Cheers Silv, even after all these years I too get a buzz out of all the setting up and then standing back and seeing everything setup and ready to go, then hearing that cheerful whirring as the 12" buzz around the skies.
As to what happened differently, who knows
The lappy was a minor technical hiccup, the power pak seemed alright but must have been sitting on the edge and I may have been able to solve that issue.
As for the high level cloud, well that was in the hands of the astronomy gods, maybe should have put a sacrificial sausage on the BBQ to appease them
Still I seem to have more good nights than duds so I think I do alright in the long run