Polar alignment in ten minutes
For a long time I spent the first hour of every session fighting alignment. The fix was boring: level the tripod first, then rough-align with the finder, and only then touch the fine adjustment bolts.
Dew is the real enemy
Clouds you can see coming. Dew arrives quietly and ruins three hours of data before you notice the stars have grown halos.
Why I stack fewer frames now
I used to keep every frame out of stubbornness. Now I reject anything with passing thin cloud, wind shake or a satellite that lands right on the target.
Shooting under the moon
A bright moon used to mean a night off. A dual band filter changed that for nebulae, though galaxies still have to wait for dark weeks.
My packing list for a dark site
Spare batteries, a red torch, gloves thin enough to work the focuser, hot tea, and a printed list of targets, because the phone will be flat by midnight.