DSC October

[JohnP]

dicky

So Fay is that a Meteorological term.... not heard that one before...

[MarkS]

Lovely clear sky here.  SQM 20.85
Pastis is v cloudy so I guess it is getting cold.

[Carole]

Geomagnetic storm:  Keep a look out as you're in a dark site, as not sure how far south it will come.  They saw some in France during the last GM storm.

Quote:
Space Weather News for Oct. 13, 2012
http://spaceweather.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A  persistent G1-class geomagnetic storm on Oct 13th (still underway as this alert is being written) has sparked bright auroras around the Arctic Circle, spurring reports of Northern Lights from Scandinavia, Greenland, Canada, and several northern-tier US states.  More auroras are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of continued storms on Oct. 14-15 in response to a high-speed stream of solar wind.

[RobertM]

Weather isn't dicky but the sky is really really grotty here in Orpington.  I'm not sure what your meter would read where I am Mark but I can only see four stars in Casseopeia (no cloud)

Robert

[Mac]

hmmm, well its 02:00 and the sky was clear. havent checked in the last 30mins or so.
One Asteroid, M35 & the christmas tree.

Just waiting for M42 to pop up.

Cant believe everything is working at the moment.

Mac

[MarkS]

We all did a full night imaging in great conditions. 
Min temp -1.5C.
Everything iced up this morning.  Ice on inside and outside of tent.

[mickw]

Excellent sky here also - SQM only 20.8 about 1:00 am

[Fay]

well done all of you, glad it payed off. you will now be known as "The Hard Core Four"

[MarkS]

Suprisingly, there were quite a few other caravans and mobile homes in the field  -  7 in total.  Quite a busy weekend!

Last night my laptop suffered a similar fate to Mike's:


I took this picture in a darkened room so those are not reflections on the screen but some weird kind of banding.  The laptop still functions but the windows are very difficult to see.  I'll have to replace it

Mark

[Fay]

how strange

[mickw]

You could just change the LCD, unless it's time for an upgrade of course 

[Carole]

How bizarre that should happen to both your laptops in a few days of each other.

Glad you're having a good time every-one.  I managed to get out and do some narrowband from home last night and yes it was pretty cold at 3.45am!!

CArole

[MarkS]

You could just change the LCD, unless it's time for an upgrade of course 

Yes, time for an upgrade I think.  I just need another cheap (probably refurbished) power efficient laptop I can run directly off a 12v car battery.  It just needs sufficient power to run the applications to control the mount and download the images from the camera.

[Mac]

why not get a new monitor?

Mac

[MarkS]

why not get a new monitor?

Its really old - a Toshiba Portege R100 from 2004.  I bought it for £100 about 3 years ago. It's not worth spending money on it unless I can source a cheap secondhand LCD replacement.  Probably better to spend another £100 on a more recent laptop.

Mark