Queensland Astrofest 2009

[firstlight]

Hi everyone,

We finally got our act together and got the Registration 'page up and running. As with last year, you are able to register and pay online. To register, follow the link in my signature, click on the link in the "Noticeboard", or the "Register Online" link in the menu under "Registration".

Professor Drinkwater from the University of Queensland and is working on the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey will be Honored Guest on Saturday the 22nd August.

More details to folow in the next few weeks.

Cheers Tony

[h0ughy]

ministerial approval will be sought for this

[Dennis]

Thanks for the heads up Tony! I’m looking forward to another “Surma-Hawes” extravaganza!

Hope you can make it Dave – you are the star attraction from NSW!

Cheers

Dennis

[acropolite]

Luckily, HRH likes to go to Brisvegas to visit the kiddies/grandkiddy, therefore I should be able to attend. I'm thinking of tenting this year (that's if there's any space left after erection of the h0ugh tent city) and perhaps spending a few extra days.:thumbsup:

Actually looking at the site I can't see any mention of tenting, what's the story and is there going to be catering this year etc.:confuse3:

[mozzie]

ill be there again cant wait bringing the wife this year she needs a break from the kids
mozzie

[[1ponders]]

Wo! Wo! Wo! You Beauty!!! Phil you can camp between Dennis and myself, but be warned he keeps a live chainsaw in his tent. :lol:

[AlexN]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH put me down for a full stay!

[firstlight]

What ever you do, don't hint that re-election will hinge on said ministerial support. :D

[firstlight]

No problem... um have you filled in a reg form yet? :shrug:

[AlexN]

I will register later this week.

[h0ughy]

tony put a label on Alans and my bunks

[jjjnettie]

I'm a definite maybe at the moment.
:prey::prey::prey:

[Steve Kelly]

Locked and loaded; for two, really looking forward to it! :thumbsup:

[Zubenel]

Can't wait for the best event on the calendar , Tony and Anne-Louise :thumbsup:
:cool::2thumbs::hi::stargaze::starg aze::stargaze::prey2::party::cold:: cold::cold::cold::camera::clap::jum p2:
Don"t forget your ear plugs everyone ummm and ya scope!!!!!!
Cheers Wes

[h0ughy]

ok took the plunge - booked and transferred the cash - havent got full approval yet but close to it.........

[firstlight]

Just a quick update about the speakers at this years Queensland Astrofest. Dr Tamara Davies is from the University of Queensland and has worked with Dr Brian Schmidt and is working with Prof Michael Drinkwater. She is main speaker on Saturday the 15th. I've already mentioned that Prof Drinkwater is attending on Saturday the 22nd. Some info about them on the website.

Other workshop dates will be finalized over the next week or so, but so far Eddie Trimachi and Terry Cuttle have said they would hold a session. At this point I don't know what Terry is doing but Eddie is doing colour balancing... I think.

Cheers
Tony

[acropolite]

I've booked the boatfare, I have to book the site yet. I pulled out my old tent today (an old Czech Terka, hasn't been out for 20 odd years), a little dated but still very serviceable. :campfire:
Took me an hour to work out how to erect the damn thing. :lol:

[firstlight]

Looks like a good unit Phil. There is still plenty of camping and bunks as yet, but the Sunday Mail has run a story of the Astrofest I believe... It might pay those who want to come to get in early, especially as we are limited with upper caravan/camper sites.

Has anyone seen the article in the Sunday Mail? I have to score one tomorrow to see what was written.:D

[acropolite]

:rofl: the plan has changed already, HRH has done an inspection and decided there is insufficient room, so it looks like we'll be in a caravan as we did last time.

I'm happier with that anyway, somewhere to keep food, milk etc cold and far less stuff to cart all the way from Tas......:lol:,

I'll/We'll be turning up on Tuesday 18th till the end i.e. 18th-23rd. Can you reserve me a Caravan site for those nights in case the article generates so much interest you get flooded with bookings. I'll confirm with an online registration once I have firm booking for the caravan.

Thanks in advance...:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

goodness me it looks like Paul's!!!!!! LOL is it frost tolerant......:whistle:

[firstlight]

:thumbsup:

Not to worry Phil. Anyway, we are getting an 8' x 6' coldroom delivered, and kitting it out with shelves... should be enough room for all... Famous last words :D.

[[1ponders]]

I'll bet its easier to put up than mine :tasdevil:

Is it snore tolerant. ;)

[acropolite]

Actually it's very sturdy, all internal frame, a nightmare to put up if you haven't done it for 20 years, it's a bit like a reverse tardis, smaller on the inside than the outside...:P

Edit:

I've booked from Tuesday 18th till the end, HRH will be making an appearance later in the week, or maybe for the same period, depending on her whims....:whistle:

[h0ughy]

in anticipation i reprocessed a few shots from 2007 Astrofest.........

I look forward to the hunt for Photons.........:lol::D

[jjjnettie]

I really really hope I can make it.

[Sharnbrook]

Does anyone have in their archives, any day time photos of the side of the manager's house, as seen from the registration car-park, ie looking basically south from Rubie House? We need to construct some better light-proofing than we had last year, and I need a photo to ascertain how best to do this. If you can send them to me via a pm, or even post them here, it will probably save me a trip up there.

Many thanks in advance,

[dpastern]

Would be cool, but alas, at this time without a car (or tent for that matter), I'll pass. Maybe next year, all things going well financially that is. That reminds me, where is my sleeping bag...mmm.

Dave

[Dennis]

Hi Mike

Here are some crops from our old Minolta D’Image 5 Megapixel camera circa 2003.

Cheers

Dennis

[firstlight]

Speaking of catching a some photons at the Astrofest, there are a few rule refinements for the Erwin van der Velden Astro-photo Memorial Trophey.


The photo competition has been divided into 2 categories: Through a telescope (400 mm or greater); Non-telescopic (less than 400 mm)
Images have to be captured at or since the last Queensland Astrofest.
All photos must be received by the Registrar by Monday 10 August 2009. It is recommended that you give your photos to your club representative to pass on to the Registrar.


As always, photos may be deep field, wide angle, planetary, lunar or special interest involving an astronomical object or theme.

These refinements are to ensure that all photos have the opportunity to attract maximum votes as many participants are not at camp for the whole period and may not vote for their best choice. If images are submitted prior to the camp, all images will be available to all attendees.

Not everyone is a member of the local clubs and societies running the camp, so it is recommended that the photos are send well protected by cardboard in the post, or if required, images may be printed by the organising committee for a small fee.

The images will be printed on Canon Photo Paper Pro on a Canon IP6700P. Every care will be made to print to the colour balance desired by the submitter, however results may vary from what is desired (It would be best to submit the printed image for your satisfaction.

Further info will be sent to all participants when we send our registration pack next month.

This may be an inconvenience for some, but we are trying to address feedback received.

Cheers
Tony

[firstlight]

So do we... keep us informed Jeanette.

Tony

[jjjnettie]

I've booked for 5 nights camping.
I'm sure I can round up some volunteers to help me set up if need be.

[firstlight]

Hi Mike,

I remembered that Anne-Louise took some shots of the camp when you guys went up in March last year. Here are a couple of crops. Hope they are useful.
5731357314

Tony

[Sharnbrook]

Dennis, Thanks for your shots, but unfortunately they were taken in 2003, which was before the extensions to the east of the building, done early last year. I appreciate your reply.

