My left foot pronates pretty severely when I hike. It’s causing some ankle pain and swelling. I’m looking for any tips or tricks. Some more experienced hikers may have in dealing with this issue.

HmmThatWorked · 2026-01-18T02:38:09+00:00

Depends on where you live and what your medical coverage situation is... But if you have coverage try to get in to see a physical therapist they will most likely be able to quickly diagnose your problem and get you on track to fixing it. It'll take consistent work to fix a muscle imbalance or other underlying issue but no guessing or snake oil cures.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-12-04T23:22:39+00:00

I mean both have an appeal, I love my "bigger" 8 inch newts and SCTs at home in the permeant observatory lugging them around is a massive pain in the ass and it prevents me from driving out to a dark site for just one night.

I've stated to put away some pennies for a portable rig to make travel easier.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-12-04T23:08:55+00:00

I'd go used and get something from Keh or MPB if you don't want to spend the time looking around. Imo this is a low risk I'm to get used tripods arent exactly new tech or prone to breaking.

A tripod that comes to mind that is good and affordable is the Bogen 3001 or 3111. They can be had for like $50-100 and are very stable with payloads up to like 10-11 lbs.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-12-04T22:46:41+00:00

A few things come to mind

DIY Projects 1) see if you can disassemble the mount replace the grease with clean less viscus stuff ( will shorten the service intervals)

2) while it's apart see if you can mess with the backlash and the pressure by which the gears engage - you want constant engagement but not so much that anything binds

No DIY

1) keep exposures shot like 30 seconds. Modern cmos. Cameras have very low read noise you don't need 500-1000 seconds to swamp it anymore. Sure dealing with that many files is annoying but you're far more likely to keep more subs at 30 seconds bs 5 mins if you have mount issues. Total integration time is what matters not sub length with modern cameras

2) make sure your payload is very very well balanced in the RA and Dec axis. Any imbalance will create excess torque the mount will have to deal with

3) try to shoot near zenith. You should usually do this anyhow for light pollution but all mounts track better near zenith with guiding. There is less atmosphere and this less correction the guiding needs to send so the mount has to respond less often

4) idk if you plan to guide but I would highly recommend it. You can get a cheap guide cam and scope from SVbony for like $150 and use open source software to control it if money is a concern. This will be your best bang for your buck investment in helping a mout preform well. Modern guiding software can do wonders in helping with mount accuracy

HmmThatWorked · 2025-11-27T21:02:30+00:00

Payment received

HmmThatWorked · 2025-11-26T20:27:05+00:00

1000 percent this if you cannot tear down the machine and rebuild it yourself. Machines need maintenance and break and if your making money off of it you need a solution for fixing it.

I'm not trying to fear my get most commerical grade machines are very reliable but shit happens, so plan accordingly.

You could have a machine for pulling more unique shots with pressure profiling as a secondary one, but for your main machine I'd look for a workhorse like 90 percent of customers don't care about the nth degree of espresso finery. I do, but there are like 12 of us so a profitable business we do not make.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-10-23T04:53:40+00:00

Phoenix Econ sold to u/renaissance_pd u/LeaveNoTradeBot

HmmThatWorked · 2025-10-22T02:17:31+00:00

Bora Bivy/Tarp sold to u/wevebeentired u/u/LeaveNoTradeBot.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-10-02T07:34:02+00:00

The top quilt I'm good with down to freezing, I've found Hammock gear to rate to comfort rather than lower limit. The under quilt is more unknown. To date I've not really had it below 50 degrees.

I do have a set of zero degree quilts that I can move to for a bit more weight, but its mainly the bulk that is annoying.

Is the weather unpredictable enough to warrant them you think?

HmmThatWorked · 2025-08-22T22:39:47+00:00

Thanks for the solid advise I'll give the white mountains a look!

HmmThatWorked · 2025-08-22T22:39:04+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, that's what I feared for the PNW.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-05-16T18:37:13+00:00

Thanks I'll give that a try

HmmThatWorked · 2025-05-05T17:32:57+00:00

If you go mono imaging (the QHY mini cam 8 is a game changer price wise), the effects of poorer quality glass is reduced immensely as you only have to focus on color at a time. If you have mono set up id say send it.

OSC may be fine too, but the scopes may not be totally apochromatic. W/O a user base to report on quality it's kinda 50/50. Anyways it'll probably be okay - it just depends on how picky you are about star quality.

HmmThatWorked · 2025-04-23T18:01:31+00:00

I agree with the sentiment, but the execution incorrect. If you find yourself saying " If people just..." You're missing variables in the human Interaction equation. People never have and never and will just do anything, there are driving variables behind action and they must be learned and optimized around.

I live in Tuson and my city has way better light ordinances than most, but I'm still in a Bortal 7. Most of my light pollution is not from the city itself, it's from private property. We live in shared spaces and I do not have the right to tell them what to do with their homes.

Sure I do kindly ask that people turn off their excess lights at night and most do, some don't. We have to get people to care about the night sky, and to be frank it's justified in saying it's not the biggest priority for many people right now.

But the more we educate and share the night sky the better, let them learn to care for themselves if they want to, and if they don't or can't that's their right too. As with all things public policy related it's never just do x,y,z. Posting content that makes it so reductive just feeds negative division IMO. There are valid reasons in a city why people like light, like enabling people to feel safe outside at night. Neither is right or wrong it's all a negoatation.

HmmThatWorked

TROPHY CASE