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Alan, I did this last year. Using old fashioned technology I rang the BAA office and they made the change for me. Since then all has worked well.
Martin Butcher
Eight years ago, or so, I scanned all of my existing 35mm slides, turned them into digital images and then processed them as such using Photoshop. The scanner I used was a Canon 8400F. This was flat-bed scanner with plastic inserts to hold the slides in place whilst they were scanned. It worked very well and I had no problems. Although the inserts could take 4 slides at a time which could then be automatically scanned I found it better to fully load the plastic insert and then manually scan each slide in turn. At the time my scanner was operated by a Windows XP laptop. Since then I have replaced the laptop with one operated by Windows 7 (the scanner driver would still operate in a reversionary mode). More recently I have found that a new laptop using Windows 10 will not interface with the scanner. Fortunately I have already completed scanning all of my slides and prints! To summarise the process works fine providing, as ever, that the scanner will talk to the computer. The digitised images are then processed as normal using an image processing software.
Martin Butcher
Eric,
I have little new to add to the above comments, other than to confirm that with the prevailing westerly winds the west of the UK seems to have cloudier skies than the east. Certainly here in the Inner Hebrides we rarely have clear skies and the number of nights each winter which are suitable for observing can be counted on 2 hands (or maybe only one). Clear skies are not our only problem but winds also will affect your observing opportunities. An observatory isn’t necessarily the answer to the problem as winds of over storm force (which we get every winter) will cause structural damage or destruction to anything in its path. From all the reports I read of the observations by other astronomers it would seem that east is best, that is not to say that in the west we do not get some marvelous nights observing, we do, but I they do not seem to be that often. I hope this helps.
Martin Butcher
David,
I had just seen your composite of the transit and was about to send you an e-mail asking how you had done it when I realised you had already answered my question on this forum. I shall now have to get to work. Fingers crossed. Very many thanks.
Martin
Gary, On the west coast of Scotland we can have extended periods of cloud with much wind. The figures I gave were just for the days with Gale Force winds and stronger. Many of the interveening days had lesser winds which were too strong for astronomy. Maybe I should have gone down the Radio Astronomy path!
Martin
Isle of Colonsay
As has been the case for the last 3 years or so the observing statistics for Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides have been poor. During 2015 I was only able to observe on 4 nights for a total of 11 hours. By way of explanation the 2 major problems here are cloud (the last year was an exceptionally cloudy one) and wind (often, but not always, associated with cloud). During the year we experienced severe winds on the following number of days:
Gale Force 8 (sustained winds of 39 mph and over or gusts of 49 mph or more) – 50
Severe Gale Force 9 (sustained 47 mph or more or gusts of 59 mph or more) – 26
Storm Force 10 (sustained 55 mph or more or gusts of 69 mph or more) – 8
Violent Storm Force 11 (sustained 64 mph or more or gusts of 78 mph or more) – 1
Martin Butcher
Isle of Colonsay
At the end of the February edition it was announced that there would not be a programme in March (when Stargazing Live is due to cover the Solar Eclipse). The next Sky at Night will be in April with the first broadcast on the 12th. There was no explanation of why the BBC considered it necessary to suspend the Sky at Night for the month when Stargazing Lize will be transmitted.
Martin Butcher
Sheridan, Let there be no doubt whatsoever that I find the Handbook ESSENTIAL. It is always by my side when I go outside to observe and is the framework on which I plan my observing for the forthcoming year. My first task on receiving the new edition each October is to extract the information that I expect to use and present it in a format that suits me. For me the Handbook is absolutely indispensible.
Martin Butcher
For 2014 I was able to image on a total of only 10 ocasions (5 day and 5 night). This is well down on previous years. The most common reasons for not imaging were, as usual, too cloudy or too windy. As it is frequently very windy it is safer not to have a permanent set up and therefore gaps in the cloud must be long enough to set up my telescope in order to achieve imaging. This temporary arrangement does not provide a steady platform to image in winds over about 10 mph, even on the leeward side of my house. However, here light pollution is not a major problem.
Martin Butcher
Inner Hebrides
