2008 July Planetary Imaging Camp announcement

[rumples riot]

2008 Planetary Imaging Camp

Advanced Notice

We are pleased to announce the 2008 planetary imaging camp.

The camp will be held at Nambucca Heads NSW. Seeing conditions as reported by Anthony Wesley are ideally suited for planetary imaging.


The dates of the camp are from June 21 to 4 July 2008.

The camp at this stage will be held over two weeks so as to maximise the possiblity of gaining several nights of good seeing.

For pricing see Anthony's post below (#18) . Very affordable for everyone.

Light restraints of DSO camps do not apply and laptops are very welcome.:)

If you are interested in attending the camp please indicate below and we will add you to the list.



Anthony Wesley
Paul Haese
Mike Salway

[iceman]

Count me in.

I'll probably bring my family too, but will depend on what the chosen accommodation is like (camping, bunks etc).

[rumples riot]

No probs Mike, adding you to the list.

[bird]

At this stage I'm looking for house-style accommodation in the Port MacQuarie area, ideally somewhere a bit sheltered and away from the public eye. I'll be in Port from this coming Sunday until the following Friday visiting rellies and I'll be spending most of the daytime driving around and looking for something suitable.

From past observation there seems to be a fair number of cottage style houses available for rent in the area so that's where I'll be concentrating. At this stage I'm looking for accommodation for about a dozen people, but it would help if anyone who thinks they'd like to come along to raise their hand so I can get a better idea of numbers.

cheers, Bird

[bird]

Ok, after day1 of searching I've already found one site that would be perfect. I'll keep looking for another few days in case something better comes along, but we're already off to a good start.

Today I stopped at Nambucca Heads and looked over the cabins available at on of the tourist parks - location is perfect, there's a group of 6 cabins that are available and they're grouped together at the top of the headland. Plenty of flat ground around with good sky views and close to all facilities.

Here's a link to this location (cabins):
http://www.headlandtouristpark.com.au/accommodation_styles.html

To help me make the best decision I need some info from everyone who thinks they'd like to come along:

1. How many people in your group. # of adults, # of children.
2. If you're coming on your own are you willing to share accommodation with others, eg bunk bed.
3. Would you prefer to come during school holidays (July 5 - 18) or outside school holidays (ie *before* July 5) The cabins are slightly more expensive during school holidays but not by much.
4. How many nights would you stay? The camp will likely be between 7 and 14 days, yet to be decided.

This info will let me make a better decision about how many cabins to book, and when.

I plan to make the booking no later than the end of this month, so please let me know as soon as you can.

cheers, Bird

[iceman]

While growing up, we went to annual holidays at Valla Park just outside Nambucca. It's about 5 hours from my place, so about 6 hours north of Sydney.

1. 2 adults, 3 kids
2. Not share - ie: cabin style for a family.
3. During school holidays
4. I'd say the max would be best as 7 days. We wouldn't stay more than that, in any case.

Looks great so far!

[Outbackmanyep]

Whens this happening guys?? I'd love to attend! It's only 2hrs from my place!!!!

[rumples riot]

Just me coming.
I will share.
Don't care whether it is school holidays or not.
7-10 days for me.

[bird]

Depending on how many people want to overlap with school holidays it will be somewhere around the last week of june/first week of July *or* the first 2 weeks of july.

Would be great to see you there if you can make it!

cheers, Bird

[iceman]

Last week June/first week of July would suit me better.

My wife's birthday is on the 5th July, and Eliza's is on the 10th July. My wife can handle being away on her birthday, but Eliza would probably prefer to be around her friends :)

[bird]

Mike, school hols start on 5th July (so I'm told). If we do last week of june + first week of july then we miss school holidays. Your prefs were to include school hols - just making sure you realise this :-)

I'd also prefer last week of june + first week of july, but I don't have kids :-)

cheers, Bird

[iceman]

Yeh sorry for my confusion. Happy for the kids to miss last week of school :)

Better that, than for Eliza to be away on her birthday.

[Outbackmanyep]

You sure you guys don't want to travel up to Walcha one of the nights to experience imaging in -6 / -8 weather!? lol

I am looking to go to the USA in July, all going well of course, might leave the 3rd of July or something....hope i can make it!

[bird]

... I drive through walcha a few times each year on my way up to Glen Innes to visit my family. I know all about the temperature there :-)

cheers, Bird

[bird]

Update:

So after day 2 of driving around, I've covered everything from Port MacQuarie (where we're staying) down to Old Bar. We must have looked at about 2 dozen caravan and tourist parks, and a few holiday lodges etc.

We found one location that is approximately as good as yesterdays find at Nambucca Heads. All the rest were discarded cause they were too expensive, poorly placed, had too many trees, etc.

At this stage we haven't found anything better than the Nambucca Heads location, so that's still #1.

cheers, Bird

[davidpretorius]

well done bird, thanks for taking the effort!

[rumples riot]

Thanks so much Anthony for doing the leg work on this one and the organisation. Looking forward to it again. Was a great camp last year and expect it will be the same again.

I hope that many more of you out there will be able to make it. I see it as an opportunity to get together with guys who are doing the same thing, for the learners to see the more advanced guys at work and learn from what they have to offer. There is nothing like hands on experience. It is also a chance for us guys to impart some of our knowledge regarding processing and capture. So don't feel as though if you are a learner that you are a burden. We want to help you with your imaging of the planets. You will also get to learn about mirror cooling and of course collimation too and see how easily these issues can be overcome.

So please consider this camp as we are trying to make it a permanent feature on the Australian calender and would love to see more of you there.