]

I would have to go with CLOUDS and WIND!!! I really hate Clouds.

Dana T.

[Lismore Bloke]

Sensor lights that start up when the wind blows and the leaves on the trees start to more.

Flying foxes that fly out at dusk and bombard everything with brown blotches of vomit / dodo.

[CoombellKid]

And that bat dodo sure is sticky stuff, must be like puu'ing bubble gum the
poor buggers

regards,CS

[Jen]

ewwwwwwww :scared:

[Ric]

Blimey, I am sooooo glad I dont have that problem.:D

[Ian Robinson]

The moon when I want to do some imaging.

Light pollution (from street lights and from Charlestown which is out of my direct line of sight but still spoils my sky ,,, only 2 km away).

Dills with headlights who shine them right in my eyes when at the Valentine park.

My neighbour's back light (.... not been on lately as he's back in the loonybin).

Clouds.

Wind.

[hlokk]

Light pollution. Clouds pass, but sky glow doesnt :(

[Craig.a.c]

I hate...

Being a shift worker and seeing nice clear skies the nights I am working, then getting hazy overcast nights when I get a night off.

I also hate being a "rent-a-cop" (security guard). It is a crap job, I would rather clean toilet bowls for the rest of my life then have to spend another night driving around in circles waiting for an alarm to go off in a shop some where.

I hate finishing work at 0600 and then trying to get to sleep when the sun is coming up.

I hate being bitten by my Black-headed python every time I get him out of his enclosure.

Thats about all I can think of at the moment.

[jjjnettie]

I hear you on that one.

I hate realigning my scope in the dark.

I hate having to remove the camera from the scope to make sure it won't run into the tripod legs a second time, then having to muck around getting the focus spot on, all the while that patch of cloud is getting closer and closer to the object you want to image.

I hate having an anti astronomy spouse.:sadeyes:

[Rob_K]

Tall trees. That's it, can cope with the rest...:shrug: :P

Cheers -

[AlexN]

days where the weather in some way affects astronomy...

Ie.
No clouds, good seeing, WINDY AS HELL
No clouds, no wind, Dripping with dew.
Good jetstream map, little wind, dense rainclouds.

That kind of stuff...

Also I back up the prior comments about neighbors and their back lights/sensor lights.

[AlexN]

Also..




LOL!

[matt]

Yep. That's pretty much it for me too. I go insane when there's a beautiful jetstream map...only to have it all dashed by cloud and/or strong winds:tasdevil:

[jjjnettie]

At times I hate being a female in a male dominated hobby.
I hate being ignored by staff in astronomy and electronics stores.
I hate being patronised on the observing field. eg. once, on borrowing a compass, being asked if I knew how to use it.
I hate the looks of disbelief when I say that "yes, I took that photo". Then being asked to explain how I took it, knowing that they are trying to catch me out.
It doesn't happen often, but when it does I find it very humiliating.

On a happier note, I just love being around Astro folk who know me and accept me for who I am.

[vash]

well I'll go with the staples,

- cloud, wind, dust and outside lights.

others.

The bloody stray cat we have staying with us, silent as can be then brushes against your leg frightens the crap out of me,
Mosquito's,
Setting up everything start to take shots and realize you've forgotten to collimate the scope,
Forgetting to add the extension tube for the guide camera ( why can't I find guide star anywhere?).

Setting the scope up and powering the mount up and setting up the date and time and seeing the last time you used the mount, sometimes it enough to make you cry.

[TrevorW]

No hates enjoy life as it comes everything happens for a reason so don't fret about things you have no control over. Life's to short to carry burdens you can't unload. Grasp the moment or as the ad says "just do it".

[Satchmo]

I'm sorry to hear that you're treated like that . It always baffles me the lack of women in the hobby. I guess it does attract its fair share of 'gadget gurus' which is not such a female trait. I'm similarly baffled by the complete lack of female involvement in my other major hobby of gliding.

[ausastronomer]

Those two are very high on my list of pet hates.

Let me extend the first one a step further. Those people who think you can't see what you're doing in the dark when you're changing eyepieces or adding a filter without a torch and decide that it would be in your best interests for them to shine their 800 gigawatt red light head torch right at your focuser and your face to help you see what you're doing.



I don't have a problem with this in any way. Exposure to car headlights for a fleeting second doesn't affect your night vision at all, if you look away. It isn't safe to drive around obstructed fields at night with only your parking lights on, or worse still, no lights . I would rather I had to turn away for a few seconds to preserve my night vision than one of my friends run into a tree, a friend, or a friends equipment or into a big hole.

