Jump to content

  •  

CNers have asked about a donation box for Cloudy Nights over the years, so here you go. Donation is not required by any means, so please enjoy your stay.

Photo

It's official - time to pack up the telescope

  • Please log in to reply
82 replies to this topic

#76 Kefka1138

Kefka1138

    Messenger

  • *****
  • Posts: 440
  • Joined: 26 Jan 2023
  • Loc: Looking up ~ 33° N, 111° W

Posted 20 June 2025 - 12:53 PM

I did leave my scope in the hot garage for the first 10 years. The reason I'm taking it in now is to hopefully add more years to its life. it. I'm really not in a position to replace it.  At 12" and pushing 40 pounds, now you're looking at bookoo bucks mounts.  I'm more on the down side of the hobby as oppoesed to upping my expenses. 

 

I read about those two teens on Mt. Ord. I believe it was more of a body dump. I have hiked Mr. Ord several times over the last few weeks. I'm more concerned about the drunken hunters then killers. 

Eek, sketchy - I've only wheeled the trail/side trip leaving Mt Ord. Never really thought about setting up there. 



#77 Zygmo

Zygmo

    Ranger 4

  • -----
  • Posts: 318
  • Joined: 10 Jun 2008
  • Loc: North Central Arkansas

Posted 20 June 2025 - 02:43 PM

It ain't the Telescope I am worried about in the heat.   It's ME!!


  • 12BH7 likes this

#78 12BH7

12BH7

    Fly Me to the Moon

  • -----
  • topic starter
  • Posts: 5,315
  • Joined: 05 Jan 2022
  • Loc: North of Phoenix Arizona

Posted 20 June 2025 - 03:09 PM

Eek, sketchy - I've only wheeled the trail/side trip leaving Mt Ord. Never really thought about setting up there. 

It gets windy up there so now I stay near the lower end. Which has more shenanigans so know your surroundings.



#79 Far-Out

Far-Out

    Ranger 4

  • *****
  • Posts: 396
  • Joined: 08 Oct 2009

Posted 22 June 2025 - 07:49 AM

I've stayed up in Flagstaff a number of times. The pine trees are nice but I really like the desert much more.  Although as I get older I have considered moving to the Sedona area.  All I need is a few million dollars to buy a home there. 

Hello I lived in the verde valley Cottonwood, Cornville area, much less expensive than Sedona. And 30  minute drive to Sedona. Cottonwood is a IDA dark sky city as is Sedona.

House are less than the average and a beautiful spot as well. Great people and community. And a fantastic Astronomy club and community. Verde Valley Astronomy

club, does outreach and events, very active astronomy community. My two cents.

Thanks for posting. I visit two months every year.


  • 12BH7 likes this

#80 12BH7

12BH7

    Fly Me to the Moon

  • -----
  • topic starter
  • Posts: 5,315
  • Joined: 05 Jan 2022
  • Loc: North of Phoenix Arizona

Posted 22 June 2025 - 09:23 AM

Hello I lived in the verde valley Cottonwood, Cornville area, much less expensive than Sedona. And 30  minute drive to Sedona. Cottonwood is a IDA dark sky city as is Sedona.

House are less than the average and a beautiful spot as well. Great people and community. And a fantastic Astronomy club and community. Verde Valley Astronomy

club, does outreach and events, very active astronomy community. My two cents.

Thanks for posting. I visit two months every year.

My wife and I have considered Cottonwood. The one sticking point is that once we leave Fountain Hills we will never be able to move back.  The house values here have gone up nearly 300% here. 

 

I've been to Cottonwood a few times but I've never stayed there. I really should try it one day.



#81 Moravianus

Moravianus

    Apollo

  • *****
  • Posts: 1,227
  • Joined: 04 Aug 2006
  • Loc: AZ, Scottsdale

Posted 25 June 2025 - 11:32 PM

So I listened to the advice of the headline "time to pack up the telescope" in a different way, to escape the PHX heat I did a one nighter Sunday evening south of the Stoneman Lake area.

It was a chilly night but I was prepared with layers and lot of hot tea. I was there absolutely alone beside howling coyotes and cows in distance. The light dome of Phoenix grew since I was there 5  years ago.

Next time, it would be better to not go alone and take bear spray?IMG_0546 copy.jpg


  • csphere.d likes this

#82 Moravianus

Moravianus

    Apollo

  • *****
  • Posts: 1,227
  • Joined: 04 Aug 2006
  • Loc: AZ, Scottsdale

Posted 25 June 2025 - 11:33 PM

Scorpion - on the sky ;-)

Attached Thumbnails

  • IMG_0548 copy.jpg

Edited by Moravianus, 25 June 2025 - 11:33 PM.

  • CharLakeAstro and csphere.d like this

#83 Brent Campbell

Brent Campbell

    Surveyor 1

  • *****
  • Posts: 1,527
  • Joined: 09 Feb 2010
  • Loc: Olympia, WA

Posted 26 June 2025 - 12:30 AM

 

Extreme temperatures (cold as well as hot) do tend to create difficulties for electronics, motors, gears, lubricants, and related components.  And, as you more or less noted, this is really much less of a telescope issue than it is a mount issue.

 

In both worlds, very cold and very hot, it tends to be wiser to avoid so-called "telescopes" that are "married" to their mounts.  To me, a telescope is basically just the optical tube assembly -- a separate entity from the mount.

 

I live and observe in what is sometimes the other extreme:  My record cold observation was with a raw thermometer reading (not factoring in wind chill) of minus 50 degrees F.  That can be every bit as unpleasant for many mounts as can very high temperatures.  Yet, telescopes can mostly handle both extremes.

 

It seems that many make frequent moves during their lives, but if one settles in one location long enough, one learns how to deal with the extremes in that location.  This includes purchasing suitable equipment -- equipment that will work for you in that environment.

 

There was a time when I would go out on every moonless, clear night to visually hunt comets.  Many times, I swept for comets when the temperature was in the minus 20s.  Many mounts would quickly fail to operate at such temperatures.  But there are other mounts that will function just as well at +120 degrees as at -50 degrees as at +70 degrees F.

 

If you're going to be living in that location for the long-term, I suggest making more appropriate mounting choices.  Simple, manually operated mounts are pretty much immune to temperature extremes.

 

This (100% manually operated) mount, without go-to, without tracking motors, remains operational for me at any temperature in which I care to use it.

 

 

 

But even more reliable is a mount like this one:

 

 
 
Both of the above mounts, combined, cost less that $500 -- with one purchased new and the other entirely homemade.  Note that the telescope in both photos is the same telescope.

 

What model is the equatorial mount?




CNers have asked about a donation box for Cloudy Nights over the years, so here you go. Donation is not required by any means, so please enjoy your stay.


Recent Topics






Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics