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I became interested in astrophotography about three years ago. I wasted much of the subsequent time trying to get what I thought was a premium mount to work correctly. It's been to the factory once in the past and now I'm getting ready to send it back again. The frustration of this and the steep learning curve almost got me to throw in the towel and leave the hobby.

It didn't help I had no computer skills at the time, but I have made progress just the same. I would like to someday move on to CCD imaging solely because I live in a very light polluted environment. I then decided to upgrade my mount situation by purchasing a never used AP900GTO, taking the advice to buy the best mount I could afford. However, I refuse to set it up until I can get my troubled mount repaired to factory specs and only then will I put it up for sale.

In the meantime, a previous near-fatal motorcycle accident I had ten years ago returned to haunt me with lingering injuries that will require another surgery or two. Now I'm faced with the possibility of no longer being able to handle the weight of the new mount and 11" EdgeHD. I think my only option is to regrettably sell these items and instead buy smaller and more portable equipment. Not a game changer because this will enable me to travel to dark sky locations and besides, an imaging scope of a smaller aperture is just as capable of quality and wider field of view captures. I currently have an excellent AT106 APO and wouldn't mind supplementing it with perhaps a Takahashi APO in the 80mm range, or even try an 8" RC or the Vixen VC200L.

The door is open to more manageable options and I'm excited about that. I've already decided my next mount will likely be the Takahashi Temma 2, a proven product that falls into the portable category I require. I currently use a Canon 60Da for imaging and there is nothing about it I don't like, it's performance exceeded my expectations, the only drawback is my mount issues and my progress with post-processing. I decided to forget about these problems getting me down and started researching processing with more vigor lately. So, at least my attitude has improved, but one thing that hasn't improved is my imaging environment, another reason for wanting to go with smaller gear.

We moved to our current single story home with a much smaller backyard because I couldn't handle climbing stairs of our two-story home due to the previous accident injuries. It wasn't until 6 or 7 years later I got the imaging bug and even then the neighbor's trees weren't so tall they interfered much with views of the north and eastern skies. That changed quickly since the aforementioned trees were fast growing and planted just a few feet from the back fences, bare in mind my house sliding door to the backyard is a mere 17' from the backyard fence.

At this time, these restrictions has caused me to hint on moving to a more conducive location, a more rural setting would be ideal, but that is something the wife is not keen on. If that can't happen then remain in the urban setting, but to a house with a larger backyard and switching to narrowband imaging might mitigate the viewing and light pollution issues.

I think my story or parts of it are shared by many other backyard imagers, especially the aspects of restrictive views and obtrusive lighting you get living in a typical neighborhood. To think this hobby has actually made me think about moving, who likes to move unless they really have to? But, even without this hobby, I've always wanted to live in a place close to nature, I am a wildlife enthusiast after all and I've always had this desire to be in a place where you could actually witness things other than cars, tract homes, and strip malls.

That's my story and how astronomy has influenced my life and yes, I still ride motorcycles!

I have to conclude that without the wonderful people that I have met in this community and those that gave their unselfish help trying to keep me on course, no way could I have continued pursuing this hobby. Thanks all!

John

Job

Sales

Hobbies

Motorcycling, wildlife viewing