Tony, Similarly, these would appear to have been taken before completion of the extension, as I seem to recall that the finished building is not quite as it seems from your photos. Just to the left of the canoes, there seems to be a screen door (glazed, as there is a reflection from the flash) but I don't recall that being there last Astrofest. All I can recall is a covered area between the old building and the new office, without any doors, but with a window in both buildings, each side of the covered way. My memory may be playing tricks however...........??

Does anyone else have any shots of this area? What I need is an elevation taken from the same position as Tony's first shot, taken last Astrofest, and if I'm lucky, without any vehicles or 20" Dobs in the way. Fingers crossed............

[firstlight]

You're right Mike,

Looks like they closed in the room under the flat roof. I'm not sure about windows and doors in that section, but I've lightened up the shadows under there a bit and you might have a better idea. Doesn't help for measurements I suppose.

Cheers
Tony


57365

[firstlight]

Hi everyone,

I have just got word from Sirius Optics that they will be donating an Orion Sirius EQ ‘GOTO’ Mount (equivalent of the Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Mount) valued at $A2100.00 and Orion will donate one of their new 6” Ritchey-Chretien OTA’s valued at $A1489.00, being a total prize value of $3589.00.

Visit the Raffle page on the website to see details of prizes from other sponsors.

[jjjnettie]

That is fantastic news!
Better save twice as hard now so I can buy LOTS of raffle tickets.

[AlexN]

mmmm It would be nice to have an 8" RC on my EQ6 and a 6" RC on a Sirius... I too will be buying LOTS of raffle tickets this time around! :)

Cheers.
Alex.

[mozzie]

booked and keen to go fingers crossed for clear weather
mozzie

[AlexN]

It will be good to catch up Peter.. Have you been practicing throwing bricks for this year to defend your title?

[h0ughy]

LOL i secretly saw him throwing bricks at the clouds at SPSP ;) in practice:lol:

[Steve Heaton]

yep the biggest tosser for 2008 will be there

[Kal]

I will be making my way up to QLD for my first Astrofest this year. I have booked my flights to Brisbane to go up on the 12th, come back on the 22nd, so I'm still undecided on which actual days I will be attending. I will be traveling there with my dad, who lives in Brisbane, and using his 12" dob :)

[jjjnettie]

Looking forward to seeing you there!

[AdrianF]

I am hoping to be there just to pickup my new scope and mount I am going to win.

Adrian

[jjjnettie]

You're welcome to the mount Adrian, but that scope is MINE!

[AdrianF]

You got it wrong Jen they are both mine:P

Adrian

suppose I had better buy a raffle ticket or 10 now

[firstlight]

Always assuming that the tickets you buy end up in the barrel ;)

OMG :eyepop:...

Only 36 days to go... Can't wait for that fresh Duckadang air.

[jjjnettie]

I've bought new snow boots and snow pants to battle the frosty Duckadang nights. Hmmm toasty warm.

[AdrianF]

I was thinking about riding to Duckadang but if I have to bring home my winnings I had better bring the 4x4.

Adrian

[AdrianF]

How do I go about buying raffle tickets? Do I have to buy them at the AstroFest or is there another way? Do I have to be there to claim the prize?
I haope to make it this year but I cannot plan that far ahead.

Adrian

[alan meehan]

Houghy and myself are travelling up on the 14th the day after i officially retire hip hip hooray.cant wait to spend my first week of retirment under duckadang skies,unfortunatly we are leaving on the 22nd so wont get a raffle ticket in unless someone can collect for us.see ya there
ALAN

[firstlight]

I'm sure there will be plenty of people to pick up your prize... perhaps not for you :D.
Raffle tickets can be bought from any of the club reps on the committee. If you are not a member of a club, I'm sure that if you attend a meeting they will sell you tickets anyway. Alternatively, you could probably buy tickets by sending a cheque or money order with a note explaining what it is for. The address is The Registrar, 34 Kilkenny St, ACACIA RIDGE, QLD 4110.

Prizes are collected by first in best dressed. If you are not able to come, print out the raffle page and number your prizes in order of preference and send that no later than one week befor the camp. I might have to knock up a preference sheet.... hmmm... another on the "to do" list :rolleyes:

And yes, I have been known to sell tickets occasionally at Astrofest if coaxed... I am the shy retiring type as any one will tell you :whistle:.


I'll collect you prize Alan... Honest :lol:

[h0ughy]

Unfortunately I have family commitments that require me to be back in Newcastle so we will be leaving very early on the Saturday and have to miss out on the group photo, the raffles and the dinner and challenging for the counter weight toss and the vendor sales (sniff, sniff). I am hoping that we can slip up there one day earlier – I am yet to discuss those terms with the boss but I am hopeful that we may try to get there on the Friday night 14th August. Might have to ask for a refund on the Saturday activities, photo and dinner, though I will be purchasing some tickets for the raffle – might have to ask some caring individual if they will pick up the wining prize for me LOL.

I am so looking forward to this trip.

Alan, I know that this retirement is a tad early but I wish you all the best for the future, and what a better way to do that then to celebrate with a weeks worth of photon collecting at Astrofest.

After this trip I will be building the observatory:whistle:

[mozzie]

this year steve youll have to have a go last year you were buying a scope to only collect dust:lol::lol::)you might have to show alex your licence other wise you mat slip into the kids section
mozzie

[firstlight]

Only 22 days to the Queensland Astrofest, and incidentally, the closing of the Astrophotography Competition. There has only been one entry so far... even I might have a chance if this keeps up :lol:.

If you have a photo you want to enter either send the image (no larger than A4) sandwiched between some serious cardboard, contact a club representative on the committee, or send a request to the registrar and we will see what we can do to get your entry in. Alternatively, we can print it for you (but we must get the file prior to the camp as we want to have the entries viewed on the first evening) but bear in mind the colour balancing may not be to your liking (we have a 6 colour printer here and others have good quality printers as well), and there will be a fee of $5.00.

Get your entries in!

Details on the Queensland Astrofest website.

[h0ughy]

oh i have completely forgotten about this....too late now - cant give it to you when i get there?

[Davros]

Finally registered, Tony sent you a PM re camp site.

[matt]

I'll get along to one of these...one of these years...

Sigh...:sadeyes:

Just out of curiosity...is it allowed for folk to just turn up without booking? Would I just have to pay for a 24-hour pass if I only wanted to stay the one night?

And I s'pose all the accommodation is booked out...like, weeks ago?!?!

[firstlight]

Why is it too late?.. You have until the 10th of August to get it to us.

Some people are only with us for a short time and if the image is not up, you might miss out on votes, so we've decided that everyone will have the same chance... If we have not received it before we go to Astrofest it won't be in.

Come on! Even an NSW back line can get it here in 2 and a half weeks... just?

[firstlight]

You can come up and stay, but if you don't book and pay we can't guarantee you a bed. Although with the longer format there is less chance of missing out as it is more relaxed up there... At least last year it seemed more relaxed.

If you go to the Astrofest website you can see a table in the "Notice Board" that shows the accommodation for each night. This table is "semi-live" so the numbers are reasonably accurate... the bunk numbers are, caravan/campers and family accommodation are not.

[andrew2008]

Wondering the same thing myself. Would love to just get along for a night if i could.

