Thread: Scope's-R-us
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Old 20-08-2008, 07:38 AM
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marc4darkskies (Marcus)
Billions and Billions ...

marc4darkskies is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Quialigo, NSW
Posts: 3,141
Funny watching the twists & turns in this debate, but you have been steadfast Mike, stating the case quite succinctly – on several occasions. This has nothing to do with how people choose to pursue their hobby because that’s an entirely personal matter. If Jase & others get satisfaction from using other people’s toys to acquire their data then more power to them. Competitions on the other hand are held to see who is best in their preferred domain – to test the mettle of like minded and motivated people on a level playing field. This is not just some old chestnut to be dismissed, it’s an important issue to those who wish to compete. Jase’s domain is clearly moving towards processing only - he wants to bypass the ho-hum steps of tuning and running his equipment. That’s fine, but as I think most agree, competitions need to be run to cater for this new paradigm.

Personally, that new paradigm is not for me. I get satisfaction buying the gear, setting it up, maintaining it and, above all, using it to maximum effect. I need to own the entire process (including the photons) and make everything work properly by my own hand to achieve maximum satisfaction – that’s my domain and I’d like to compete in it.

Moreover, I get gratification because astro-imaging is hard to do. Gathering good data is hard and so is processing. Buying the gear, setting it up, operating it successfully, spending long cold nights outside dodging clouds and equipment gremlins and seniors moments followed by hours of difficult processing and then going to work bleary eyed for a few days is HARD! Pride in accomplishment is directly proportional to effort and difficulty. So the thought of using someone else’s robotic gear to pursue my hobby is a bizarre concept as the results I’d produce would be less meaningful to me … because it’s EASIERI!

So, my competition domain is the whole box & dice. Importantly, I only want to participate in competitions held on a level playing field where all the competitors have overcome similar challenges and worked with similar advantages. A good competition must have different playing fields – so Jase can compete on his terms and I can compete on mine.

Cheers, Marcus
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