Among that hard ship was my precious Toyota Tacoma getting stolen, with much of my imaging equipment in the bed. I got the truck back, but none of the gear. I ended up with one of those situations where I needed an attorney to represent me with my insurance adjuster. The cost benefit analysis did not allow the attorney fees. I took a lot of the hit on the chin. Or the pocket. This was among other dark times, and the COVID Pandemic.
My CGE Pro was stolen, as well as guide scope, guide camera, QSI 683 WSG 8 with Astrodon filters, and so much more. While figuring out what I wanted to replace my mount and camera with I bought a Star Adventurer, RedCat51, and an ASI 2600MC Pro. Then, at a star party, the wind blew the whole rig over and broke the focus mechanism on the RedCat.
At that point I lost my patience. It was either dive in neck deep or give up and sell all of my gear. I bought a second RedCat, and a Paramount MyT Mount. A few months later I bought a QSI 683. I was getting back in business. I could afford all of this because I spend most of my time working or driving to and from work.. However I seem to have the new scope curse on the installment plan, and the very rare 2 consecutive days off I have are nights only good for capturing sky flats and radio astronomy. But I persevere, and continue to self medicate with retail therapy. Heavily.
With that philosophy I thought “Heck, this MyT mount will handle 50 pounds, what options does that provide?” My first RedCat 51 that I broke spent a few months in it’s homeland of Taiwan and came back with a fully functioning focuser. This was not free, but it wasn’t a broken scope anymore either. So here I was with 3 telescopes and 2 cameras. Then the ASI 2600
I’m starting with the two headed monster, the two RedCats side by side each with an ASI 2600, one a Pro and the other a Duo. If and when I can get that working I will not simply settle on that being complex enough to get on with because, well, I’m sort of stupid sometimes. No, the final plan is to add the TEC 140 with the QSI 683 to the middle position between the 2 RedCats. 24 hours of data in an eight hour night. A time machine.
So while I work madly and spend all of the money I earn on cameras and telescopes, I get my astronomy fix studying PixInsight. I’ve had the program for probably 5 years, but have gotten a much better understanding of it using Adam Block’s studio stuff. He teaches the way I need to learn.
I’ve also busied myself under cloudy skies by upgrading my club’s observatory again. I’ll be able to get at least one interesting (I hope) out of that.
I have a lot of topics I can post and comment on on
