IISAC2009: IceInSpace AstroCamp - 15th to 18th October 2009

[iceman]

This thread will be the thread for all discussions and questions about IISAC2009.

It's just over 4 months now until IISAC2009 - the 4th instalment of the IceInSpace AstroCamp!

Have you got your annual leave forms in? Have you earned enough brownie points with your partner?

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac/iisac2009/iisac09_web.jpg (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac)

IISAC2009 is taking place on the 15th to the 18th October, 2009, at Lostock in the Hunter Valley of NSW. The IISAC2009 page is now live, and you can get all the information you need to know from there:

IceInSpace AstroCamp: 15th - 18th October 2009 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac)

Admittedly, not all information is there yet - such as prices, registration form and some other essentials, but there's enough there to start getting excited about. Keep checking back as the organisation ramps up and I continue to add more information to the page.

A selection of photos from IISAC2008 (and other previous IISAC's) are at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

I hope to see you there!

[iceman]

The IISAC2009 info page is now live. More information, prices, booking form etc will be made available in the coming weeks.

If this is going to be your first star party or your first IISAC, then check out the page to get a feel for the event.

[iceman]

Hi all

More information is starting to fill out the IISAC2009 info page (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac).

As you can see from the first post above, the logo and t-shirt are now complete (a white shirt this year, for a change :)).

Some other updates on the page:
- A statement of what to expect, of sorts:


- Some Testimonials (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac.html#TESTIMONIALS), thanks to some of the attendees of IISAC2008.

- 3RF (http://www.3rf.org) are confirmed as attending and will be conducting sky tours in telescopes ranging from 14" to 25".

Guest Speakers, Prices and other details will start becoming known over the next few weeks, so check back soon.

Thanks!

[iceman]

The following guest speakers have agreed to share their time and expertise and give talks at IISAC2009:

* Andrew Murrell and John Bambury: What's in the Sky at Lostock.
Andrew and John are two of Australia's most experienced observers, and will give a run-down of some of the objects you can observe at IISAC2009 - categorised into targets for small scopes (under 12"), medium scopes (12-18") and large scopes (over 18").

* Lesa Moore: Big Island, Big Telescope.
Lesa's postgraduate research project was based on a deep stack of photographic images used to uncover previously unseen low surface brightness galaxies in Virgo. To determine if the galaxies belong to the Virgo Cluster, distance measurements (spectra) are needed and because the galaxies are faint, Lesa opted for a big telescope. This talk will illustrate the outcomes of her research and show highlights of her trip to the top of Mauna Kea.

* Greg Bradley: tba.

* Professor Geraint Lewis: A universe for me? The anthropic principle in Astronomy.
Geraint is a professor of Astrophysics at Sydney University, and his talk will discuss the anthropic principle - looking at the successes and failures of this controversial idea, as well as looking to the future, where some think that the anthropic principle may be our only guide to one of the major outstanding questions in physics, namely how do we construct a theory of everything?

The official agenda/programme will be available soon.

[iceman]

The prices for IISAC2009 are now on the IISAC2009 Info Page (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac.html).

Unfortunately it has been necessary to have a small price rise compared to last years prices, but as I'm sure you'll understand in our current economic climate, costs for running the star party have increased (including marquee hire costs, insurance, scout camp hire costs, etc).

I still believe IISAC2009 represents great value for a great weekend with great company!

More information coming soon, and the booking/registration form should be online within 1-2 weeks.

Thanks

[mozzie]

cant wait mike lets hope for clear skies and mild weather
mozzie

[iceman]

It's with great pleasure I can announce that we are now accepting registrations for IISAC2009!

With only 3 months to go, now is the time to get yourself organised, put in those leave forms, put in your registration booking for IISAC2009 and start counting down the days!

You can book online through the IISAC2009 Info Page (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac).

The IISAC2009 Programme of Events (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac/iisac2009/IISAC2009-Programme.pdf) (agenda) is also now online and downloadable from the info page.

Don't forget there's the Early Bird Discount - $10 off the total price if you book and pay before the 22nd September, 2009.

I look forward to seeing you at IISAC2009!

Register Online for IISAC2009! (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac)

If you have any questions about your registration or the camp in general, please contact me.

[iceman]

Thanks to Chris Poynter from Victoria for being the first booking for IISAC2009! :)

[jjjnettie]

I hope to be able to make it down for this camp. :)
It would be FANTASTIC to catch up with you all.:thumbsup:

[iceman]

Wow that'd be awesome, JJJ! I hope you can make it!

[chrisp9au]

Does this mean I get first choice on a bunk?

