TheSkySearchers

Howdy,
I'm a retired electrician. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Local Union 613 Atlanta, Ga. I "retired" early at the age of 60. Not because "I got it like that", but, because I had had it with Atlanta traffic! The lowering of the standards to get into the apprenticeship program. The subsequent level of skill that was being sent to the jobsites. The insane schedules and safety rules placed on us. The political atmosphere surrounding the union. And. The lack of better labor contracts. Like paid holidays, vacation, etc. SOOOOOOO......

Packed up and moved to sunny Fl. Near Panama City. 40 minutes from the beach. Out in the country. And never looked back. I recently got into the hobby of astronomy. The bottomless money pit. I enjoy it. I am a noob.

I am now trying to image. Be it with a dslr (for now) and later a scope. I have a dedicated StarShed. No roll off roof, but a short ramp to tote stuff into the darkness.

Meade LX200 ACF 8"
Meade EXT 125 Observer
" " " 90 Observer
" " Infinity 102 achro refractor
Celestron Starsense explorer 130 AZ reflector.
Celestron AVX mount/tripod
SkyWatcher Star Adventurer GTi
Canon T3i (stock)

Other interests include, fishing.... inshore, salt water and fresh water. Horology. I know enough about working on mechanical clocks to get me into trouble. And another hobby that the tools and equipment to pursue it are higher than giraffe **$$y. I also have an interest in old stereo gear. Have a few set-ups. Firearms. I am a 2nd amendment fan. Can shoot on my property. My wife and 3 dogs. Yard work. I have yet to figure out the order.

Oh yeah. I'll be 68 in March.

Well, there is a little about me.

Hello and welcome to the forums
Good luck with your AP pursuits.

If you like to show your stereo gear or comment on gear check this thread: viewtopic.php?t=22467

welcome to TSS .

Hi atl613, and welcome here to the Forum!

smp

Hello and welcome to the group!

Dave

Welcome to TSS thanks for joining us.

Hi and welcome to the forums!

Welcome to TSS.

Looking forward to seeing some of your images!

Hello and welcome to TSS. Glad to joined us.

Cheers,

Hi and Welcome to the forums!

Hi atl613 and a big welcome to TSS!

I’m also a retiree and really enjoying it. I’ve already hit 68.

Can shoot in your yard! How nice!
With a big yard and out from the population centers, you probably have very nice skies! A big nice!

Good to have you on board and looking forward to your exploits!

Welcome to TSS

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 10:38 pm Hello and welcome to the forums
Good luck with your AP pursuits.

If you like to show your stereo gear or comment on gear check this thread: viewtopic.php?t=22467

I glanced at the post you linked and have no idea what y'all are talking about. When I mentioned stereo gear, I reckon I should have said analog. Like older stuff from 70's-90's. Pioneer, Sansui, Marantz, Yamaha, Dynaco, Harman Kardon and Carver to name a few. Their amps/ pre-amps. Hell, Radio Shack pumped out some fantastic monster receivers back then. Speakers like Polk Audio, Pioneer, Klipsch Acoustic Research, Magnapan. This is stuff that I have owned/own.

Welcome on board atl613!

It is just a thread to chat about gear new or old

Gordon wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 5:12 am Welcome to TSS.

Looking forward to seeing some of your images!

So am I. If I ever learn how to.

Juno16 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 1:54 pm Hi atl613 and a big welcome to TSS!

I’m also a retiree and really enjoying it. I’ve already hit 68.

Can shoot in your yard! How nice!
With a big yard and out from the population centers, you probably have very nice skies! A big nice!

Good to have you on board and looking forward to your exploits!

Howdy,
It's only 1.5 acres. But I have an 80 yard lane to shoot rimfire/handguns. Centerfire from time to time. There is about 25 acres of timberland behind my shooting berm. I just found out I've got a class 4 Bortle sky. Thx for the warm welcome.

We just had a mess of tornados go through here early this morning. From down in, Panama City Beach up to Alabama. We dodged a bullet. They were very near. Actually, had the wife get in the tub with some pillows and had our 3 panting fidos in the br as well. It was kinda scary for a while. Power is still out. It's been out about 7 hours now. Fortunately, Hurricane Micheal prompted me to install a generator and transfer switch, so we have power. And did not sustain any damage.

