Pony club 26 th July

[Arthur Alchin]

Getting in early for this one, maybe a good winter session before the August Bretti trip.

Unless something unforeseen happens I will be there with the webber BBQ and gas cook top for meat pies, sausage rolls and tea and coffee, and of course me telescope 😄

If people can bring their own cup, cutlery and plate would be good

[Irish stargazer]

Best of luck for that weekend! Wish I could attend.
I have been back in Ireland for a few weeks now. Having fabulous weather and lots of clear nights. Unfortunately, it never gets really dark here this time of year. I should have my scope here in another 3-4 weeks just in time for the darker nights.:)

[gb_astro]

Hi John.
Sounds like you are not coming back. ??

gb.

[Irish stargazer]

Hi gb
A few years most likely . Some personal issues necessitated our return back home.

john

[Shano592]

I'll be there (Pony Club, not Limerick).

If the nights are as cold as they have been lately, the seeing should be excellent!

[Arthur Alchin]

Keep in touch through ice in space, if I over there again in the next year or two I'd like to catch up for a Guinness if you like one. My great grandmother was from Limerick, my great grandfather from Athlone

[Irish stargazer]

Excellent. Look forward to it Arthur. We also have some of the darkest skies in Europe less than an hour from here (weather permitting:rolleyes:)
Best of luck in July at the PC everyone.

cheers
John

[Allan_L]

I have marked it on my calendar.
Here's hoping for clear skies.

[RB]

I'm hoping to attend.

:D

[ausastronomer]

I am also planning to attend this session with my 14" Zambuto powered SDM. Pretty sure Rod and Phil will be there also.

Cheers
John B

[RB]

Well that settles it, see you guys there.

:thumbsup:

[Rodstar]

I'll be there friends.

[ncorreia]

Looks like I have the night off :) Let's go clear skies!

[Arthur Alchin]

Is Saturday night still a goer if the weather is good ??

[Rick Petrie]

Yep, your post Arthur.:)

[Shano592]

I have a chap who works next door, who may be interested in coming along.

Hopefully, the weather comes good in time.

[Allan_L]

7 timer is providing a positive indicative prediction at this (early) stage.
Clear and cold.
But it has been very changeable and unpredictable lately.
Fingers crossed, as there seems to be considerable interest this month.
Lets hope it is a ripper.

[Inmykombi]

I am in.

[Allan_L]

Excellent - all newcomers welcome :P

[Arthur Alchin]

I'm a newby, can I come to 😄😄:lol:

[Mqrko]

Hi,

It's my first time here and I might be able to come.
Is it possible for me to bring a few people ? :)

[Shano592]

Hi Marko,

I can't see why not.

Hope to see you (and everyone that you bring) there.

You have picked a good night, from the looks. Some big scopes look to be in attendance.

[nobby2]

Yes Shane. Lets give it another try. Will be in contact by phone later in the week.

[Shano592]

No worries, Neil.

Hope to see you on the mountain!

[RB]

My daughter's 10th birthday on Sat, we'll be having her party during the day (seems like we have a BD every other day around here :P).

Hoping to be at the PC later in the evening, looking forward to catching up with everyone then.

RB

:)

[gmbfilter]

I hope to get there myself

[Allan_L]

Hi Geoff,
looking forward to seeing you there, its been too long my friend ! :thumbsup:

[AG Hybrid]

I think I'd like to attend this Pony Club meet. Was there any special requirements compared to other dark sites? Entry fee or contribution perhaps?

[Shano592]

Not really, Adrian.

No fees or contribution necessary.

BYO chair, warmth, etc... Other than that, come one, come all.

Wow, looks like a repeat of January, if everyone shows up.

[Rick Petrie]

Yep, all is looking good by the weather forecasts.
It's been a while since we have had a good roll up with pristine conditions.
Fingers crossed.:)

[Mqrko]

Awesome, thanks. I'll see you there then :)

does it matter if I come late at night, around midnight ?
I don't want to blind you with the lights of my car.