Just joking! I got in early because I didn't want to drag a tent and camping gear all the way from Victoria!

Looking forward very much to what will be my first real astro event, and the two weeks off work!

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[Jen]

:eyepop: wow will you really come all the way down for that woohoo well thats what i call dedication JJJ well if you are seriously going to go i might go too JJJ i need a female drinking buddy LMAO :rofl:
(let me have a chat with hubby and i will get back to ya)
I need to see how far away it is from me ;)
I sooo wanna go ;)

[jjjnettie]

Don't get too excited Jen. My coming down is subject to the vagaries of the public health system. I'll find out Monday if I'll be fit for the trip. Fingers crossed eh.

[Jen]

Ok JJJ hope all goes well for you, maybe we get more organised and start preparing for the next one :lol:

[h0ughy]

JJJ hope you can come down

[jjjnettie]

Thanks Dave.

[mozzie]

it,ll be great if jen and jjj could come im bringing the little lady ELISE she loves to camp and a little telescope time but enjoys the 3 days away from the kids she had a great time last year even won a draw prize
mozzie

[saulo]

Hi friends!
Greetings from brazil!
I want to go to the iisac2009 and i want to ask if you will have any support for people from outside australia, because i' ve never been in sidney before and i´ll need some help to go to lostock!
Thank'Sa lot!

[FredSnerd]

I've never been to a star party before. We want to pitch a tent and cook our own meals but what are the rules regarding lights. Can we have gas lights, gas fires, wood fires.

Appreciate anyones advice on this

regards

Claude

[sheeny]

Claude,

Here's the light use policy:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac/iisac2009/IISAC2009-Handout.pdf

Have a good browse around the IISAC pages, you should be able to get a reasonable idea of how it all works.:) If not, ask away...

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac.html

Al.

[sheeny]

G'Day Saulo,

:welcome:to IIS!

I'm not passing through Sydney on my way to IISAC, unfortunately, but hopefully there may be someone who is who can assist. If all else fails and you need to hire a car, we can certainly help out with maps and directions and tips.:thumbsup:

Looking forward to meeting you there!

:)

Al.

[iceman]

Hi Claude

Just following on from Al's great advice:
- You can camp and pitch your tent - no problems.
- No open wood fires are allowed
- Gas cooking is fine, and will generally be done when it's not dark.
- Gas lights would have to be dimmed right down and very well shielded at night when it's dark.

It won't get dark until about 7:30pm or so, so you'd probably just make sure you got all your cooking out of the way before it got dark.

Hope to see you there!

Please ask any other questions if you need to! :)

[iceman]

Hi Saulo!
I sure hope you can make it out.

You're not the first person to ask for help getting a lift from Sydney. I'm not really sure how much help I can personally provide - your best bet is to try and get someone from the Sydney area who is coming, to give you a lift if they're comfortable doing so.

You'll probably have to ask again when it gets closer and when you're sure about your timings and whether it matches up with someone else.

As Al said, in terms of directions, we can help with maps etc. It would be about 4-4.5 hours drive from Sydney airport (at a guess).

[FredSnerd]

Thanks Al, Mike for your help. I think I'm clear now. Thw whole tribe's really excited about our first Star party. See you there

[Stellar]

Hey Saulo, I need to get to Lostock from Sydney airport as well (coming up from Melbourne). I'm planning to arrive early on Friday. Maybe we could hook up and hire a car for the trip?
Anyone else in the same position and need a ride from the airport, returning Sunday?

[saulo]

Hi!
I´m really happy with all these reply's for my request, and
i'm trying very hard to meet all of you on next september!,
thank's a lot!

[iceman]

Hi all

I just noticed that t-shirt orders are not coming out on the email confirmation that you receive after you submit your booking.

Please be aware that your t-shirt orders are stored correctly in the database, and the total payment does include the t-shirts.

I'll fix up the code tonight or in the morning.

Cheers

[mozzie]

woo hoo were booked to go bringing the wife and my 2 little boys lachlan 5 and samuel 3 they love to camp and go swimming well have to camp a little away from everyone my boys like to rise early around 5.30pm:shrug:and i dont want them to wake everybody up
mozzie

[iceman]

Ok (I think) I've fixed the code for the t-shirt numbers in the confirmation email.

Remember this only affected the email notification - your t-shirt orders and t-shirt cost were calculated correctly and are all fine.

Only 6 weeks to go! Getting excited now!

[h0ughy]

just barely enough time to recover from the last star party

[iceman]

Hi all

So far, only ~40 people have registered - which is definitely on the low side compared to what I was expecting at only 5 weeks out from the event.

