I feel your pain!turboscrew wrote: ↑Mon Apr 25, 2022 12:02 am This time the weather was pretty good. I did some big rig checks, and got pretty frustrated again.
I don't think I'll do any more checks until I get the new tube rings (they should arrive at the beginning of June.)
I tried to take some star tracks to find the rotational center, but some madness hit me, and I tried to take a video instead of a long exposure photo. I also realized, I don't know how to use the imaging SW.
I don't even know if I actually got the stuff on the computer disk, but after the frustration, I haven't been in the mood of doing anything astronomy related. There was time to try with the Omegon, but I just couldn't. I haven't been able to check what, if anything, I got on to disk about those tracks. Maybe tomorrow. I'm still too upset.
I need to proceed more slowly with the big rig. Otherwise I condition myself out of the hobby.
Maybe I'll put the VX12 on dobson until the new tube rings arrive. I still need to get the cameras focused.
I too had been wondering if I took on too much of a big rig. Add to that the DIY nature of my mount, and I needed 20 to 30 sessions just to tune everything in. Right now it's reasonable but I'm still not convinced if I should keep working on the 12" or just use the 6"
If you need 20 to 30 sessions before being productive like me and many others, at a rate of 1 good practice night per 2 years, well... Now, keep in mind that many practice nights are wasted on stupid things that could as well have been tried in the daytime. For example, getting used to the software and all their little quirks that can easily ruin a night - don't underestimate the trouble that software can cause you! Also don't underestimate what a difference it makes once you master it. Practice plate solving with images, test the camera, take the rig to a site where you can solve your cone error issues, try remote connections, battery-only operation, you don't need dark skies for that. Some packages have simulators, too. And if you use a collection of Windows packages as opposed to an everything-in-one Ekos, practice how to make them work together. Heck you can try making artificial stars and trick the system into half-way real operation.
Moreover, for big rigs you need to get setting up and breaking down to within 5 minutes each not a half hour or you will be out of the hobby soon. I repeat my earlier recommendation: build an on-
So, I suggest that you can do a lot of prep work in the summertime that will help a tremendous amount later on. At your latitude and with your big rig you have to. Getting out on the rare occasions that you have being poorly prepared while spending a lot of time setting up for near-guaranteed failures, that's no fun. Hopefully this is not too patronizing, but we all like you to succeed.