The obligatory equipment page. These pages go over my setups, arrived at after more pain and suffering on CloudyNights.com than I ever hope to wish upon another poor soul. There are NO END to the opinions, and there is no perfect setup. And one person’s “Oh my god only a loser would use that” is another person’s “This is the best thing ever.”
I had very specific goals.
First, I still love visual astronomy. There’s something pretty magical about having a simple setup and just looking. That’s why I got hooked in the first place. Looking a globular cluster in an 8″ scope on a good night… it’s hard not to be humbled. So, I wanted a scope with enough magnification to really bring the visual stuff to life, especially solar system objects, clusters, binary stars, etc. I’m also especially fond of images of galaxies, most of which require long focal lengths.
Second, it had to work in my backyard, the Worst Place in the World for Astrophotography.™ That means, I’m imaging near the zenith (good) and with very little space between when the object clears the trees, crosses the meridian, and runs into the trees on the other side (bad). I have zero view of Polaris or anything even remotely in the vicinity of the pole. Even if my house wasn’t in the way, there’s about a million board feet of timber blocking the view beyond that. Good drift alignment is largely out as well. While, by some miracle, I can actually see the ecliptic at the southern meridian, I have no horizon view in either direction. The closest I can get is about 60º up in the western sky.
I also wanted a portable setup. When you live in the Worst Place in the World for Astrophotography™, traveling to places you can actually see the sky is key. My primary hobby, now and for over the last quarter century, is that of a professional amateur mountain biker. The reason why I live in the Worst Place in the World for Astrophotography™ is that it’s the Best Place in the World for Mountain Biking™. Don’t tell anybody, though. Tell them to go to Canada. Or Utah. Or Oregon. Yeah, Oregon. The biking there is way better than Washington. Bend. They should definitely move to Bend. So, I wanted a setup that was small, light, and would fit in a compact-ish case I could throw in the truck when I’m headed out for a week or weekend of riding someplace.
For those adventures, I have both a small RPOD camper and a pop-up camper shell on the truck for when it’s just me. Both are set up to be totally off the grid, with deep cycle batteries and a 750 watt AC inverter to power everything. I also have a solar panel system that can take the batteries from 50% to 100% in about 4 hours on a sunny day. The truck also charges my aux battery under the hood while the engine is running. I’ve spent up to a couple of weeks in the woods without running out of power, water, or propane.
Like a lot of people, for both systems, backyard and portable, I wanted the ability to run things from the warmth of the camper or the house. While sipping a beer. Yes, I mountain bike and drink beer. I am a stereotype come to life.
So, those are the goals. And, honestly, they’re kind of always changing. The pages in this section document the choices.
Overcast Clouds