Snake Valley Pics

[mick pinner]

l just got back from Snake Valley due to work tomorrow but really wanted to stay for one more day.
The seeing conditions on Friday night were superb and after the early cloud cleared Saturday was being described by many as 10/10.
Once again Ken, Darren and all the others involved put together a great event, the people, the food supplied and served by the local CFA women and the amenities were once again first rate and l look forward to March for the next get together.

[leon]

Good Stuff Ken, glad it turned out good for everyone concerned,that sky on Sat did have me a bit worried, by late afternoon i could see it clearing for you guys.

Hope i can get there next time.

And by the way to all that passed on messages or concern for Alice, she is now home from hospital and is doing very well, thanks to all.

Cheers leon

[mick pinner]

a few more

[Starkler]

And a few more.

I had a lot more but they didnt come out :doh:

[iceman]

Forgot to use the flash, Geoff? :)

Great pics so far, looks and sonuds like a great time.

[Dennis]

Great photos guys - it looks like you all had a great time, both by day and night!

Cheers

Dennis

[HAL2001]

This newbie attended the camp on Saturday and was made to feel very welcome by a great bunch of enthusiasts. It was good to meet the guys behind the "Avatars" and get lots of practical advice.
I was lucky enough to get a bit of viewing in before having to return to Melbourne around midnight.

All credit goes to the organisers and the ladies who did all the hard work in the kitchen.

Thanks guys and I look forward to attending the next camp in 2007.

Regards
Henri

[Dave47tuc]

Hi all,
Not long back. Great time again. Pity it’s a bit stormy now!:mad2:
It was a great weekend and here are some photo’s of people’s scopes.:eyepop:

Well done to Ken and Darren for organizing the event. :thumbsup:

[danielsun]

Many thanks to Ken and Darren for a great weekend!!! Also an excellent saturday night feed.
Had to leave early to take Theresa to hospital today and all went well. I cant beleive how popular the hospital has been for a few of our wifes this weekend!! I hope Anna and Leons wife are also recovering well.
Well i've been flat out since i got back but heres a few picks for now till i sort through the rest.

1- From left to right Peter (toe toe) Ken(ballarat dragons) just before taking his medication and Geoff (Sarkler)

2- Dave 47 tuc nibbling on some munchies

3-Anthony (Bird) doing his talk on collimation

4-some of the gang after the talk

5-Looks like Dave (47tuc) has found something else to munch on!

[janoskiss]

Just quickly sneaking in some more piccies from work...

[janoskiss]

... and some more With a special thank you to all those who sacrificed their last night at the camp so a handful of us remaining could enjoy beautiful clear skies. :) Last two shots are from Monday night looking south, just after sunset and after midnight.

[Starkler]

Hey Ken your mirror needs a wash ! :P

Damn I wonder what was in my mind when you took that photo of me Steve. Im not an angry person :lol:

[Ric]

Great piccy's everyone, looks like a great venue and a great time was had by all.

cheers

[janoskiss]

:lol: @ Geoff!
You were hunting around for photo targets. I took three shots of you in close succession. :D

[Tamtarn]

We had a great time at our first Astro camp. Thanks to Ken and Darren and crew for their effort. We had a good night observing on Friday and lots of fun and laughs over the few days. Also gained a wealth of info from the guys.

Decided to leave on Monday because of predicted storms. :cloudy: Why do we bother to take notice of the weather bureau :shrug:

Glad you had a great night guys :thumbsup:

1 - Peter Robin & Chris ... 2 Steve Geoff & David ... 3 Daniel & Chris
4 Peter stalking birds to get that perfect shot
Counter weight toss ... 5 Toni ... 6 Dave ...7 Darren ... 8 Geoff

197091971019711

197121971319714

1971519716

[Tamtarn]

A few more shots ....... Some of the great Astro Gear at the camp

Chris (33South)...Robin (Robin)...Mick (Mick Pinner)

19726197271972819729

Steve (Janokiss)...Darren's tent...(Wombat in space)...Anthony (Bird)

19730197311973219733

[Starkler]

Steve I had a few others where you happened to be in the shot but I didnt put them up in case you thought I was stalking you :scared:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[spacezebra]

Looks like you all had an excellent time. Great pics and thank you for sharing them.

Cheers Petra

[Wombat_In_Space]

Well I have made it home, been a long day for Ken and I will post some pics tomorrow. :thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

I have had a great 4 days and nights!!!! Totally exhausted and I have to get sleep before work tonight.

I shall post properly tomorrow :)

2 quick pics to add to the above.

1. Solar Observing with a 'Philips Toucam'
2. Using the Finderscope 'Philips Solar Blocker'

[ballaratdragons]

and true to form, the same as after last Snake Valley Astro Camp we are currently being battered by 120k hot gale force wind and bushfire smoke :eyepop:

[bird]

Got home a couple of hours ago... had a great time as usual.