[AdrianF]

I have just registered for the AstroFest for the 15th August. Leaving Roma at sparrowtime hope to be there by lunch. See you there. I will be bringing the ED127 and EQ6 will someone be willing to run through a polar align with me (I dont seem to get it quite right)?

Adrian

[[1ponders]]

Np Adrian, I'll be there from Thursday and we can get you polar aligned in about 20 min using K3CCDTools and a webcam.

[h0ughy]

yes its been 12 months since my last lesson.......:whistle:

[[1ponders]]

:lol:

[AdrianF]

Thanks guys looking forward to the lesson and meeting everyone.
unfortunately I can only be there for the one night work commitments Friday and Monday.

Adrian

[mch62]

Yep after a long absence I have returned and will be at Astrofest.
Paul keep me a spot?

Mark

[[1ponders]]

How big a spot Mark. ;)

:lol:

[h0ughy]

have to fight for it......

[Astrorish]

Hi everybody,

New member from the UK here, I'll be on my hols in Australia in August, was really hoping to get to the Queensland astrofest. Are there still places left? Our schedule has pretty much been organised for me, but i should be free on the last night - 22nd night/23rd am; due to fly back on the 24th. If i get approval, i assume all the accomidation is gone, so can i hire a tent from the camp??

Cheers,

Rishi

[astroron]

Hi Rishi,2Welcome to iceinspace:) try this address to get the information from the organisers:thumbsup:
registrar@qldastrofest.org.au <registrar@qldastrofest.org.au>

[Astrorish]

Thanks for the welcome Ron, I've just sent them an email, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

BTW, a 2 acre dark sky site with obsy?! That sounds truly awesome to someone from the orange fog of London!!

Cheers,
Rishi

[jjjnettie]

Ron's from over your way Rishi, Liverpool, he can fully appreciate how lucky he is.
Welcome to IIS.

[firstlight]

Welcome as well from me to Iceinspace and also to the Queensland Astrofest. On the Homepage in the notice board section and on the Registration `page, there is a table that some fields are "live", and others we try to keep reasonably up to date. The "Bunk" row is live data, so unless it is blank, ther are beds available.

Anne-Louise was saying last night that she was replying to an inquiry... was that you?

Cheers
Tony

[Buddman]

Woohoo, I've managed a leave pass from the missus and kids and have registered for 5 nights.

Can't wait. Looking forward to a bit of astronomy too.

Adam

[DavidTrap]

Afternoon All,

Just bought a pop-up shower tent from Anaconda (on special for $49) to take up to Astrofest.

The label says "easy pitch guarantee" - which it is - sort of resembles a jack-in-the-box when you release it from the confines of the carry-bag

However, my darling wife and I spent the next hour working out how to collapse the tent - she spent most of this time laughing.:help::screwy::whistle::ro fl::rofl::rofl: After a few searches on Google and a thorough re-read of the instructions, I think I've got it down pat... We've even written hints on the tent. Might have to practice on the day before I come up to Astrofest.

What I really want to know is, is there a support group for shower tent folding at Astrofest. Maybe this could be an event to compliment the counter-weight toss??

Regards
David T

[AlexN]

David T - Hahahahhaaha!!! Funny you should mention that... We had quite a laugh last year watching Peter trying to fold his up, then the next person trying to fold it up, then the next, then the next ! :D Provided a good 40 minutes of entertainment...

Dunny-tent folding was a game that was pitched (pardon the pun) to a few people during this hilarious exercise.. They always say "easy to set up and pack up" and they RARELY are! :)

They are however a good place to set up your computer etc for a nights imaging...

[acropolite]

I had a similar experiece with an 800mm cubed photography tent, the damn thing nearly knocked me out as it opened then I spent the next hour trying to get it back in the bag.:rofl:

[citivolus]

I'm interested in coming this year, but not having been to one of these before, I have some basic questions.

How do people normally protect their scope / equipment from the elements etc when they pack it in for the night? Throw a blanket over it and then a tarp, or something else? I'm guessing equipment generally gets left set up unless the weather has deteriorated or looks like it might?

Also, how is the ground there? Should I bring something to put under the tripod legs to spread the load, or are they likely to be fine?

Regards,
Eric

[Tandum]

I have a $10, 4 burner BBQ cover from bunnings I throw over the scopes during the day at these things. Keeps the sun off but I'd pull it all down if it theatened rain. These covers do go brittle in the sun, I think they design them like that, but it takes about 12 months before they fracture and split.

I booked and paid for last year, but missed it due to a broken foot, and this year it's a broken car :(

[[1ponders]]

I use a couple of towels to absorb moisture and ten compost bag over the top. Cost about $12 and is fantastic. Prior to that I used to use a small tarp over the towels. Unless the weather looks bad the gear stays up all week. The ground if nice and firm so tripod sinking as never been a problem for me with either the G11 or G8.

[AlexN]

Yeah you'd definitely leave the gear setup the whole time you're there unless it looked like the weather was going to kick up rough..

Paul - Where abouts did you buy those compost bags? They look the goods! Like robin, I use a BBQ cover, and whilst it works, they do get brittle and they aren't exactly the best size and shape for the job..

[[1ponders]]

I got mine from big W

[RobF]

Does somebody have the Space Time Co-ords for Duckadang? (er, Lat and Long that is.....)

[acropolite]

I bought some rip stop tent fly material and whipped a cover up, I chose silver to reflect the heat of the day.

As for Lat/long, here's a google earth KMZ file for Duckadang, you can get the Lat/Long from there and have a satellite view of the camp. The pin is dangerously close to where Ponders parks his tent, a place to avoid as the ambient noizzzzze levels can be quite high ...:P

[Astrorish]

Thanks for the welcome!



Tony, yes that probably was me. Hoping to get a pitch for a tent. look forward to meeting you all there, hopefully.

Rishi

[[1ponders]]

You must be confusing me with my English gentleman friend in the next tent Phil. I'm sure Dennis sleeps with a chainsaw with the throttle stuck on some days. :P

[h0ughy]

ahh you both snore - helps keep me up:lol:

[[1ponders]]

You must be mistaking me for someone else houghy, surely ;)

[Sharnbrook]

As for Scope covers, this year we shall be having some heavy duty wheelie-bin liners for sale at only $2.00 each. They are about 1.2m x x1.5m in size, so should do most Cat scopes up to about 10". Buy them at the Committee House (Registration). Also available will be light-red, medium-red, and ND filters in various sizes for computer screens and monitors up to 17", and also for torches and lights. Prices from 50cts to $5.00, depending on size. For the first time, this year we have self-adhesive LCD protectors for DSLRs. which can be made up in varying neutral densities, to prevent light pollution from screens whilst imaging. They are $6.00, and are re-useable.

[RobF]

Many thanks for the co-ords ref Phil.
I'll be sure to be safe and bring ear protection too.....:P

[citivolus]

All booked in for Wednesday on :)

The wife and kids will unfortunately be staying home, but on the plus side, it leaves more room in the car for gear.

[Davros]

10 sleeps to go :party::party::party::party::party: :party::party::party::party::party: :party:

[firstlight]

There will be free ear protection as always at registration :)

[jjjnettie]

15 sleeps for me;)

[firstlight]

Latest numbers for the Queensland Astrofest.