I know there's always an influx or registrations when the event gets much closer, but for those who are planning to come, it would be appreciated if you could please put your registrations in ASAP, as if the numbers stay lower than expected it will inform some decisions I need to make about the size of the marquee, number of chairs, tables, number of meals for catering etc.

Don't forget there's only 2 weeks left to secure your $10 early bird discount.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac

[h0ughy]

looking forward to this

[chrisp9au]

Just finished tidying up my 12" dob ready for IISAC2009.
It's a tight squeeze, but it all fits in the car, no room for the wife tho!
Only 32 more sleeps!

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[alan meehan]

All booked and paid,come on iceinspacers only 40 booked this is the last star party for 2009 year of Astronomy lets make it a good one.only 4 weeks to go.

[iceman]

About 55 now, but unfortunately still on the low side.

Hoping it will pick up in the next few weeks, otherwise I've got some serious re-planning to do.

[Eternal]

I will definately be going. I've been looking forward to this camp. Hopefully the new equipment I've bought for it won't curse it to much. I figured the curse of purchasing new quipment will be gone by the time mid October comes around. I think the low initial numbers is most likely a reflection of the economic downturn and I've no doubt it will pick up in the next few weeks.

[sheeny]

Looking forward to this.:)

Things are at last coming together. I've managed to get the time off so all things going to plan, I'll arrive Wednesday... that way I'll be more useful to Mike to help set up than arriving early Thursday arvo;).

Unfortunately this year Lyn and the girls won't be coming. The girls are going to Queensland with their dad, and Lyn's going to have to pick them up from the airport while I'm at Lostock.

I'm bring my 16" lightbridge (travel scope :lol: ) but I'll also bring my laptop and Staranalyser, so if there's any spectro-curious imagers out there, let me know and we can have a play:P.

:D

Al.

[mozzie]

cant wait to catch up with you al the misses and kids are coming this year
mozzie

[ausastronomer]

Hi all,

I just booked and paid for myself.

3RF will be running Sky Tours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Not sure what equipment we will have there but as a minimum we will have 2 x 18" Obsessions and a 14" SDM there from Thursday. I think we could also have a 25" Obsession and possibly a 30" SDM for the Friday and Saturday night, as well. We will be set up on the bottom paddock just a little north west of the bottom house.

Cheers,
John B

[Octane]

Booked and paid for (tonight) thanks to Jason (jkrah).

Anyone know a good/cheap car hire company we can hire a van from? We're thinking of coming up in one car to cut on petrol costs. Also, we both have rather small cars. I know that when I went down to Border Stargaze, I had absolutely no room left in my car -- and that was just with the ED80 and FD80. Now with the 5" refractor, the entire case takes the back seat of the car, lol.

Regards,
Humayun

[GTB_an_Owl]

a "wicked" van would cost about $330 for 6 days "H"
(pick up wed - return mon) + petrol of course

pick up from sydney though i think - don't know whether you can get one from canberra

geoff

[circumpolar]

I'll be coming for all three days, but without my faithful daughter this time and without a guitar as well.
Just getting some funds together so I can pay and book.

[mozzie]

not long know till the star party so i was talking to elise my other half and thought we'ed better tell the other campers that my 2 boys 3 and 5 are coming they are earliy risers so every one had better go to bed early:rofl::lol: or we better camp 500meters further down river!!!!! cant wait lets hope theres no rain or dust
mozzie

[Deeno]

Booked!!
Been waiting to here back from a job we didn't get.

[picklesrules]

if only i lived in nsw and wasnt in the middle of final exams at the time

[iceman]

We're into the 80's now, great to see.

Keep those bookings coming in!

[telecasterguru]

It's not fair! I have to go to New Zealand to watch a crummy opera that weekend.

Mike, is it too late to move the dates back a week?

Frank

[Big Dave]

Have a good time everyone at ISSAC, sorry I will miss it this year. :(

Had a great time last year and hope you go 1 better this year (that would be the weather). As I am NOT going it should mean clear skies for all, as lately I suspect I am star party weather jinx!

I am heading to the US for holidays which clashes with ISSAC, as a consolation prize I will be setting up a C11 for the LCROSS impact (by chance not forward planning).

[faulteh]

Woowoo only a few weeks to go now! Trying to convince a couple of friends to come along and camp out with me.

GO SCIENCE! :D

[iceman]

2 weeks to go!

Getting excited now! Preparation activities start getting really busy too!

[iceman]

Some info about the Lucky Door Prize competition.