[Arthur Alchin]

I'm planning on being up there well before sunset, bringing the little webber q to heat up little pies and sausage rolls that I bring for all will have sauce. Geoff ( Inmekombi) is bringing water, kettle and gas ring

So if everyone brings their own cup and spoon ( I'll bring paper plates) should work out well. And whatever other beverages and tucker you want, might be a good night �� any other contributions welcome


Will be trying out my newly revised heaters �� on my scope

[Arthur Alchin]

Just a little reminder to any new folks coming, don't forget red cellophane over your torches, helps preserve the night vision so everyone can see better ��:)

Hi Markova, if it is a great night there could well se a few conscientious hangers on after midnight, all depends on frost, fog and dew. If the dew point is low and the scopes lose view the guys lose interest so it's a bit of hit and miss a midnight arrival, but give it a go by all means.

For those with CB uhf radios, channel 11 sounds like a goer

[Allan_L]

Hi Marko,
People come and go at various times, it can be distracting, but no one gets too excited
But, as Arthur has indicated, most people are generally gone by midnight, especially in Winter, when it is cold and the observing starts so early.
If the gate is closed, it will be locked, and all have left for the night.

In the old days, we often pulled all nighters, but since we have lost access to the clubhouse and facilities, this is a thing of the past.
In this regard, I have messaged several Pony Club officials requesting (limited) access for Saturday night, but have not had any response. :shrug:

[Mqrko]

oh ok, I see. that's unfortunate :(

what time should I expect the gate to be opened approximately ?

I also read about the delta aquarid meteor shower. Is it possible to see it during the evening since the moon will set early ? If I can see it, then I guess I would be able to come early :)

[Allan_L]

There is normally someone there before sunset, so any time from 4:30 pm I would expect (but not guarantee).

I expect to get there about 5pm.
So that will be a 7 hour stint just to midnight.



There will be no moon, so I expect that you will see meteors.
Especially as there are three major showers listed for this month.
Admittedly, the experts say morning hours are most prolific, due to the direction of the Earth's travel.
But we always spot plenty even when no major shower is predicted.

[Allan_L]

On a lighter note, ...
One (1) Apple Charlotte on order for pick up Saturday morning.
Sorry can't guarantee sufficiency of supply, subject to numbers, so get in early.:fight:

[Mqrko]

Oh wow, I do know about perseids and aquarids but what's the 3rd ? :o

I will probably be there at 9pm.

[Rick Petrie]

Put me down Al:P:thumbsup:

[Inmykombi]

2 Madiera Cakes will be attending as well as Alan's Apple Charlotte.
I am having trouble locating my Small gas stove, so if anyone has one to bring so we can heat up " the billy " that would be great.
Lets hope the weather is OK.

[Arthur Alchin]

Will put a little gas cooker in for the water if you can bring water and a kettle. Will be there between 1500 and 1600hrs, I have a key to the gate. Channel 11 on the cb

[gmbfilter]

I'll get a couple of meat pies from favourite pie shop

[Allan_L]

I will have about 110 litres of drinking water, that should be enough !
Plus a small butane cooker and kettle.

7timer is still predicting morning showers, clearing in the afternoon, to a clear night.

[Allan_L]

Astronomy Australia 2014 quotes:
Piscis Austranids - July15 to August 10
Southern Delta Aquarids July12 to August 23
and Alpha Capriconids July3 to August 15
are all at maximum activity in the next few days.

The Perseids July17 to August 24 maximum activity is in second week of August.

[gmbfilter]

7timer is persistant
Lets go to the club and have a few

[ausastronomer]

Unfortunately I am unable to make it. I hurt my back last Sunday moving firewood. Whilst it is starting to get better I doubt that standing in the middle of a cold field at night for 5 or 6 hours would help the recovery process.

I hope to make it up there next month and catch up with those that don't go to Bretti.

I hope the weather comes good for you guys up there for tonight. It's pretty cold and overcast in Kiama at the moment.

Cheers
John B

[RB]

Sorry to hear John, hope you recover quickly mate, I was hoping to see you.
It's raining here atm.

I'll keep updating what the weather's doing up here throughout the day.

RB

[Arthur Alchin]

Wow what a weather morning😓

Not sure how the weather is going, will leave my final decision to later this afternoon, would like to see it start to clear in the next hour or two to make me feel optimistic about a front up tonight.

Will keep looking at this thread to see what the general consensus is

[Arthur Alchin]

How's it looking up there RB

[Allan_L]

Thanks Andrew.