Sounds really nice!
You have plenty of “yard” to keep up with!

Bortle 4, you are very fortunate to have those nice skies.

Glad that you came out okay with the weather.
We bought a whole house generator a few years ago for hurricane power outages mainly. Hope that I never need it, but I probably will and if sure will be nice to have power and mainly a/c.

Looking forward to your posts!

Juno16 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:22 pm Sounds really nice!
You have plenty of “yard” to keep up with!

Bortle 4, you are very fortunate to have those nice skies.

Glad that you came out okay with the weather.
We bought a whole house generator a few years ago for hurricane power outages mainly. Hope that I never need it, but I probably will and if sure will be nice to have power and mainly a/c.

Looking forward to your posts!

We were very fortunate indeed. The places that were hit down at the beach were bad. Marianna, Fl sustained a lot of damage too. Some folks in those areas still haven't completely rebuilt from the hurricane in 2018. I feel for them.
The generator I have is a 75kw Westinghouse "portable". I made a concrete slab for it. Modified a Suncast trashcan shed.... vent on one side, louvered fan on the other side. And I have a 6 circuit manual transfer switch inside. Not as convenient as a Generac WH genset, but a heckofa lot cheaper and it does have a remote start. I will upgrade the manual switch sometime in the future.

My "yard" is much easier to keep up with since I removed the pine trees and monster whopper azaleas. I had 7 of 'em scattered about the front part of the property. One had a pine tree in the middle, another an oak tree. These things were 15' in diameter and more. So like a 50' circumference and over 6' tall. II tried playing "Edward Scissorhands" for a couple of years. I grew weary of it and pulled them up. With a chain saw, reciprocating saw, a spade and my p/u truck. The pine cones and pine straw that tormented me are a thing of the past now too. I had a guy take them down and grind the stumps. And with a borrowed tractor and box blade, a couple loads of dirt.... voila.

As far as posts go. I dunno. If I ever figure out how to image.......

atl613 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:42 am

Juno16 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:22 pm Sounds really nice!
You have plenty of “yard” to keep up with!

Bortle 4, you are very fortunate to have those nice skies.

Glad that you came out okay with the weather.
We bought a whole house generator a few years ago for hurricane power outages mainly. Hope that I never need it, but I probably will and if sure will be nice to have power and mainly a/c.

Looking forward to your posts!

We were very fortunate indeed. The places that were hit down at the beach were bad. Marianna, Fl sustained a lot of damage too. Some folks in those areas still haven't completely rebuilt from the hurricane in 2018. I feel for them.
The generator I have is a 75kw Westinghouse "portable". I made a concrete slab for it. Modified a Suncast trashcan shed.... vent on one side, louvered fan on the other side. And I have a 6 circuit manual transfer switch inside. Not as convenient as a Generac WH genset, but a heckofa lot cheaper and it does have a remote start. I will upgrade the manual switch sometime in the future.

My "yard" is much easier to keep up with since I removed the pine trees and monster whopper azaleas. I had 7 of 'em scattered about the front part of the property. One had a pine tree in the middle, another an oak tree. These things were 15' in diameter and more. So like a 50' circumference and over 6' tall. II tried playing "Edward Scissorhands" for a couple of years. I grew weary of it and pulled them up. With a chain saw, reciprocating saw, a spade and my p/u truck. The pine cones and pine straw that tormented me are a thing of the past now too. I had a guy take them down and grind the stumps. And with a borrowed tractor and box blade, a couple loads of dirt.... voila.

As far as posts go. I dunno. If I ever figure out how to image.......

75kw”portable “. Dang, that’s a beast!
Yeah, I went the generac wh way mainly since my wife and are getting up there and the portable (on wheels) was getting “old”.
The portable was only 5.5kw. The kicker was during hurricane Zeta (Oct. 2020), we lost power just after dark.
At about 2a.m. I decided to drag it through the mud in my backyard ( my garage door spring broke that day) to the front where my natural gas meter was (I converted it).
It was raining and very windy and I used some wood to help protect it. The generator did well for a few days
But that was it. Ordered a Generac.

Have you started imaging yet? Or at least playing around with it?
You can have so much fun with a dslr and a tripod.
AP is truly a blast but it is a never ending drain on your wallet (and mind) as you learn more and want to improve.
Lots of headaches and frustration, but really a great time!