There were only 4 of us left last night, and we had a crystal clear night. I even gave in and pointed my scope at 47tuc and the tarantula, I think I've fallen in love with Steves 10mm Pentax UW. 47tuc looked the best I've ever seen with that eyepiece.

The fog rolled in again this morning just as I was about to start imaging Saturn... can't have everything I guess :-(

Bird

[toetoe]

Thanks to everyone for making this another great get together like last year. Some more pics for you all..

[iceman]

Excellent pics everyone.. I love Bird's monster with wires hanging off everywhere.. definitely a popular photographic target.

[33South]

1) Bird, not satisfied with observing at night brings his own artificial star for daytime practice.

2) Brave Sir Robin giving Dave much needed advice.

3) Ken and Peter, final adjustments.

4) The Field Of Dreams

[davidpretorius]

awesome pictures guys, sounds like a great time had by all. I am feeling very "telescope" sick due to work committments, but these bought a smile to my dial.

yes birds's scope is getting a famous a landmark as the sydney harbour bridge!

[toetoe]

Some more from Snake Valley.

[Wombat_In_Space]

Here are the photos I took over the weekend I was fairly busy over the four days do I didn't get to take many this year. These were taken on the Saturday morning after a greats night viewing.

I would like to ask if all those who took pics that are will ing to have them displayed on the SVAA site, could you email me copies of them please at daztoni at bigpond dot com ( please remove the spaces and change the at and dot to the correct format).

[Wombat_In_Space]

And some more from that morning

[Wombat_In_Space]

Here are some from the last day!

[h0ughy]

who's trailer is that? nice ideas there. great photos too guys and gals! Would have been nice to be there!

[Wombat_In_Space]

The trailer is mine h0ughy I built the frame on it after the last november camp as there was not enough space in the car and trailer combo, I use the box on top for all my tarps and camping gear ie: Dob Hut & it's rops and pegs also all my power cords are up there too. The two white tubes contain tent polls and the other all my ropes and tiedown straps for the trailer.

Version 2 of the trailer should be ready for the march camp. :prey:

[toetoe]

This is the last of the decent pics i have.

[robin]

Had a great time at Snake Valley, pity the conditions weren't anything to write home about but being there was the best aspect of this, the 3rd camp at Snake Valley. & seeing many familiar faces was great.

[robin]

Here's another one coming at you.

[robin]

Got one more but for some reason it wont upload, says the file is too large but its only 120k ??

[danielsun]

Here's a few more!

1-Darren (wombat in space)
2-from left to right (Dave 47 tuc),David and Barb (tamtarn) and mrs wombat Darrens wife.
3-Steve (janoskiss)
4-Chris (33 south)
5-Brave Sir Robins bargin basement.

It really was a great weekend had with great company!!!

[danielsun]

Excellent suff there Robin!!!
I really like the montages.:thumbsup:

[janoskiss]

Spewing I missed the counterweight toss! Great mosaic, Robin.

[OneOfOne]

So guys, what was the final night like? I left a day early as they were predicting thunderstorms that night. Bird, Janoskiss and Wombat_In_Space stayed to the last minute hoping that the mass of telescopes had been reduced suffiently to make the clouds go elsewhere. I just had to compromise with Mitch, he wanted to have lunch at Macca's if we left early! It was only when I unpacked at home that I found I had done his mum a favour and brought his dirty washing home with me!

[robin]

Heres the other montage I tried to send last night....its a bit fuzzy, the original was pin sharp but in downsizing it lost a lot of definition.

[ballaratdragons]

Trevor,

The last night was fantastic! Darren, Steve and I stayed up the whole night observing whilst Bird got some shut-eye for an early start at Saturn around 5am.
Steve gave me a tour of Planetary Nebulas, and I also captured my best Orion Neb shot yet!

The whole night ended up as clear as a bell, until about 6am when Bird was ready to start imaging!!! :doh:

It turned out that all 4 nights were great viewing. Friday was excellent all night, and if you were keen enough to wait until 2am, Sat Sun and Monday nights were all great too. :thumbsup:

A thought for the future: ignore the weather reports up here :lol:

[Dave47tuc]

Well going by all the great photos it easy to see the camp was a huge success.:D
Again many thanks to ken and Darren for all there work. To the people of Snake Valley many thanks for your hospitality. The Saturday dinner was great. :thumbsup:
Also to the work of the SVAA.:thumbsup:

The Snake Valley camp happens twice a year November and March and I would encourage anyone thinking of going to do so. You will love it.:)

Again Great photos all.:thumbsup:

[HAL2001]

Great pics guys. Wish I could have been there for a few more nights.
Thanks again for the hospitality, and thumbs up for Ken and Darren's organising skills.

Henri