Fri 52
Sat 72
Sun 65
Mon 65
Tue 63
Wed 72
Thu 81
Fri 105
Sat 107

Bed nights 682
Registrants 163

Looks to be a good turnout for the entire week. Can't wait myself :stargaze:

[jjjnettie]

I'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to the organizing committee for all the effort they put in to make Astrofest the Astronomical Highlight of the year.
Hip hip hooray!!!:party2:

[[1ponders]]

Ok I'll accept your post as a genuine offer of congratualtions and not a spamming effort to reach 6,000 all quality posts!!!! Well most of them anyway. :P

[jjjnettie]

Me, spam??:whistle:
That was an honest post, congratulating some very hard working peeps.

[jjjnettie]

ooh, only 2 post to go.

[h0ughy]

Must remember to get some Blue Undies for Peter M to raise on the flag pole too....

[acropolite]

I've been known to pump the odd Zzzz myself. At least I'll be in good company.

[jjjnettie]

I thought Pete's undies were going up the flagpole because the Blues won.:shrug:

[h0ughy]

you might be right?:shrug:

[firstlight]

Did Carlton win? :shrug:

[jjjnettie]

Who cares, so long as it's not mine been strung up.

[Astrorish]

Ok I leave for Australia on Saturday night, and the week before we get to astrofest will be spending a few days in the Uluru/alice springs area, hopefully that'll also be quite dark... getting quite excited now...

[jjjnettie]

You're going to have a great time Rishi. How many sleeps to go before you jet off?

[Astrorish]

Sleeps? tonight (it's almost midnight here) and two more nights, though think i'll get less sleep each time:jump2::jump2:

[Davros]

7 sleeps to go, already starting to compile lists. Observing targets, equipment, things to buy, food, camping gear, downloads, uni work for the daylight hours etc. etc. :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D The poor old jeep is going to be stacked.

[mozzie]

theres some excited astronomers on this thread woo hoo lifted the van yesterday ready to start loading not long know:D:D:D
mozzie

[jjjnettie]

:D I'm excited.:lol:
:jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[[1ponders]]

Race you there. :jump:

[AdrianF]

WooHoo starting to get excited :) I will finally get to meet people from the forum.

Just checked the route and discovered we (MargF and I) have to drive 247,577.58 Smoots to be there :eyepop:.

Adrian

[Davros]

I'm not sure how i will cope without the web for a week :sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes ::sadeyes: but it will be worth it to finally focus and get some work done. I am hoping to get a fair chunk of uni away for the semester and maybe have a bit of a play with registax if i get my hands on a nikon t ring before then. Might be an excuse to go shopping :thumbsup::thumbsup:. So much to do and so little time to do it.:eyepop::eyepop::eyepop: have to set the :campfire: up tomorrow and make sure all the bits are still there.

[Davros]

All systems go, tent is all there. Camping gear sorted . T minus 5 sleeps and counting :P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P

[Bob Jones]

Mozzie and Pete.
Don't forget the mushroom gravy. :rofl::rofl:

Bob J

[mozzie]

hi bob dont forget the yellow wheel chock for under the van the gravy is already in the van while yuor there see anne louise to see if we are camping next to you there was some probs lets hope
are you going to iis astro camp
mozzie

[h0ughy]

i am having trouble deciding what to take....

[earthlight]

Isn't it a matter of what NOT to take David? :D

Anne-Louise

[spacezebra]

Hi Anne-Louise

Just a quick post to say - may you have sunny days and clear night skies for Astrofest 2009.

Congrats to all the organisers!:thumbsup:

Im sure that one year I can sneak away from Border Stargaze and venture up your way (just dont tell any one that I am coming up!).

Cheers Petra d.

[Davros]

4 sleeps and counting. Looking forward to this in a huge way. Will be my second Astrofest. Dont be shy people if you see me say g'day. I am fairly useless with names but i will get there in the end. And if i seem aloof thats not intentional, i am usually just wandering round in my own little world. I'll be the bloke in a land rover cap that drives a jeep :D:P You know the lost and confused looking bugger who doesnt do mornings :P

[jjjnettie]

'
:rofl: take everything!

[RobF]

Thanks Petra! My first astrofest, and can't wait!

May the cold fronts behave and part at the right time for the Border Stargaze too! :)

[batema]

Its all coming together, knock on wood. My batteries for my Canon 400d have started to die so instead of replacing I bought an ac adapter and as we speak it is nicely powering my camera. But even more exciting is my remote contol timer from China arrived 7 days after paying for it and as we type my scope is clicking away while I sit here typing this message. I cannot wait to come to Astrofest. I am a teacher and a mate and I have got the school to pay for 5 days of professional development. I cannot think of anything better. Maybe sitting inside having a coffee on Friday night in freezing cold weather with my timer clicking away comes close. See you there.

Mark

[AdrianF]

I,m a teacher too How did you get PD? I,m lucky to get 3 days a year PD.

And I hope all you that are going to Duckadang have lots of patience because I have a million questions from Polar alignment to focusing and everything inbetween...

Adrian

[[1ponders]]

That's what it's all about Adrian :thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

Thanks Paul but really I only have 2 questions "why and how".
Why cant I focus and How do I polar align.

I think I know the answer to both questions, first is I dont have enough adaptors/extension tubes (hope the vendors have some) and second I cant follow the instructions for the first 2-4 nights I was following the instructions that came with the EQ6Pro to find they are for the northern hemisphere (dont laugh). There will probably 100's more questions come up and I reckon by the end of the day I will probably owe someone a "fruit juice" or 10.

Adrian

[[1ponders]]

Well I can certainly help you with the 2nd one. I'll be running a software assisted (K3CCDTools) polar align workshop on Tuesday afternoon (I think). But we'll get you up and running in about an hour or so (firtst time) when you get setup. :thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

I am looking forward to the help but I can only make it for overnight Saturday. Will be arriving mid morning setting up and then have to leave Sunday as I cant get anyone to look after the Apprentices on Monday for me. Pity I cant stay would have liked the opportunity to meet as many as possible.

Adrian

[h0ughy]

when addressing Paul you must be on your knees and say yes master:rofl::whistle:

[Davros]

There are always two, a Master and an Apprentice ;);)

[firstlight]

The clock is certainly ticking... This is going to be one of my last messages to this thread before we head off (A quick one tomorrow is possible).

Online registration is now closed if you are not already aware. There are still plenty of bunks available and at least 30 seats for the Astro-Feast on Saturday. Looks like the campers are going to have to get pretty chummy with each other as a LOT of 'Festers are camping this year.

If you want to come up but have not booked/registered there is still plenty of room so just roll up and register on-site, but any campers who want to blow-in may get relegated to the bottom paddock.

1 day 13 hrs 26 minutes to go... But who's counting? :D

Tony

[[1ponders]]

What time can i turn up Friday Tony? 9:00 am. I think its the only way I'll beat h0ughy :D

[jjjnettie]

Not bleeding likely Dave.:rofl:

[h0ughy]

sadly we are leaving at 5am, so wont get there until about 6pm:sadeyes:

[[1ponders]]

Gees Dave I'll be well and truly imaging by then. :D

Make sure you have the red gel over your head lights, assuming Anne Marie lets you though the gate. :P

[h0ughy]

oohhh mannnnn, geeezzzz thats cruel.........and its going to take hours to unpack and setup........:help:

[firstlight]

If you look at the countdown clock on the website, you will see that I have finally got the timing right and indicate the the Astrofest begins at 10:00... However if you beat Jeff Johnston through the gate I will be very surprised (he usually get there at 8:30).



