One year of remote imaging [Deep Sky] Acquisition techniques · Willem Jan Drijfhout · ... · 8 · 638 · 0

It is just over one year that I started to use a remote hosting facility in Spain and installed one of my telescopes there. In earlier blogs I have written a lot about the journey how to get there. I thought it might be a nice idea to write a fifth and final blog on the experiences after one year of use.

The short version:
- The reality was a lot easier and straightforward than I had imagined beforehand
- This was probably helped by extensive preparation and testing upfront
- The system has not let me down so far and has been operating without any major hiccups
- The new software (Voyager Advanced) had a much shorter learning curve than I had anticipated
- The Target Manger in Voyager is absolutely amazing! It makes fully automated 24/7 imaging so much easier
- As with so many things, the biggest strengths also expose some inherent weaknesses and Voyager is not an exception.
- I went from hunter to collector. No hunting for a clear night or a single object, but collecting a library of lovely images.
- Important to keep processing rate in line with data collection, to not create a backlog. New processing tools help a lot to do so.  
- Astrophotography in the backyard now has a very different function. Often very enjoyable.
- In conclusion: going remote was the best investment in astrophotography done to date, and if you have the opportunity, don't be too afraid, it is absolutely recommended.

For the full version, feel free to check out the blog on my website.

Claudio Tenreiro:
It is nice to read your experience in the full version. The most important thing is that you are happy and enjoying quite a lot the experience. Now, you also answer a lateral question on backyard imaging as an addition to your remote system. I could not agree more, backyard will always provide some sweet experiences, even if gives you some challenges, like fighting with the weather, not so much redundancy (you may also have it, of course) and many more (also nice ones like talking to my dog while the set up is being prepared ). Congratulations for the set up and running so many beatiful targets.
CS !
Claudio

Thanks Claudio, nice to read you have such very similar experiences.

Thank you John, always nice to hear such compliments from the real expert! Your presentations and advice have been a great help and inspiration in this journey, so a big thank you for you as well. 

CS, WJ.

I just started remote imaging for 3months and totally agree with the backyard transition. I used to worry and feel nervous or upset for wasting any clear night at home, but now I'm doing home imaging in a more pleasure and casual way, just for fun or even just observing way.

Habib Sekha:
Hi Willem Jan (greetings from the Arnhem area), congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experiences here but also for all the highly valuable information on your website.
I came across your website about 2 years ago when I was searching for some rings for a TOA130-NFB. After that I forgot about your website but came across it again in another google search. Since then I'm a regular visitor, I enjoy and learn from reading your workflows and detailed information related to processing.

It is impressive how much data you are able to capture from Spain. Yes, I think that remote hosting is a very good advise.
It was my intention to get to know my CDK-14 a bit and then send/bring it to Spain, gain some experience over there to make a move to Chile. I've skipped the Spain part, starting at Obstech in Chile around August with a DR350 and towards the end of the year with a ASA600. Fingers crossed.

And once again I will make use of the highly valuable information regarding the control equipment and wiring but also from @John Hayes his Astrobin gallery with some wiring information.

Thank you Willem-Jan!

Hi Habib,

Nice to hear from you and thank you for being a regular visitor of my website. I'm glad you find valuable information there and please let me know if you see areas for improvement. I'm constantly tinkering with it, and love to hear feedback from visitors.
A DR350 and ASA600 in Chile that's quite the jump! Good luck with setting it all up and looking forward to see your images appear here on Astrobin. 

CS, Willem Jan.