Great weekend out observing

[rogerg (Roger)]

G'day all,

I just got back from a 4 day/3 night weekend out observing with ASWA members. It was the November trip to Watsons Way B&B for ASWA's SDSO 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...y.jsp?Item=661

Comet Holmes was definitely the astronomical hilight.



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 (Mike)]

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 (Roger)]

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 and looks like a great spot to