But you will be THERE!!:stargaze:



I don't know who Anne Marie is but Anne-Louise is a different kettle of broccoli.

[Davros]

I will be there bright and early Sat morning (11ish) :P hopefully the campsite i've pegged out in my mind will still be there. I would like to say thanks in anticipation to all the members of the astrofest committee for what i am sure will be a fantastic week spent under dark skies in good company.

[Rod66]

Um.... rain is forecast for next week, the first we've had in a long time...

[h0ughy]

you pulling my leg:shrug:

[jjjnettie]

The forecast is fine for the next 3 days at least.
We had a beaut storm last night.

[[1ponders]]

:doh:

[[1ponders]]

Just checked Weatherzone 28 day forecast. Brisbane and the coastal areas may get some wet weather towards the end of next week, but out round where we will be look like being dry. :clap:

[h0ughy]

what about cloud cover?:P

[jjjnettie]

I'll be observing through the bottom of a glass if it's cloudy.:lol:

[[1ponders]]

Sorry Dave, can't be more specific. But I'm sure if it's cloudy the Vendor will stay open 24hr. ;)

[CoombellKid]

I wont be making it up there this year, so hope all have a wondeful
time. And NSW wins the tossing comp.

Cheers,CS... maybe up there again next year.

[jjjnettie]

You'll be missed Rob.
Here's hoping we'll catch up sooner or later.

[firstlight]

OK, This is the last communication from me for a while, so I'll leave you with a bit of philosophy:

Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
Weather the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.

Cheers and have a good one... whatever THAT might be :D

Tony

[Rod66]

Yeah sorry mate. I was. I'm sure it will be fine. There is no weather forecaster on the planet that can accurately predict tomorrows weather let alone next week's. May the heavens provide ample clarity..

Apologies of course to any meteorologists in our midst who may claim their profession belongs to some sort of science.. :P (oops I did two insults didn't I..)

[Davros]

Just cleaned my primary for the first time in anticipation (that was a nerve wracking experience). Now i have this massive pile of gear at the front door and no idea how its going to fit in the jeep. Guess all that time wasted on tetris is going to pay of. :thumbsup:

[Davros]

Groceries - check
Tent - check
Car - check
Equipment - check
Clothes - check
One sleep to go - check
Will be leaving at 0800hrs tomorrow. :eyepop::thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

One more sleep to go excitement getting stronger....... Hang on nothing in the car yet. Packing tonight checklist in hand.

Adrian

[jjjnettie]

2 sleeps to go for me.!!
I was going to leave Tuesday morning, but I've decided to leave straight from work on Monday night.:D

[Davros]

Cool, will see you out there JJJ, should be fun setting up in the dark :P Are you going with the pup tent again :D:D. I am leaving as soon as i get the gear in the car re packed. Good thing i put the roof rack on it just wont all fit.

[acropolite]

HRH & myself are in Ballina today, Brisvegas tomorrow, should be @ astrofest by Tuesday. We may turn up Monday, a day early, hopefully we can squeeze in somewhere if we get there early. Too late to Ask Tony or the elusive Anne Marie (formerly known as Anne-Louise).

[GrahamL]

Lovely day in Ballina today so far , thats some drive Phil :)

[Jeff]

I'm planning to make the long trip up from wintry Melbourne for next Saturday the 22nd. Fingers are crossed for continued warm weather and starry skies.
:cold:

Hoping to peek through a few kind hearted people's scopes while I'm there. :prey:

[jjjnettie]

Tee hee.
I'm going tomorrow!!
2 days early!

[GrahamL]

Does anyone know If you can still buy some seafood from
a van man down by yowie park ?.. Friday arvo ?

cheers graham

[jjjnettie]

Pat should be there with his Seafood Van.
What time will you be coming through?

[GrahamL]

Not sure now jjj , my wife whos interest in astronomy is mostly not
measurable on any scale , who I hadn't even bothered to ask if she would like to come along , said sure , we have been down the white light issue this afternoon :).. so its all good ... maybe :P

I would imagine early afternoon ?,, was very nice a couple of years back,, so hes still there I take it .

thanks

[jjjnettie]

He buys most of his stuff straight off the boats so it's fresh. I love his Dory, when he can get it.

My other half is coming to Astrofest to have lunch either Tuesday or Wednesday. He's not into the starry stuff either and realises that there's not much else happening at night besides Astronomy.

[mozzie]

i wonder how the weekend was there hopefully good seeing lucky buggers bought our food today its in the van and were ready to go 3 more sleeps
mozzie

[AdrianF]

I have just got back from Duckadang only spent one night there. The seeing was good and not too cold, although I was told that there was frost that morning. Clouds rolled in about 4ish am. I did manage to get some good data, with much input from Paul (1ponders), thanks Paul.

Adrian

[acropolite]

In Brisvegas now, With luck we'll be there tomorrow.

[mozzie]

great stuff adrian are you coming back next weekend
mozzie

[astroron]

Look forward to seeing you on Thursday PHIL and LIZ:thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

Mozzie Would love to but not able to. I would have liked to spend a week there picking everyones brains, gets a bit lonely out here with no astronuts. Maybe next time I will spend a bit more time.
I just realized something I didn't buy raffle tickets for my new scope!!!!!
Ahwell someother deserving person will get it.
And the only other disappointing thing was while I was there there was only one vendor ( Sirius optics) who where very trusting and allowedme to test some accessories before I paid for them, thanks Ron.

Adrian

[PeterM]

Hi Adrian,
It was great to meet both you and your charming wife. So many people there this early in the Astrofest is a great sign that amateur astronomy is alive and thriving in Qld. As well as the many regulars I met some new friends. Was great to finally meet Steve Massey and I had a real good chat with him. Ron and I came back yesterday and are heading up there again on Friday morning. Hmmm, with nearly all the moderators of IIS up there with no phone or internet connection maybe nows the time for me to post the gorry details about the weird encounter I had in a crop circle with an alien spaceship and what I thought was a vacuum cleaner.....maybe not.. may have just been the excessive amount of port that I drank.
PeterM.

[deadsimple]

Hmm, so I rocked up to the camp on Saturday afternoon. Started unpacking and within an hour already had two people ask me if that's the first time I'm using my telescope.

Was there some special hand-signal that I failed to broadcast upon entry? :) I thought my beard would have been enough to blend in!

[AdrianF]

hi Peter yes it was great to meet you as well. I am just sorry I couldn't stay longer and I am sorry I got the name of the company wrong and I finally got my foot out.
I think I learnt more in the 4 or 5 hours I was setup than I had learnt trying to bumble through on my own.

Adrian

[AdrianF]

It's a dead give away when we start looking through the big end:P

Adrian

[RobF]

I had a real ball at my first astrofest. Many many thanks Tony, Anne-Louise and all the others that put so much effort into this great event!

Cleaning up and getting ready for work now. Maybe I'll negotiate some more nights with the CEO for next year......:whistle:

[mozzie]

one sleep togo:whistle::whistle:
mozzie

[Rod66]

Just a quick thank-you to all the astrofest visitors. We had rain in Brisbane last night for the first time in a absolute ages. I could see the clouds gathering for a while as more and more telescopes were setup. I forecast more rain at the end of the week as this great event comes to its grand finale.

