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Polar alignment eats up my clear night time. Then clouds roll in.
4 comments
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taylor_price6mo ago
Eats up clear night time" - It's the SETUP, not the alignment itself.
1
clairep106mo ago
Is the setup time really that bad? Feels like people are making too big a deal out of it.
7
jackson.max6mo ago
Last night in my backyard, it took me 45 minutes just to get everything out and ready. That's before I even looked at a star. I get why you feel it's overblown, but when you have limited time, it adds up. For folks with busy schedules, losing that much dark sky time is a real pain. It really depends on how much time you have.
5
sam_cooper5mo ago
My old routine was exactly like that, a solid 40 minutes of hauling gear and fumbling in the dark. What finally changed it was keeping a dedicated plastic tub by the back door with my eyepieces, red light, and charts. I grab the scope, grab the tub, and I'm basically set. It cut my prep down to maybe 15 minutes, which feels like a whole extra hour of actual observing.
2