I am going to continue packing, the BOM supports the "It will clear" proposition. Just a matter of when.

:thumbsup:

[RB]

Yep Al, I reckon it will clear but it'll be later.
We just had a downpour and fog rolling in again.
Now it's stopped but everything's wet.

:(

[Rick Petrie]

They say the best viewing is after rain.:P
In the words of an old owl "It'll clear, trust me."
The car is packed already.:thumbsup:
:shrug:

[Inmykombi]

Sorry folks, but unless the last remnants of my migraine goes in the next few hours, I will be missing out. Sorry, but this migraine from Thursday to Friday is still hanging around in the form of a nasty headache. I would not be good company anyway. I will see in the next few hours. I hope it clears for all of you who go.

Geoffro

[Rick Petrie]

That's no good Geoffro ol' mate, I'll just have to have your portion of Apple Charlotte.;)
Hope you mend up soon though.:(

[RB]

Yep sorry to hear Geoff, hope you get better soon mate, I know how bad those migrains are. :mad2:

Sun's poking through the clouds atm. :thumbsup:
"It'll clear" - the wise owl.... :)

[GTB_an_Owl]

trust me! indeed

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl]

might be another rain event about 4pm - but will totally clear after that for a great nite

I AM A DEFINITE STARTER

geoff

[Arthur Alchin]

Going to leave in a minute and cross the fingers for a fine one.
Got the webber, mini pies, mini sausage rolls, tomato sauce and paper plates.

Also milk, tea, coffee and sugar. You can bring you own cups 😃😃. Think Allan has water and kettle..

See ya all there, for the CBers channel 11

[Inmykombi]

Enjoy everyone.
My head is still in a "fogged up " state.

I feel as though I shouldn't even drive.

Hope it goes well for all up there...

geoffro.

[GTB_an_Owl]

bring tarp base for your scopes - but the grass should be mowed - i believe jump club has a practise/registration day to-morrow

geoff

[Arthur Alchin]

Just at peats ridge and the sky is looking pretty good

[Arthur Alchin]

Just arrived and opened the gates, the grass is quite low and it is spitting at present with blue sky behind

[RB]

Spot on Mr Owl, clouds have rolled in again and looks like it might rain but this should clear later to a fantastic night.
See you guys later in the evening.

RB
:cool: :party:

[RB]

That's all the rain.
Sun's back out and looks clear.

:thumbsup:

[Allan_L]

OK Thanks for the updates guys.

Just about to leave.

[Rodstar]

All packed. Will see you all in an hour or two!

Looks like being a night of excellent transparency, not so fantastic seeing, and a fair amount of dew. But DEFINITELY worth the effort!

[RB]

... and a night of good Port, good Cigars and good company... :D

RB

[bones]

Hi everyone.
Thought I'd be first to report in after last night. Considering I got there late and left early, I'll let someone else report on what happened and the conditions etc. It felt good to be back at the PC for what could easily have been a 2 yr absence. Good to catch up with some familiar faces - Rick, Owl, RB, Allan, Rod, & Arthur. Some there I didn't get to talk to - hopefully next time. Thanks to Rick & Rod for the views through their scopes.
Till next time...
Tony

[gmbfilter]

Good to be at the PC again
I'm scopless again (between scopes)
Good great views through some fantastic scopes
Thanks everyone

[RB]

Great to catch up with everyone.
It was a good night, stayed clear but seeing wasn't crash hot.

Thanks to Rod and Rick for the wonderful views through their scopes.
Great to see most of the regulars and good to see Tony (bones) again.

It was fantastic to meet the boys from the Katoomba group, Adrian (AG Hybrid) and Edison? (killswitch), hope you guys enjoyed the night.
We'll need to return the favour and visit a Katoomba night soon.

Thanks for the company everyone and hope to see you all again next time.

RB

:)

[Inmykombi]

I am so glad it stayed clear for you all. It's a shame I missed it, but even today, my head is weird ( no comments from anyone please ). It's a vertigo thing now, I just have to wait for it to settle before another busy workin week.
How many turned up ?

