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  #21  
Old 16-06-2021, 09:38 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Originally Posted by RugbyRene View Post
Well that's the problem. I can barely use it because the weather is crap so it makes me wonder what's the point of owning thousands of dollars worth of equipment and never being able to take it out. Today for example looks beautiful in Sydney. Blue sky and sunshine. But it's forecast to rain tonight, so another night list. Makes me want to give it all up and take up a hobby where I can actually use my equipment. I knew this hobby was weather dependent but I'm barely able to take it out and use it.
Rene,
I hear your frustration and it use to get me down a bit too but try to look at it this way. If nights were clear each week , after 5 years or so you would get bored with the hobby. The weather , atmospheric conditions , your equipment and so on all have their challenges, everything we do in life has its challenges
Stick at it , the weather will change , it’s not cloudy every night for weeks and months ( like the UK ). As I mentioned before January and June are Sydney’s wettest months , the weather will improve through July , August and September It’s an incredible hobby and the level of technology in cameras , software and equipment is improving all the time which is super exciting
I’ll be imaging on Thursday night in Sydney as it’s going to be clear , light winds and low humidity so little or no dew and seeing should be ok , fingers crossed
Hang in there mate !!
Cheers
Martin
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  #22  
Old 16-06-2021, 11:38 AM
TrevorW
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I tend to agree in some respects, every man and his dog thinks they can do astro photography these days so the market is often saturated with second hand gear, although the market for second hand gear is very low and people expect to pay next to nothing, the cost for good gear here is very high often twice what you pay OS, the only items that generally do not get outdated are the mounts and scopes (moreso scopes), cameras become virtually worthless within a few years, so when I die all the gear I have, I'll bequeath to a local school, if they want it, with a name plaque attached, so some student may wonder while using it who the hell I was
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  #23  
Old 16-06-2021, 11:38 AM
mandragara (Richard)
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Well I do canyoning and I think I managed to get out 3 times over summer?

Weather dependent hobbies are always a bit rough
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  #24  
Old 17-06-2021, 11:50 AM
RugbyRene (Rene)
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Originally Posted by Startrek View Post
Rene,
I hear your frustration and it use to get me down a bit too but try to look at it this way. If nights were clear each week , after 5 years or so you would get bored with the hobby. The weather , atmospheric conditions , your equipment and so on all have their challenges, everything we do in life has its challenges
Stick at it , the weather will change , it’s not cloudy every night for weeks and months ( like the UK ). As I mentioned before January and June are Sydney’s wettest months , the weather will improve through July , August and September It’s an incredible hobby and the level of technology in cameras , software and equipment is improving all the time which is super exciting
I’ll be imaging on Thursday night in Sydney as it’s going to be clear , light winds and low humidity so little or no dew and seeing should be ok , fingers crossed
Hang in there mate !!
Cheers
Martin
What a surprise. The outlook for Thursday night has worsened. According to ClearOutside there'll be clouds until 10pm. Another lost night.
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  #25  
Old 17-06-2021, 12:15 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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What a surprise. The outlook for Thursday night has worsened. According to ClearOutside there'll be clouds until 10pm. Another lost night.
“According to .....” is not actual , I use Cloud Free Night ( forecast is for 10 to 15% passing cloud until 9pm ) you just have to get out there and give it a go
You can still image with cloud patches here and there , just keep banging away with those subs , you might lose 5 to 10% but you might not
Your never going to get perfect clear nights every week on the coastal fringe
Only the other side of the Divide gets stable continuous weather 7 months of the year
I’ll be out tonight imaging til late , if I get some decent data great , if not , there’s always next time ,it use to frustrate me when I first stated but not anymore
Cheers
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  #26  
Old 17-06-2021, 12:47 PM
Aron
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As I stare out of my window in Sydney and contemplate another lost night of imaging due to clouds, it got me wondering whether astrophotography is the worst "cost-per-use" hobby ever. Given how much we spend on equipment and how many times a year we actually use it, the ROI is pretty damn low.

Thoughts?

Rene
telescopes are a really bad choice if you're thinking investing in money.
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  #27  
Old 17-06-2021, 02:11 PM
RugbyRene (Rene)
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telescopes are a really bad choice if you're thinking investing in money.
Agree. I might just sell all my gear and invest in a crypto mining rig. At least I'll make some money.
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  #28  
Old 17-06-2021, 02:52 PM
evltoy (Wayne)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RugbyRene View Post
As I stare out of my window in Sydney and contemplate another lost night of imaging due to clouds, it got me wondering whether astrophotography is the worst "cost-per-use" hobby ever. Given how much we spend on equipment and how many times a year we actually use it, the ROI is pretty damn low.

Thoughts?

Rene
I'm into RC helis and not the cheap crap you find at K-mart. Each large bird(5) cost me about $800-$2000 to build.

You cant fly them on very windy days (pending which one I'm using) and you now have to fly at a club $$$.. Those knobs with drones killed it for everyone.

Anyways, maintenance is every 50hrs if all goes well with no crash's and can cost $50-$200. Battery charge can cost when you run a few large ones and run time is only 6mins per pack.

To learn you need to fly and the amount of crash's you have while learning is crazy. You would pay a heli 5-10times over before you can say you can fly and thats after putting in 100's of hrs in. Also the tech is moving so fast now that you buy high end and 6 months down the road its worth nothing.

Astrophotography is a walk in the park and is perfect for those slowing down . No stress & not as much money needed. Just kick back and wait for a good day... in the meantime research.... thats cheap!

