12 replies to this topic

[ericb760]

My wife and I decided to rent and AirBnB for three nights in Big Bear Lake, CA. Sky charts said it is a Bortle 3 sky, so I bargained with her for one night of uninterrupted viewing. I needed something compact and knew from my recent experience in Joshua Tree that my ETX-90 wasn't up to the job, nor could I fit a long refractor in with the luggage. That left three candidates, an ES80ED triplet, a Meade 102/f5.9, or my recently acquired Celestron 102/f5. I tested all three the night before and decided on the Celestron for its wide field view. I packed it, along with my Svbony 225 Alt/Az mount, in the back of the SUV and we headed up the mountain. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to move the rings and dovetail to the Celestron OTA from the Meade before packing it in the car. Our rental was one block from a city park right on the lake, which I drove to just after sunset. I went to set everything up when I realized I forgot the rings. I was **** at myself for making such an amateur mistake, but I did remember to pack my Nikon Action 10x50 bino's. So, I used them for about an hour scanning the night sky. Just above Jupiter were four fuzzies, three of which fit in the bino's FOV. I assume one was M13, but I'll have to look the others up and try and remember where they were in the sky so I can try to find them when I get home.

The moral to the story is this: Make a list of everything you will need if travelling to a dark sky site. I didn't, and I missed out on viewing a Bortle 3 sky with a 4" Short Tube. Don't be me.

[Russell Smith]

Note to self. Buy new set of rings and dovetail for Celestron.
I do hope the weekend was otherwise quite pleasurable. Also. Duct tape fixes everything.
Cheers
Russ

[GalaxyPiper]

Yeah, it happens.

One of our club members forgot his mounts weights. I suggested a small bag he could put rocks in.

 

Yes, even a hobby of ours needs a check list, otherwise it is a long sad trek back home with your scope between your legs.

 

But then, now you have a story you can tell around the hobbit gathering, and the "Precious" you were seeking on your journey.

Edited by GalaxyPiper, 23 April 2025 - 05:14 PM.

[ericb760]

Note to self. Buy new set of rings and dovetail for Celestron.
I do hope the weekend was otherwise quite pleasurable. Also. Duct tape fixes everything.
Cheers
Russ

The trip was otherwise quite enjoyable. I even managed to catch a Fire Rainbow over the lake, and if you look closely at the second picture you'll see a white dome in the background. That's the Big Bear Solar Observatory. Sadly, it isn't open to the public.

[Daveatvt01]

Bummer. At least you had the binoculars!
Yeah, I try to make checklists for astro gear if I’m leaving the house. I’m not sure it would have helped here, but I also keep zip ties and blue tape in my bag just in case I need to cobble something together in a pinch.
M13 isn’t near Jupiter these days- maybe you were seeing some of the OC’s in Auriga? You could have been seeing  M36, M38, and one of several possible NGC clusters close by.

[deSitter]

My wife and I decided to rent and AirBnB for three nights in Big Bear Lake, CA. Sky charts said it is a Bortle 3 sky, so I bargained with her for one night of uninterrupted viewing. I needed something compact and knew from my recent experience in Joshua Tree that my ETX-90 wasn't up to the job, nor could I fit a long refractor in with the luggage. That left three candidates, an ES80ED triplet, a Meade 102/f5.9, or my recently acquired Celestron 102/f5. I tested all three the night before and decided on the Celestron for its wide field view. I packed it, along with my Svbony 225 Alt/Az mount, in the back of the SUV and we headed up the mountain. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to move the rings and dovetail to the Celestron OTA from the Meade before packing it in the car. Our rental was one block from a city park right on the lake, which I drove to just after sunset. I went to set everything up when I realized I forgot the rings. I was **** at myself for making such an amateur mistake, but I did remember to pack my Nikon Action 10x50 bino's. So, I used them for about an hour scanning the night sky. Just above Jupiter were four fuzzies, three of which fit in the bino's FOV. I assume one was M13, but I'll have to look the others up and try and remember where they were in the sky so I can try to find them when I get home.

The moral to the story is this: Make a list of everything you will need if travelling to a dark sky site. I didn't, and I missed out on viewing a Bortle 3 sky with a 4" Short Tube. Don't be me.

 

I always do something like a hockey goalie visualizing shots coming at him before the game - I go through the setup in my head and make a note of all the components and write them down if necessary in order as I'm mentally assembling the scope. 

 

-drl

[deSitter]

The trip was otherwise quite enjoyable. I even managed to catch a Fire Rainbow over the lake, and if you look closely at the second picture you'll see a white dome in the background. That's the Big Bear Solar Observatory. Sadly, it isn't open to the public.

 

I remember this place from the cover of S&T in the early-mid 70s.

 

There are what appear to be Kanji characters in the time stamp! I guess those are the months and days in Japanese?

 

-drl

[GalaxyPiper]

I remember this place from the cover of S&T in the early-mid 70s.

 

There are what appear to be Kanji characters in the time stamp! I guess those are the months and days in Japanese?

 

-drl

You are correct!

