Summer nights and big scopes

It's a clear night out. I have a new scope but its big and it takes 20 minutes to set it up. It will be 9.30pm before it will be dark enough to calibrate and align the mount. It will be 10pm before I start to observe. By 10.30pm I will be knackered and thinking about packing it in for an early start at work tomorrow. Is it worth it?
Its tough making the decision to go out with a big scope on a week day in the summertime, especially when those 10x50s are so handy. It looks like a weekend hobby for a few months.
Am I alone in this dilema?

No.

Have that delema myself everytime it is clear outside like tonight. I guess if you reckon that it will take too long to set up etc, then perhaps this is not the night to go out because you will ot enjoy it as much as usual!

Best off to wait for the weekend for the scope and have a go with the bionos instead, listen to your favorite astronomy podcast.

Or even download astroplanner and plan your next nights observing

DB

Time maybe to think of a permanent mount? With my 10" it never left the house during the summer but now with a shed obsevatory at least I can nip out during the summer and do some planetary work. Set up time is about 10 minutes.

That's exactly why I have several small instruments A good small refractor on an AltAz mount and a pair of binoculars means you can be outside, tooled up and on target in minutes flat. In good conditions I use a Scopos 66 ED or 10x50 Meade LE binos (Lidl special).

I live in Kildare, which is almost surrounded by bogland and fen, so when the wind is low we often get heavy dew even under a relatively clear sky. That's when I use the cheap Lidl special 70mm refractor, which can't compete with the Scopos but has a huge dew shield, beside which I don't mind if getting dewed up regularly eventually messes ups the optics.

It's horses for courses. Twenty minutes looking at a handful of targets when the sky is clear and you can spare the time is better than zero.

John I guess it depends on a few things,
a. How long can you go before you call it a night?
b. How fast is it to set up your gear.

Personally, my comfort zone with regards to sleep is 4-5 hours a night.
(which is perfect for this hobby I suppose)

The ETX-125 I have takes about 15min to set up and align
which is fine and fast.
It's also totally portable.

I am considering building a handy size pier on my patio and building
a shroud that would house it full time.
(I picked up some good ideas at the Astrofest in the UK last year)

If I was in your situation I wouldn't waste time setting up something
big and complicated.
Sometimes I myself have to just say 'no' and sit outside with my 10x50's!

In my case John it really is a weekend hobby as I work in Dublin during the week and then am home in Waterford at the weekend......

What gets me is a typical weekend where it is clouded out on Friday and Saturday, and then hey presto Sunday night is clear.... especially during the summer when its about 10.00pm before its dark enough to do some productive work.... frustrating or what!!!(this doesnt facilitate the 4.00am departure from bed on the following Monday morning to get to Dublin).

What the lads say about binos or a small easy to set up refractor are bang on....

I got a cheap pair of Binos (7x50) & lidls 10-30x60 which come in handy for the quick set up situation....these can be mounted on my camera tripod in a matter of seconds...

I actually keep one set of binos in the boot of the car, just in case I need to satisfy my curiosity during the week when I am away!!!