Thank you David and Kate i will do just normal observing with the telescope get the confidence back that way i am just going to continue until the observatory is back open my nikon camera take photos and hunt around for my other nikon the big DSLR one batteries get them charged up use that one aswell.

I was a real off night etc and i was so wanting to have a go at not just seeing things through the camera but also onto the laptop but i know now to get back into going starting from basic again by reading and watching youtube videos making notes again. Before anyone says it yes back to brain pain all over again for me.

We've all been through the problems of computer mounts and cameras not talking to each other, so don't feel bad. Leave out the camera and computer and just use the telescope to observe things at night.
Sometimes I've found the easiest thing with computer programmes is to delete and reload a previous version. One of my laptops can't cope with updates so it just has old versions of my programmes on it.
I've also found reloading camera drivers helps.
With street lights contact your local council. I did this and explaining I was an astronomer and the light was not helping me. They came round a couple of weeks later and put a shield round one side of the light. Doesn't totally solve the problem, but is much better.
Kate

Hi Sam,

As soon as we are able to get back together normally, please bring your equipment up to NLO and we will help guide you
through what you need to do to get it all up and running smoothly. Don't give up! We all have those days, so just hang in there
and good times will return!

David