 

That's year, month, day...in Japanese. And they read from right to left.

 

For us "Westerners" that would read from left to right, it would be day, month year...in the bottom right of the photo.

Edited by GalaxyPiper, 26 April 2025 - 05:54 PM.

[ericb760]

I remember this place from the cover of S&T in the early-mid 70s.

 

There are what appear to be Kanji characters in the time stamp! I guess those are the months and days in Japanese?

 

-drl

 

You are correct!

 

That's year, month, day...in Japanese. And they read from right to left.

 

For us "Westerners" that would read from left to right, it would be day, month year...in the bottom right of the photo.

My wife is actually Chinese, but they use the same number characters.

[holdt]

Last year I headed out with the car loaded, New Mexico in my sights.  All was good until I got down the road 500 miles and needed to gas up the car...  OH ....  Where is my wallet?!!!    Called my wife and she found it sitting on my desk at home.  UPS overnight was the only solution.  I WILL NOT make that mistake again.

[GalaxyPiper]

Last year I headed out with the car loaded, New Mexico in my sights.  All was good until I got down the road 500 miles and needed to gas up the car...  OH ....  Where is my wallet?!!!    Called my wife and she found it sitting on my desk at home.  UPS overnight was the only solution.  I WILL NOT make that mistake again.

I did that once at a Home Depot. I was tasked by my club to get the BBQ tanks filled for our annual Star BQ. I went in and bought a code to unlock the tank access kiosks but could not figure out how to work it,. So I headed back inside after I return the empty tanks to my car and a man met at the door with the empty basket and thanked me for the cart.

I got one of the employees to show me how to work the kiosk and went to grab my wallet and realized I had left it in the first shopping cart I gave away. I made a bee line back in the store and looked down every aisle until I found the man who was idly looking on shelfs at products and my wallet was still in the basket untouched. I was so relieved. He was surprised also because he didn't look in the shopping cart ether.

Talk about my seat cushion getting pinched, I'm just glad it wasn't  my wallet.

The Star BQ was a success.

[RichA]

My wife and I decided to rent and AirBnB for three nights in Big Bear Lake, CA. Sky charts said it is a Bortle 3 sky, so I bargained with her for one night of uninterrupted viewing. I needed something compact and knew from my recent experience in Joshua Tree that my ETX-90 wasn't up to the job, nor could I fit a long refractor in with the luggage. That left three candidates, an ES80ED triplet, a Meade 102/f5.9, or my recently acquired Celestron 102/f5. I tested all three the night before and decided on the Celestron for its wide field view. I packed it, along with my Svbony 225 Alt/Az mount, in the back of the SUV and we headed up the mountain. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to move the rings and dovetail to the Celestron OTA from the Meade before packing it in the car. Our rental was one block from a city park right on the lake, which I drove to just after sunset. I went to set everything up when I realized I forgot the rings. I was **** at myself for making such an amateur mistake, but I did remember to pack my Nikon Action 10x50 bino's. So, I used them for about an hour scanning the night sky. Just above Jupiter were four fuzzies, three of which fit in the bino's FOV. I assume one was M13, but I'll have to look the others up and try and remember where they were in the sky so I can try to find them when I get home.

The moral to the story is this: Make a list of everything you will need if travelling to a dark sky site. I didn't, and I missed out on viewing a Bortle 3 sky with a 4" Short Tube. Don't be me.

I once packed up a C14 for a trip and forgot a half-pier.  Game over!

[Terra Nova]

My wife and I decided to rent and AirBnB for three nights in Big Bear Lake, CA. Sky charts said it is a Bortle 3 sky, so I bargained with her for one night of uninterrupted viewing. I needed something compact and knew from my recent experience in Joshua Tree that my ETX-90 wasn't up to the job, nor could I fit a long refractor in with the luggage. That left three candidates, an ES80ED triplet, a Meade 102/f5.9, or my recently acquired Celestron 102/f5. I tested all three the night before and decided on the Celestron for its wide field view. I packed it, along with my Svbony 225 Alt/Az mount, in the back of the SUV and we headed up the mountain. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to move the rings and dovetail to the Celestron OTA from the Meade before packing it in the car. Our rental was one block from a city park right on the lake, which I drove to just after sunset. I went to set everything up when I realized I forgot the rings. I was **** at myself for making such an amateur mistake, but I did remember to pack my Nikon Action 10x50 bino's. So, I used them for about an hour scanning the night sky. Just above Jupiter were four fuzzies, three of which fit in the bino's FOV. I assume one was M13, but I'll have to look the others up and try and remember where they were in the sky so I can try to find them when I get home.

The moral to the story is this: Make a list of everything you will need if travelling to a dark sky site. I didn't, and I missed out on viewing a Bortle 3 sky with a 4" Short Tube. Don't be me.

Many years ago a similar thing happened to my brother and I back when I was still living in southern California. We took my 6” F4.5 ATM Newtonian up to Lytle Creek one summer night. Back then, it was still very dark up there back in the 70s. We set up the tripod and scope and then realized we’d left the eyepieces at home!