NGC4565 - Needle Galaxy

Paramount · Post by **Paramount** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:14 pm

Hardest prob is...what does one do when taking long exposures?..lol! Apart from sleeping that is!

All the hard work is choosing the filter, focusing, framing the subject, sorting out the directory to send downloads (very stressful...lol), calibrating the autoguider and starting it, deciding exposure length and how many, and then click start and wait.......for 30 minutes or so.
I always tend to wait for the first sub frame to download and if that is ok then I will either sit and do the crossword (I have a reclining garden chair in my shed) or if the weather is going to remain clear I will go inside and watch a bit of tv. If there is a likelihood that clouds may appear then I will stay out. If I am tired I tend to set the alarm on my phone every half hour or so and have a nap. The only thing I then need to do during the night is just monitor the focus especially if there are any changes in temperature and also a meridian flip if the subject passes through the meridian. With narrow band imaging I concentrate on just doing one filter per night. I always refocus after a filter change or after a meridian flip.
My longest imaging session where I have been out all night in the shed has been from 4:30pm to 8:00am the following morning during the winter.
I also have a portable DVD player which can help pass the time away as well
Best wishes
Gordon

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:41 pm

I soooo miss having a Garden and just lazing under a night sky! Done the handphone alarm thing and watching a movie or just surfing the web while imaging, since my laptop can take the whole load..lol!
Or catch a Champions League game on TV since I Ap from my house balcony.

Thanks for sharing Gordon...shows just how demanding-ly Fun AP can be!

Paramount · Post by **Paramount** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:54 pm

I used to use the internet on my imaging laptop until the one night when I was indoors watching a bit of tv, I came out to find that windows had decided to do an automatic update and restart the computer, as you can guess the dark sky turned blue as my whole imaging run had to be restarted. So now the wi-fi is off, virus checker is off, screen saver is off, power saving modes are off so there is no chance of that happening again. If I need to use the internet I will either use my phone or my other laptop. My imaging laptop lives in the shed

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:49 pm

I HATE it when Windows takes control of my PC and does a lengthy update and restart. Grrrrr........

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sun May 01, 2011 2:28 pm

Which is why i do manual update and have it turned off. Same with the Anti Virus. I let it prompt for install rather than Automatic. This way I have more resources for my work as Windows has bad RAM management and more resources running in the background....sucks needed resource for what needs to be done.
This and all the other not needed security nonsense is turned off, even data backup. No one else uses my laptop and my Standby mode prompts for password when I do bring it out. I back up data on thumbdrives (which I have tons!!) where I don't have to worry on a failed external HD or getting itself screwed when going through X-ray machines or dropping it!

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Sun May 01, 2011 3:20 pm

Hi Gordon. Welcome to Singastro. Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing. You should publish a pictorial and share your passion with your friends and loved ones. Nice website btw, lots of useful information.