Thanks guys. I find it very interesting to hear your perspectives and experiences mixing big workloads with astro. Just seeing fantastic images being posted here doesn't really show what goes on behind-the-scenes.
Stuart - I'm like a goldfish... as soon as one degree's done, I forget all the pain and start thinking "wouldn't it be great if..."
Greg - studying engineering part-time is impressive - it's a big challenge even just doing it full-time
I've been experimenting with leaving tracking and GOTO off on my refractor+EQ mount (i.e. using it like a Dob) and find that star hopping is actually quite fun, as is just exploring the sky. Congrats on your recent SN discovery by the way - what a great reward for all that hard work
DJDD - funny you should mention barn-door mounts, my success earlier in the year (no star trailing with 4 min exposures at 24 mm on my 21 MP full-frame dSLR) led me to the EQ6. It's like a gateway drug! I'm seriously considering an Astrotrac since it's so quick to set up, and minimal additional weight to take traveling/hiking. I was pretty chuffed at capturing the Horsehead Nebula using a fixed tripod (though I'd chalk that up to the technical abilities of my former 200 mm f/2 and ISO 6400 of my camera).
Brendan - sounds like a good plan! Whenever I drag out the EQ6 and set it up properly starting in the late afternoon, before I know it dawn's already arrived and then I'm buggered for the next couple of days