[GTB_an_Owl]

great nite for -

meteor watching
weber pies and sausage rolls
apple charlotte
home made biscuits
hot chocolate
old visitors
new visitors
great scope views - even on a so-so nite

what a great way to start celebrating a birthday

thanks guys

geoff

[Rick Petrie]

What a great get together last night. A good roll up and good to meet all the guys from the mountain (Katoomba).
It stayed clear all night and we did some good galaxy tours and usual suspects.
It was like the days of old with Geoff (filter), Bones (Tony) and RB (Andrew).
Thanks to Rod for loaning me his Terminagler to do a shoot off with my recently purchased ES 30 and also for the 'mothers milk', Thanks also to RB for the stogie (nice), to Arthur for those pies and snagrolls, to Allan for the apple charlotte and to everyone who made it such a good night. We shut the gates at about 1:30am.
Here's to the next one.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[AG Hybrid]

Thanks for having us. It was a good night.

[Rick Petrie]

I think it was about 14 Geoffro.

[Allan_L]

A great turn out, thanks to everyone, especially Arthur for the pies and sausage rolls :thumbsup:
and Rod for the boutique bourbon :thumbsup:

But a big raspberry for the Pony Club officials who did not respond to my numerous communication attempts to have some basic amenities open. :mad2:

[Shano592]

Yes, it was a good night.

Loss of power (flat battery) curtailed my evening at around 10:30. Managed to get a good look at Neptune, but Pluto eluded me this time. After looking through Rick's scope with the OIII filter (at Eta Carina, and a couple of other sights), I think I am going to have to spend some cash and get me one of those!

An excellent turnout - it was like days of old!

Allan, regarding the amenities ... Is there a way that we can get access via the Gosford council? Or is the building a separate kettle of fish to the grounds?

[killswitch]

Had a great night guys. Thanks for having us.

I've put a bookmark on my GPS for next time so i dont get lost in the dark.

[Allan_L]

Been down that road Shane.
In short, no.
They have no (direct) interest in what goes on up the Mountain.
It is a tangled mess of Mangrove Mountain Committee, the 7 Trustees (of which 2=PC and 2=JC), Crown Lands, and last I heard, The PC and JC were applying for sole lessee status, which would give them complete control over everything.

PC=The Pony Club
JC=The Jump Club

The PC were sympathetic to our cause, but needed agreement from the JC to grant us access.
They promised to let me know.
But now they don't even return my messages.

One of the trustees went to bat for us, but she was outnumbered.

An official of Crown Lands (who were looking at granting their lease) said he would help, but he too failed to be reliable.

And with the potential of the international college being built next door, it may not even matter.
At this stage, I am thinking more of the Paintball Place or The Glider Club. :confused2:

[glend]

Hmmm, wonder what it cost to lease some Crown Land? Could be an option for the new dark site out off the Golden Highway. Do you have a contact there Allan_l?

[Allan_L]

Details PM'd

[Shano592]

Just need to shoot out the light on the Works Depot, and then we can use the Bloodtree Sports Fields as an option as well.

Paintball Place seems to be heavily wooded on a drive by in summer. The guys there did intimate that they wouldn't necessarily be against it. My sister in law was doing their book keeping, and mentioned it to them a year or so ago.

[Allan_L]

Up until recently, they simply applied for (and were granted) licences.
I think they were 12 month renewable licences.
A piece of Crown Land can have any number of licenced users.
These are cheaper.

But if no licence holder objects, one can apply for lease.
This gives them full control and they can sub let to others if they want (and charge a fee for use).

We enquired about obtaining a licence for Tom McKenzie Park(aka The PC), but as we did not have a formal structure, insurance, or finances, these proved obstacles to the plan. Alternatives avenues proposed by others (anonymous "connected" parties) failed to produce results. And we have had information blackout for 7 months now.

If you have your eye on a piece of crown land, it would be an idea to enquire about a licence before considering a lease.

[Allan_L]

Today I received a reply to my email of last week.

I have added it to the Thread I started on the specific subject ...

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=1103611#post110361 1

FYI

[Arthur Alchin]

Who administers crown land: I spoke with the gosford council and they told me they were letting out no more licences, is there a state government department like the "Department of Lands" that we can approach

[Allan_L]

Department of Crown Lands.
I spoke with them today.