[mozzie]

all loaded ready to go leaving around 5.00 will be there early arvo woo hoo HOLIDAYS
mozzie

[acropolite]

Just out for the day to Kingaroy for some sughtseeing and replenishment of supplies. I can confirm Mozzie & crew arrived safely amidst rumours of UFO sightings.

These have been confirmed by several IISERS, we even have video evidence....

HRH & I arrived still suffering the flu, hopefully we haven't passed it on to any others.

[Davros]

Some teaser pictures, i had to come home early :sadeyes: was a great time and i got to meet some good people and have a few good conversations. Good to put some faces to names.

[Argonavis]

The weekend weather was good, mid week weather not so much. The burning off appears to have stopped on the second Saturday.

Friendly and relaxed.

Happy icers Darren, Ron and Paul.

[Argonavis]

The weekend weather was good, not mid week weather not so much. The burning off appears to have stopped on the second Saturday.

Friendly and relaxed.

Happy icers Darren and Paul.

[jjjnettie]

Wowee what a week. I had a terrific time meeting up with everyone.
There was an unusual amount of hicups on the imaging field. A certain moderator was capturing his subs in medium jpeg :whistle: Then there was the 6 volt incident.:rolleyes: Thanks for pointing it out Peter.:P
I'll post some happy snaps as soon as I get the energy to unload the car.
After averaging only 3hrs sleep per day I'm in dire need of some :zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz:

Big thanks to the organizing committee, as usual you've all done a tremendous job.:2thumbs::clap::clap::clap:

[eclipse]

We had a great time at the Astrofest and would like to thank the organisers, Tony and Anne-Louise, Lawrence from Tasmania,for the help in finally understanding collimation, Glen from Casino for the fantastic tour of deep sky objects, and William for letting us look through his monster! See you next year, if possible, and this time for longer.

Les and Deb

[h0ughy]

well i had a ripper of a time - heaps to say and post and will do so later

[Davros]

Thats just a bit creepy....

[h0ughy]

this is a star trail overlooking the imaging field - 7.50pm through until 5:05am - taken the last imaging night i had there - thursday night through to friday morning

[Davros]

very nice, craps all over mine :) what iso and aperture was that?

[h0ughy]

pentax k10D with a 20-40mm f2.8 lens

[h0ughy]

hear is the first one i did on the 1st saturday night

[firstlight]

Got home today just on dusk and then slaved for several hours to emty the car and trailer.

We had a great Astrofest again this year, and I want to thank all the people who attended and made so great. Anne-Louise and I always seem to get kudos for the staging of the event, but everyone who has organised such events knows that it cannot be attributed to one or two individuals, rather it is the team.

In no particular order I would like to thank on the committee:


Pat Pearl - SAS
John and Diane Hughes - SAS
Peter Bester - AAQ
Mike Ford - SEQAS
Wendy Colvin - SEQAS
Bob Grimes - ATMQ
and of course Anne-Louise - BAS

Volunteers:

Gary Gawronski
David O'Driscoll
Terry Cuttle
Everyone else who attended and assisted us setting up the hall for the speakers and workshops, kept their areas/bunkhouses clean, etc
Everyone who attended



We managed to have great weather for most of the 9 nights. One evening wehad about 30 laptops in the Dining Hall sucking as much power as Tarong could supply to process images for the first two nights. I went to bed before midnight, but I was told that the sky cleared for more imaging to the morning.

The following night was clear, then the next night (Wednesday?) we had light cloud for most of the night. The next day there was plenty of cloud all day but after the Sun set, the sky cleared. All the remaining nights we had clear skies, although there was variable seeing. I can't report how clear it was for the duration of each night as I only pulled 2 nights past 4:00, and a few more to about 2:00.

What I can report is that a couple of those nights were virtually dew free, last night in particular. I should also note that it was unseasonally warm... positively tropical.

Some highlights for me of this years Queensland Astrofest, once again in no particular order was:


Talking to the organisers and some 300 attendees of Starfest 2009, a star party run by the North York Astronomical Association in Canada. Just before 23:30 on Friday night Starfest telephoned us and we used a cordless speaker phone and two-way radios to transmit and converse around the fields.
I actually was able to take some images that I am proud of, again thanks to Terry for his assistance setting up my gear while I was trying to do the same with our youngest in hand. Terry's foundation work and aligning was invaluable to me
The entertaining Counter Weight Toss, which saw my eldest son narrrowly defeated in his class, a creditable second. There was also reenactment of the State Of Origin clash which saw NSW, represented by Mossie thrashed by Queenslander Blake Pearl in the first two rounds, before snatching a win in the third.
The Astro-photo competition in which I won for the non-telescope category. There were so many great photos and quite frankly I did not think I had a chance. I was so stunned I was speachless... a state that does not occur often in nature :D. I neglected to thank the other entrants for their great work, and I would like to do that now... you people really set a high standard to beat.

Here are a couple of images I captured from early in the `Fest with some processing. Not sure of the full details, need sleep.
62550
Hub over the camp is a stack of 2, 10-20mm @ 10, 350D... ran out of Scorpius for more.

62551
LMC is a stack of 6, 70-300 @70, 400D

62552
M31 is a stack of 5, 70-300 @ 70, Canon 400D

62553
SMC is stack of 4 (?) 18-55 @ 55, 350D

Anne-Louise asked if I could post a few of her photos... these are not mine and I am jealous :). Again not sure of the full details and too tired to look up the file stack
62554
South pole over Duckadang, 10-20 @10, 400D

62555
Scorpions tail, stack of 5, 70-300 @70, 400D

62556
Pipe Nebular, stack of 5, 70-300 @70, 400D

Cheers to all out there, now off to bed.
Tony and Anne-Louise

[Davros]

Beautiful images Tony and Anne-Louise. That first one is still my favourite.

[acropolite]

HRH & I have just arrived in Bundy after returning the rental van to Brissy.

We would also like to add our thanks to the entire team who organised the event.

Many thanks to William for the views through the large dob, despite my persistent caughing from that damn (Victorian?) Flu and to Glen, who Paul (an ex kiwi) (not ponders) christened "The walking Argo_Navis" for his enlightening sky tours.

It was great to meet up with IISers who we already knew and to meet a few more. I've got a few images to post, but I'm too buggered after 6 hours on the road, so tomorrow will have to do.

Hopefully we didn't pass the Flu on to anyone else and apologies to anyone that I gave strange answers to; my ears were almost totally blocked, I was having trouble hearing most of the time.:ashamed:

We're hoping to make it again next year.:thumbsup:

[citivolus]

I had a great time, and will definitely be doing my best to come back next year. It was great to learn a few faces, and see some of the variety of equipment in use out there.

I lost my rental car keys on Saturday night, but fortunately they showed up again at 6:30am on Sunday morning :) That would have been a long walk home.

