Set-up

Comment

Comment by Luc Delisle on November 14, 2014 at 9:52am

My good'ness, I never think you can get temperature like that: lightning, snow, etc but Philip on your unbelievable site with a lot of good picture, fortunaly I saw blue sky too....If I am right better in winter for astronomy than summer..exactly the opposite of here up north !!

Comment by Russ Ruggles on November 14, 2014 at 8:09am

Yes Phil is right. Arizona is very diverse in weather conditions. Just 30 minutes west of Flagstaff is an area that has clear skies most of the time but it's an isolated area. The topography of the land and the wind patterns are ideal there. One can go from hot desert to snow capped mountains in a 2 hour drive here. Our motto around here is if you don't like the weather wait 20 minutes... it can change fast.

Russ

Comment by Philip A Cruden on November 14, 2014 at 8:05am

Hi Luc, If you would like to see some of what Arizona looks like have a look at my site http://www.billionplanetsquest.com/ Scroll down on the home page to Photography. It is right at the bottom of the home page. Just click on the image.

Cheers, Phil

Comment by Philip A Cruden on November 14, 2014 at 7:55am

Hi Luc, Lots of people think about Arizona as you do but it is a misconception. I too thought as you do before moving here.There are two major weather issues to contend with in AZ. 1. the heat. The temperature in the summer can reach 120'f 49'c. On average through the summer it is around 100'f 37'c to 108'f 42'c and the heat does not let up at night. 2. is Monsoon, these are massive storms that bring lots of rain, flooding and plenty of lightning. These storms come in at night and they also bring high winds. This makes it impossible to use my telescope in the summer. My window with my telescope is from October 1 through to May 31st. We also get clouds in the winter. In fact we have overcast today but it is short lived. BTW it also gets cold here too Last winter we had 5 nights in a roe at 22'f 5'c and that was just here in the Phoenix Valley. Where Russ lives up in Flagstaff it drops well below freezing and they get snow. Quick story....Back in 1997 a friend came down from CA so we went up north camping. A snow storm came in and we were stranded for 4 days. Search and rescue found us and we had to be helecopter lifted out of the forest. Were you live your elevation must be around sea level. Here in AZ they go from arounf 1100ft to 12,800ft. There you have it , ny story about AZ weather. All the best, Phil

Comment by Luc Delisle on November 9, 2014 at 2:55pm

Philip, of course when there is no clouds we get a good sky...Ottawa a beautiful town that I visit this summer...but i'am jealous: Arizona you probably have most of the time no clouds there and no cold night then you must have astronomy all year long...for me I don't like practice astronomy in cold weather it is not working good and not good for équipment too !!....you must have to look at snake, hope not loll...

Ciaow!

Comment by Philip A Cruden on November 9, 2014 at 1:19pm

Hi Luc, thanks for the information. I was just having a look at your location Pont-Rouge. You must get some really nice dark nights there. I am from Canada too and the last place I lived in Canada was Ottawa before moving to Arizona. I miss Ottawa. We lived out of town in Stittsville. We get up there for Christmas from time to time.

Comment by Luc Delisle on November 7, 2014 at 10:11am

This one Phillip http://ca.skywatcher.com/_english/03_accessories/02_detail.php?sid=178

Comment by Luc Delisle on November 7, 2014 at 10:09am

"I Phillips, Thanks for your comment! I like this guide camera, a Synguider, a Skywatcher product samething as Celestron Nextguide I think"

Comment by Philip A Cruden on October 24, 2014 at 5:13pm

Cool so it is a stand alone Guider. Do you like it, does it work well?

Comment by Philip A Cruden on October 24, 2014 at 12:13pm

Hey Luc, nice set up man. How do you like your Guide Camera? Is that one of the Celestron's