I wont get into my other hobbies fishing/boating or MTB riding/racing

Cheers
Wayne
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  #29  
Old 17-06-2021, 03:04 PM
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Tulloch (Andrew)
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Yeah, I don't understand it either - I realise there are giant billion dollar space telescopes capable of images that I could never dream of. Yet I get up in the middle of the night in the freezing cold and try to photograph something that a million people have imaged before better than me.

Having said that, I will never understand buying and maintaining a boat, sitting in the cold to try and catch something that I could walk down to the nearest shop and buy for a couple of bucks ...
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  #30  
Old 17-06-2021, 03:17 PM
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I wont get into my other hobbies fishing/boating or MTB riding/racing

Cheers
Wayne
Come on please.
Alex
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  #31  
Old 17-06-2021, 03:23 PM
evltoy (Wayne)
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you killing me
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  #32  
Old 17-06-2021, 07:17 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Rene,
Beautiful clear night in Sydney tonight
No wind
No dew
Good seeing
Imaging M8
Guiding running smooth Dec 0.52 Ra 0.75
3 minute subs with L Extreme filter
Cheers
Martin
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  #33  
Old 17-06-2021, 07:48 PM
RugbyRene (Rene)
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Originally Posted by Startrek View Post
Rene,
Beautiful clear night in Sydney tonight
No wind
No dew
Good seeing
Imaging M8
Guiding running smooth Dec 0.52 Ra 0.75
3 minute subs with L Extreme filter
Cheers
Martin
Hi Martin,

I took your advise an setup for tonight.

I'm imaging IC4628 (Prawn nebula)
Guiding is ok: Dec 0.46 RA 0.70
5 min subs, L-Extreme, 2600MC

Doing a live stack in PI and it looks pretty good so far.

Rene
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  #34  
Old 17-06-2021, 08:37 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Originally Posted by RugbyRene View Post
Hi Martin,

I took your advise an setup for tonight.

I'm imaging IC4628 (Prawn nebula)
Guiding is ok: Dec 0.46 RA 0.70
5 min subs, L-Extreme, 2600MC

Doing a live stack in PI and it looks pretty good so far.

Rene
Rene,
Fantastic, enjoy the night
Just a tip
In Sydney, I leave my mount and scope set up outside for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. I just bring my cameras and laptop back inside.When away down the coast at my dark site , I dismantle it and pack it away in the shed
I use 2 Orion scope cloaks which keeps it dry, saves hours and hours of set up time. Polar alignment once only , stays good for weeks
Photos of my rig in Sydney attached ( 6” f6 newt , EQ6R mount , home made weatherproof workstation , floor cable duct etc... )
Cheers
Martin
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  #35  
Old 18-06-2021, 08:26 AM
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To quote Anthony Wesley, "this hobby is not for the impatient".

There are some things you can do to alleviate the issue of cloud. Remotely operating your equipment in an area with better cloud prospects is the primary way of dealing with the problem. You don't need top of the range gear either. There is a chap here in SA doing remote work with an EQ6, GSO scope and has just spent some money on a mono camera. He has done a lot of problem solving but now getting results in a dark sky area.

In terms of my own expenditure which is well over 100K, I have the cost per use in remotely operated equipment, down to $3-$4 per use. It took nearly 10 years to get the cost down per use, but the secret is to operate the scope every clear night available. Using it autonomously allows the system to be accessed by phone. So while I am out socialising with my wife, the system is paying back the investment.

So my advice is persist with cloud, make other plans on how to use your equipment and then implement them.
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  #36  
Old 18-06-2021, 12:05 PM
Renato1 (Renato)
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I can think of plenty of hobbies that cost more and get less usage that friends and colleagues have engaged in -
Boats and fishing,
Sailing,
Hunting/Shooting deer,
Four wheel driving.
Overseas travel/ tourism.

Each trip to Europe that my wife and I make costs more than I ever spent on astronomy in total.
Regards,
Renato
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  #37  
Old 18-06-2021, 02:02 PM
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May I recommend consideration of a microscope.
It has the advantage of one initial investment with minimal ongoing expenses which are basically limited to a set of glass slides and cover slips.
You can use it anytime and if you buy a camera in your original purchase package you can enjoy a different world of photography.
I watch little creatures who live in pond water, which is very interesting because even as small as they are you can observe various behaviours.
There are however many things to observe apart from life in pond water.
Anyways to be a well rounded person one really should have many hobbies in order to keep a general broad interest as opposed to focusing totally on one thing.
Alex
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  #38  
Old 18-06-2021, 02:42 PM
evltoy (Wayne)
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Anyways to be a well rounded person one really should have many hobbies in order to keep a general broad interest as opposed to focusing totally on one thing.
Alex
This is what I tell the wife and friends to justify all the expensive hobbies I have and had.

Put all jokes aside... I believe there is some truth to that statement.

Last edited by evltoy; 18-06-2021 at 02:57 PM.
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  #39  
Old 18-06-2021, 02:51 PM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RugbyRene View Post
As I stare out of my window in Sydney and contemplate another lost night of imaging due to clouds, it got me wondering whether astrophotography is the worst "cost-per-use" hobby ever. Given how much we spend on equipment and how many times a year we actually use it, the ROI is pretty damn low.

Thoughts?

Rene
But aren't you glad you have it when it's clear? And the added benefits are getting out, chilling out in beautiful remote places, driving out bush, socializing. Doesn't have to be expensive if you build up your gear incrementally. I've spend more money in coffee in the past 15 years than in astro gear.
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  #40  
Old 18-06-2021, 04:42 PM
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Sailing, power boats, track racing, mountaineering ... A few activities that people I know are into that seem to be outrageously expensive - more so than astrophotography - though I suppose you could make AP as expensive if you tried, buying Software Bisque, PlaneWave, FLI, etc.
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