I am primarily a CCD observer, and observe from the comfort and convenience of my driveway. This results in setup and takedown times of roughly 10 minutes. This compares to one hour takedown, setup, takedown, and setup each whenever I drive to an observing site. On top of this, of course is the actual drive time both ways, and the wear and wounding of the old bod. Another disadvantage is that at a dark site, I need to use a red flashlight to read the star charts. Ambient skylight just isn't sufficient at these out-of-the-way places. :-) At the observing site, I do visual observing, otherwise, polar alignment of the NGT-18 chews up another amazing amount of time. The benefits of going to the star party at a remote site are awsome. Visual observing is subline, and you can't beat the company of being with a group of folk just as nuts as you are. The following links take you to descriptions of my too few forays into the wilds of the night-time sky. |
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Observing Report Page |
I am primarily a CCD observer, and observe from the comfort and convenience of my driveway. This results in setup and takedown times of roughly 10 minutes. This compares to one hour takedown, setup, takedown, and setup each whenever I drive to an observing site. On top of this, of course is the actual drive time both ways, and the wear and wounding of the old bod. Another disadvantage is that at a dark site, I need to use a red flashlight to read the star charts. Ambient skylight just isn't sufficient at these out-of-the-way places. :-) At the observing site, I do visual observing, otherwise, polar alignment of the NGT-18 chews up another amazing amount of time. The benefits of going to the star party at a remote site are awsome. Visual observing is subline, and you can't beat the company of being with a group of folk just as nuts as you are. The following links take you to descriptions of my too few forays into the wilds of the night-time sky. |