Next year I promise not to break my camera. Field stripping a 40D to remove a loose USB connector wasn't what I had in mind to be doing out there, but on the up side, I think I now have my wife's permission to mod it :rofl:

Regards,
Eric (the Canadian)

[GrahamL]

Had a great time, the galaxys around sculpter looked stunning in the wee hours of saturday morning, it was very sureal that link up to canadia;)
thankfully tornados arn't much of a problem for us , and can honestly say I wasn't aware of the geographical problems of NZ :thumbsup:

The hard work to make this event happen is very much appreaciated .
A few shots from here and there , I think its a very pretty place when you have a look around.

panorama looking west duckadang far left

[GrahamL]

Had a counter meal at the linville pub a couple of years that was really nice so went back again this time ,$6 steak and chips or salad is pretty cheap. Met the pubs newest employee , ars#wipe is his name :lol:, seen here happily destroying the pot plant while waiting for his lunch to brought out , which was actually my lunch, he selected a chip off my plate and was quite happy with it. :)

[EddieT]

Hi all.
What a fantastic week. Sheree and I both enjoyed ourselves immensely and it was great to catch up with you all. It was a fantastic social week even though I seemed to have a knack for missing the best imaging times by going to bed early. Might need a Boltwood sensor with Clear Sky alarm for next year!

Even though we left on Friday, it tooks several days to get everything setup and working again in the Tin Shed, finally getting it all together last night. I took one ten minute image of a field in Fornax that I also took from Duckadang (on an ordinary night) and realised again just how bad the Gold Coast is for imaging. Or maybe, just how good Duckadang is!

Luckily I've taken an extra week off. Now to process some images....

Thanks to all the Astrofest organisers! Now really looking forward to next year!


Eddie

[DavidTrap]

Thanks to all the organisers and participants (esp Michael & Geoff) who made me feel so welcome on my first trip to Astrofest. I learnt more in 3 nights than I have in years. I'll definately be back next year. I've played with a few images I took up there, but definately have been bitten by the bug to get the right gear to have a proper go next year...

Regards
David T

[mozzie]

well made it back safe late yesterday arvo wow what a 5 days next year its going to be 8 id like to send a special thanks to anne-louise and tony they are the people that met and greet you and organise the camping a big THANK YOU and to all the comittee members and other peoples that are behind the scenes thanks.next year ill book straight away ans set up near the managers office apparently i snore and its loud steve sleeps with his ear plugs in and just shakes his head at me my appoligises to those that may have stayed awake i dont think i snore?.it was great to put some faces to some of the iis users especiall the moderators which i spent a little time with also all the other members that i met theres jjj that does imaging in amongst paople that had some unbeliveble gear and she was taking some great photos and no paul i wont be going to the dark side:lol::lol::lol: wow the images he takes. astro ron we had a late night in his 16"and the boys talk come out and we laughed and laughed a great night all the others i met thanks i have a little trouble with names houghy nsw kept the counter weight tossing comp unlike the footy lets see if i can make it 3 in a row:rolleyes:
anybody thinking of going to it make it next year its a great party thanks again see you at iis in october
mozzie

[mike-wulff]

Congratulations on a most enjoyable week.
To the organizers and sponsors, your efforts are very much appreciated.
It makes for a most relaxing week of wine and cheese tasting.
Oh yes and some Astronomical observations as well.
Good company, fine wine, pleasant dinners (Mr Ford & Johnston)
who could ask for more.
Paul don’t pinch my spot next year and Chris I have your table you left behind.
Ron Knight don't forget it's the front of the solar panel that points towards the sun.
Mark, buy a real telescope.
See you all next year.

Michael.
The real SAS.

[[1ponders]]

A few happy snaps from the week

1. Brenden (thunderchildobs)
2. Graeme (gsb)
3. Gerald Sargent (Gerald Sargent)
4. Mark Bateman @ back and Adam Budd (batema @ buddman)
5. Adrian (adelain)
6. Processing central
7. The h0ughinator
8. Rob (RobF)

[[1ponders]]

and a few more

1. Adrian (AdrianF)
2. Jeanette and the Tot (jjjnettie)
3. Group mug shot. We were missing quite a few. (Closetters ;) )
4. Phil and Liz; sorry for the quality of the shot guys (acropolite and HRH)
5. mozzie
6. Wes (Zubenel)
7. Ron (astroron) and his raffle prize; "The Patriot"
8. Tony and yours truly (firstlight and [1ponders]) and no, I didn't win anything. I was just picking up the h0ugh's send prize for the night.

And yes Dave, you owe me big time for your first prize selection. You nearly got a video. :lol:

[[1ponders]]

and a couple more

1. Eric (center of frame) (citivolus)
2. David (daveO)
3. Mission Control.

[h0ughy]

prize selection? did i win a "subscription"?:rofl:

[hotspur]

Thanks Mike!

look after my table,i dont have many!LOL

check out the meteor pic in solar objects i took through your scope

when we were taking pics,its a real "lucky shot" but a corker!

see you up here one day.

Chris:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

Hey JJJ i will get the 2 powerboards and lead off you next year

[jjjnettie]

It'll be one less thing for you to pack next year David.

[astroron]

Ron Knight don't forget it's the front of the solar panel that points towards the sun

Mike , I know that you are used to covert operations but your dastardly sabotage of my charging device was not appreciated ;)
See you next year:thumbsup:
The three days I attended where very enjoyable, it was good to catch up with so many people :), but disappointing to miss some who left early :(
Thanks to the volunteers and committee for a job well done:thumbsup:

[mike-wulff]

Hey well done on winning the Patriot by the way Ron.
Nice little piece of kit.
My tickets must of been removed!

[firstlight]

Mike, we will be in contact off the forum soon as you won one of the prizes... the ioptron with 90mm refractor. Send me a pm.

Tony

[firstlight]

Only 345 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes to Queensland Astrofest 2010

[Davros]

So who else cleaned up in the raffle...............lucky sods

[jjjnettie]

I can't wait.
When can I register?

[jjjnettie]

I won a very nice pair of binos.:D

[Kal]

I had a great time during the two days/nights that I was the astrofest for. Met some great people while there, and I would like to say thankyou to Tony who we set up next to who gave us a great star hopping tour on thursday night (I would have found maybe a quarter of the objects in the same time!)

To think i packed all these warm clothes and in the end just had to wear a t-shirt and jumper at night! :D

[acropolite]

Finally some pics, didn't take many.

1. I ponder... therefore I am, (sorry about the focus, but at least I wasn't using the self timer...:rofl:)
2. Hough Central
3. Kissin Cockies
4. Argonavis (Will) conversing with his Argonavis
5. Al Meehan
6. UFO
7. Crouching Tony (hidden dragon???)
8. Unidentified Tosser

[acropolite]

And a few more.

1. The river below the camp.
2. Widefield @ Duckadang 24mm, 30 secs @ iso 6400 ICNR.
3. Some of the crowd at Tossers Stadium.
4. Pylon Racing, Fairy Martin (or maybe Swallows) Style, these guys had to be seen to be believed, I counted 13 in this shot.

[h0ughy]

lol al looks asleep standing up. nice picS PHIL

[RobF]

Thanks for taking and putting up the pics Paul and all. I need a holiday after astrofest! So much to do, so many people to learn off, gear to slobber over. Didn't know whether to sleep or get ready for the next night. :lol:

Great to be able to put faces to many of the IIS regulars too.

[jjjnettie]

We were all looking rather like zombies by the end of camp.
I had bags under the circles under my eyes.:lol:

[h0ughy]

LOL star trails:rofl:

[jjjnettie]

A ha ha ha ha ha
Cheers Dave.
At least I had no-one taking photo's of me when I was at my worst. Unlike my first Astrofest.
Who was it that took an ugly snap of me waking up in my car that morning?