Similarly, despite a lot of popular belief and comment to the contrary, exposure to an interior car light for a minute or so doesn't harm your night vision at all. Or at least it doesn't harm mine. A lot of people only think it does. If you do a limiting magnitude test on a target after a short exposure to an interior car light you will find you have lost nothing.

Cheers,
John B

[Ian Robinson]

forgot mozzies .... I hate the buggers too.

especially when then buzz around and you can't find them , then zappo and they've nailed you.

[Ian Robinson]

I'm surprised that you get that kind of treatment .... on a similar note I know many very capable lady engineers and have never had an issue with them .

I wish I had met some lady astronomers other than just the vernerable Mrs Irene Towers when I was a young fellow .... I'm sure they were out there .... but they never joined the clubs.

Some of my old girlfriends became amateur astronomers .... I'd like to think that was my influence ....

[§AB]

Living in MELBOURNE.

Constant cloud for 6 months of the year, constant gale force winds for another 3 and then mosquito and red-back spider plagues for the remaining 3.

What a screwy place :mad2:

Yeah I spend most of my time drinking wine here coz there is little else to do....

[vash]

I also seem to get neighborhood kids with the sing star game, and they are terrible at singing, and last night there was a heavy metal band trying to play for a party of about 6 people up the road, didn't stop till 2am, they sing worse than the kids I might add

[Jen]

Yep im with ya on that one JJJ :thumbsup:

[erick]

If you were both out there, who'd be looking after the kids? Maybe anti-astronomy spouse is OK?

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: Good point but the kids should be in bed anyway lol :thumbsup:

[Jared]

I hate trying to see something at the zenith using a pair of binoculars ... stiff neck and a whole lot of tripod in the way.

[§AB]

The TV?

[jjjnettie]

Sorry, I shouldn't have vented about sexism on the forum. It won't solve the problem and only serves to annoy those who do treat people equally.
My apologies.

[AlexN]

I have another... gear that works perfectly at home, but when you go to a star party they fall in a heap.... That SUCKS!... more so when they work for the first night of the weekend, but then fail the next 2 nights in a row... then mysteriously start working fine again once you're at home with your mag 3 sky.. :(

Frustration.

[jjjnettie]

Made even more galling when the cheap little scope and mount which has set up next to you keeps on plugging along, never missing a beat.:whistle:

[CoombellKid]

I have it the other way. I go to a star party setup my gear, then march off
and camp myself on someone elses big Dob :rofl:

regards,CS

[Gargoyle_Steve]

SMOKERS.....
who come over puffing and blowing, filling your nice clean dark air with smoke and stench, messing up your vision (my eyes start watering, etc)...

ESPECIALLY those who just continue to throw their butts on the ground all around all night long.

I find almost everything else, even clouds, less annoying.

[Jen]

Jen makes notes in her diary not to smoke around Steve :D:thumbsup:
:whistle:

[AlexN]

Oh.... **looks at the ground in shame** I'll kerb my smoking on the observing field next time, I wasn't aware. :(

[§AB]

and not to mention depositing their crap onto your mirrors and lenses in the process.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

That wasn't pointed at you or anyone in particular at all Alex, it was simply an observation that some smokers will walk right up to you at your scope then stand there smoking and talking and generally making it an unpleasant experience, and as mentioned leaving particle deposits on glass, mirrors etc, which I am sure are NOT good for them at all.

I have even thought of putting a "No Smoking Here" sign on my scope - but who'd see it in the dark?
:lol:

[astroron]

Originally Posted by Gargoyle_Steve View Post
SMOKERS.....
who come over puffing and blowing, filling your nice clean dark air with smoke and stench, messing up your vision (my eyes start watering, etc)...

ESPECIALLY those who just continue to throw their butts on the ground all around all night long.

I find almost everything else, even clouds, less annoying.

At my place and the last Barambah Dark Sky Camp I have noticed that there has been an escalation of this happening which rearly spoils ones enjoyment
of observing.:mad2:
Ron

[h0ughy]

you could light it up with a superbright LED:whistle:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

:lol:
Great idea h0ughy .... maybe I could take it a step further and form the words themselves from a whole bunch of well laced superbright LED's! That would be sure to get SOME kind of response.
;)

[astropolak]

What I hate - you read a current astronomical magazine, like the product and ring the vendor to buy it only to find out that its 10, 20, 30, 40 percent more expensive than advertised...needless to say the add in the magazine mentions nothing about prices being subject to change or that they are effective at specific dates etc...
This is close to false advertising, if they can not guarantee prices for ANY length of time they should not be quoted at all.

Joe