nakbrooks Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Hi all. Firstly just to say I am very impressed with the forum software - don't know if it is a commercial package or developed by ASA themselves. I live in Wiltshire in England but also have a property in the Hautes-Pyrenees region of France (just north east of Tarbes) where the skies are a lot clearer than Wiltshire most of the time! Pressure of work has limited my astronomy in recent years but having sold my business I am now retired and able to give myself a major retirement present in the form of a permanent observatory with largely ASA equipment, replacing my old Meade LX90. I hope to spend many happy hours getting it all working and doing some serious astrophotography and photometry. More details of the observatory are in my profile, and I'm adding a photo record of its construction to my gallery. My ASA kit gets delivered in June and I will be commissioning it throughout July, so experienced members of the forum can expect a lot of questions around then ! Edited May 7, 2013 by nakbrooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakbrooks Posted July 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 Just mounted the 400mm Cass on the DDM85 Premium mount. Bit hairy with just myself, my 2 sons and my wife but got there safely in the end. I think I'll hire an engine hoist if I need to do it again though! Now to install all the back-end equipment and then to wrestle with the software. All good fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamaSpaceShip Posted July 14, 2013 Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 Hi Nigel, I will install my ODK16 on my DDM85 at the beginning of August (because the concrete part of the pier will be made tomorrow). I have the hoist to do this, mainly to reduce the risk on the OTA, even if me and my two friends from my astronomy club will handle the tube with extreme care. Safety should not be an option. Are you in the Hautes Pyrénnées at the moment? It's not that far from my home, and I am interested to visit your observatory (and, as a software engineer, I can be of some help if needed). Best regards. Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakbrooks Posted July 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 Hi Bernard. Where are you - I'm in 65220. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamaSpaceShip Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 Hi Nigel, I am in 33830. I used to do rides in the Pyrénées with my motorcycle. Going to 65220 can be one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakbrooks Posted July 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2013 That's about 2.5 hours away. Might be worth you making the trip once I have everything up and running. I'm taking it slowly so it will be a few weeks at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamaSpaceShip Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 The journey can use very nice roads so its length does not count too much (and motorcycles make road lengths shorter ). Anyway, I will contact you lin August to find the most appropriate day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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