[peter_4059]

Wonder if that's where George Lucas got the inspiration for POD racing in the starwars episode?


....or maybe the birds have the Starwars box set and a home theatre :screwy:

:fight:

Nice shots Phil.

[GrahamL]

Best he remain so to , that mighty toss was way short of the winning
mark on the day ( girls ):whistle:.. er.. so I was told :rolleyes:

[jjjnettie]

But there was that certain style to the throw.

[[1ponders]]

I'm thinking of starting up a training camp. That's two years straight its gone south of the border and at least 3 in the last 5. :eyepop: Maybe I should get Dennis to help with the training. To help instill that Zen style of calm and centeredness needed by top athletes. :lol:

[acropolite]

I've a feeling it was a healthy lad from Ballina whom I met at dusk, but I am unable to confirm.:whistle:

HRH Liz was mightily disheartened that there was no Lady's contest, she was up for a toss even in her weakened condition.

[firstlight]

The ladies tossed right after the kids, and what a warm up act it was to follow.

Most of the guys couldn't come close the the winning toss... The lady's name escapes me, but I think her husbands name was Darryl... Linda seems to ring a bell. Any takers?

[firstlight]

I think this might be the winning toss here.
62915

[h0ughy]

how did the prize pool go and the other awards for the night - who won the astrophoto comp?

[firstlight]

I'm glad you asked that David.

Max Kilmister won with the Vela SN Rem in the telescope category, and I jagged the non-telescopic with the 20 deg halo... I'm pretty stoked especially with JJJ's images to compete against.

[h0ughy]

LOL they are the two images i voted for:rofl:

[jjjnettie]

You got my vote too Tony.

[Astrorish]

Hi everybody,

I'm back in the UK now, I too had a great time at the astrofest. By the time we reached Duckadang on the 22nd, the astrofeast and all events had already finished but had fun getting a tour of the southern skies guided by some locals. Thanks especially to (?)kevin who spent quite a bit of time showing us objects through his 16in dob, the southern showpiece globs were breathtaking! Also nice talking to peter and his son. Only wish we could have got there a bit earlier in the day!

Interestingly quite a few people said the skies weren't as good as usual due to smoke from farmers bush burning - still the skies were much better than I'm usually used to outside of starparties. The best skies I saw during my holiday however was at a dinner under the stars at the Yulara resort near Uluru, in the middle of the outback. That was VERY special - never seen sooo many dark nebulae so obviously naked eye, or the milky way so bright. There was even an astronomer at the resort who turned out the lights and gave us a talk after dinner and had set up a c8, a small refractor and a pair of 20x60 bins for us to look through.

[astroron]

Hi Pitier, I am glad you enjoyed your very brief time at Duckadang:)
Did you come and look through my 16" scope?
After you original post on here I was hoping to catch up with you, Maybe I did but in the dark I showed a few things to people and did not get their names.
I am also pleased you enjoyed your Aussie stay and DARK skies:thumbsup:

[PattyP]

Don't feel too bad, we had one poor chap who drove up from Brisbane on the Sunday afternoon just as we had finished packing up and were ready to leave.
To all the IIS's thank you for the assistance and the company at Astrofest. As a result I finally decided to join.

[jjjnettie]

Welcome aboard Pat.
Really looking forward to your input.

[astroron]

I am glad you have joined us Pat,look forward to more of your input.
Cheers

[firstlight]

Well it seems we can't go to the Queensland Astrofest without leaving some of our gear behind, and it is good to know we aren't the only ones.

There have been a number of items overlooked when packing to leave this year. Visit the Queensland Astrofest website and click on the link in the notice page, or, click on the "Lost and Found" link in the Gallery menu.

[Astrorish]

Hi Ron, I don't think it was you, I couldn't see anyone's face in the dark but I *think* the gentleman with the big dob was called Kevin. Shame really as I would have liked to have met more of you. Also I should say thanks to Bob who showed us in and our parking spot though we arrived late.

[astroron]

Yes Kevin has the same design scope as I do, and is always happy to show people the wonder of the night sky.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[firstlight]

Tomorrow night (Monday) we are having our wash-up/debrief meeting of the Queensland Astrofest committee. I am interested in any feedback, positive and negative, that anyone who attended might have.

If you have any suggestions that need to be addressed by the committee and you don't want to broadcast it around the forum, please PM me, but any suggestions you do post to this thread might generate further contributions.

[h0ughy]

well the most obvious one to me was the kids running amok near the allnighters bunkhouse before 9am, they were in and out of the toilets, slamming the door. I know they were only playing, and i was a kid once, but now i am a cranky old astroimager longing for a bit of sleep
:rofl:. generally they were well behaved but there were a few occasions of mayhem.

the power being pulled on three occations while i was imaging, i was not a happy boy. the power i came off was from the cottege you were in;), someone stepped on the power cable while it was near the phone (twice) third time was setup during the day - someone had pulled the power lead to put on their own powerboard and didnt bother to renonnect me........

i am sure there are other things;) but i know that cant be fixed in a hurry (how many imagers does it take to overload an electrical grid?)

I was disappointed that i couldnt enter my images for the photo comp on the 1st saturday, but now understanding the new rules i will play fair for next year:whistle:

the flag pole needs to be fixed - could not raise peterM's flag:whistle::P

Why was it so hot......:shrug: frost and icei never did see:whistle:

[firstlight]

Hmmm... a few issues there. I am also a cranky astronomer, and I made sure that our kids were nailed down until after 10:00 am (means that I never saw the inside of my eyelids past 7:30 - 8:00 :lol:), but I take the point that there shouldn't be kids running amok before then. We will be discussing this.

Power cables and reticulation are a continual improvement and a solution will be found for that area at least. At least there were no mass blackouts this year.

I don't want to be picky about the photo competition, but you might want to review this thread Mr Moderator and note the times and frequency that the calls for photos were posted :P. We tried to flag the change and let everyone know to send in their images... the more the merrier.

Was the flag pole to be adjusted to hoist Peters flag or Peter himself? :lol:

[Davros]

All I could sugest would be power to the camping areas for daytime recharging, kettles etc. Could live without it but it would be a nice touch.

[h0ughy]

the issue with the photos - i wasnt going to post them, especially since i was going to be there on the friday when it all started. But thats life as we know it Jim.........

[thunderchildobs]

There were still some very bright led headlamps flashing around.
There is no need to light up the ground or telescopes from 10m away.
Though, I must admit the problem wasn't as bad later in the week.

There were also a couple bright unshield computer screens. "Red / Night" program settings are still to bright to be used in the field. The screens still needs to have a red filter over them.

I would like to suggest the following, place a sign on the pathway near the flag pole. "If you can read this sign, your torch is to bright".

To be fair about the comments I made about smoking from 2007, I had no problems this year. Didn't see or smell smokers ignoring the no smoking on the observing field rule.

Did hear a couple comments about trying to get into the dinning hall for a coffee or supplies when the presentations were on. The people wanted access to the urn / eskies but didn't want to interrupt the talk.

Keep Tony away from the loud speaker :)

Brendan

[thunderchildobs]

Print out the prize list and have a couple of copies on each table at the astrofest.

Brendan

[firstlight]

Did you mean Astro-Feast Brendan?

We had a problem this year (as in every year), the prize list was not finalised until during the camp... some sponsors needed 6 months + to come to a decission on what to donate :shrug:... good suggestion, though.