The Lucky Door Prize competition will be slightly different than previous years and other star parties. As much as people love the chance to win prizes, they also don't like all the sitting around and waiting for 10-20+ prizes to be drawn.

So this year we've decided to have just 3 prizes; 3 lucky winners - with the major prize being non-astronomical, something the lucky winner can take their partner to for a relaxing weekend away from the telescope.

The following prizes are up for grabs, thanks to our generous sponsors.


Gift Voucher for any Peppers Resorts and Retreats, sponsored by IceInSpace (valued at $800).
Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 Binoculars, sponsored by York Optical (valued at $619)
50% off an Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer, sponsored by Wildcard Innovations (valued at $299)


More information at the IISAC info page (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac).

[circumpolar]

Booked for 3 nights.
Count down has started!:D

[jakob]

I have just got 'final' approval and booked myself in!
Looking forward to clear skies and good company.

[Joku]

Hi Saulo

I'm also trying to figure out how to get to Lostock from Newcastle (I'm exchange studying here) as I don't own a car in here. I don't think there are any buses or other public transport going there. Also, it wouldn't be nice to haul a scope, or even large binos and a tripod, as in my case, in a bus.. :question:

[alan meehan]

Hi Joku welcome to iceinspace iam going to lostock for 4 days camping if you would like a lift i could give you one and your gear as i have a van and live near the uni in newcastle if you like you could pm me to disscuss this .
thanks ALAN

[liljpo]

Question! Could be a silly one, but is the camp in Nsw or Vic?

[iceman]

Hi Jessica.

Lostock is in NSW, Hunter Valley area.

Details here:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac

[alexk13]

I just received a reminder email about this - Thanks Mike :)
Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to make it this year - too many family things happening over the next few months :(
Have fun everyone, hopefully i'll be back next year

[iceman]

Starting to look at the forecast - Thursday is looking good!

Hoping for 3 clear nights!

[faulteh]

I booked a while ago, but I've convinced a 1-3 friends to come up with me, and an extra telescope :)

Also I have a test at uni on Friday which stops me from coming up on the Thursday as I originally planned :(

How can I change my booking, or should I just bring my friends with me and pay when we get there on Friday evening?

[iceman]

Hi Scott

Just PM or email me with the required changes to your booking and I'll amend it for you.

Otherwise, put in a new booking and i'll delete your existing one.

Cheers

[GTB_an_Owl]

OK! there is not enough traffic on this thread

start telling us how your preparations are going

got all your gear sorted ?
packed all your leads in the one box (that you will probably leave behind) ?
charging your batteries up ?
what new camping gear do you need to buy this weekend ?

C'mon - start talking you lot

geoff

[Eternal]

OK, I'll spill. I've bought new equipment. I've bought myself a QHY5 autoguider, Synscan GPS, GSO Low Profile 10:1 focuser, Baader Coma corrector and Baader filter replacement for the Canon 400D.

Unfortunately my attempt to perform the filter replacement on the Canon 400D failed, and it is now lying in pieces in my study. Not being the kind of person who gives up easy, I went straight out and bought a new Canon 450D and managed to successfully modify that instead.

I am really looking forward to doing some serious astrophotography.

[Octane]

Need to buy some large tarpaulins this weekend as my Telegizmo will not arrive in time, and, I've currently only got small ones.

Food and drink, as well. Otherwise, everything else seems to be ready. Just needs to be stowed into the car. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[GTB_an_Owl]

YES, well it is ok folks

i had to go look up what a "Telegizmo" is too! :lol:

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl]

i'm hoping for a DRY day or two to get my gear to-gether :prey2:

geoff

[CoolhandJo]

Unfortunately I can't make it :( (Pre committed). I have a new DSI III Pro and just had my Canon 350D Modded too! Not happy.

Cant wait to hear the stories and see the images though!

Have Fun :mad2:

[GTB_an_Owl]

C'mon - a few more stories of anticipation here folks

geoff

[RB]

I'm still not sure if I can make it.
Will be very disappointed if I miss this one since I missed SPSP too.

:(

[GTB_an_Owl]

SHUSH! i will hear no such talk RB

geoff

[chrisp9au]

I trust that anyone bringing new gear realises that they will be held personally responsible for every cloud that appears?

You have been warned! :)

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[chrisp9au]

My gear (old gear!) is ready to be stowed in the car.
Leaving Tuesday morning, stopping overnight in Gundagai, then Wednesday night in Vacy.
Looking forward to meeting a whole bunch of good people over the 3 or 4 days, and hoping to learn a lot from all of you!
Then I'm heading over to Coonabarabran for a couple of days, to have a look at Siding Spring and maybe do a bush walk. Apparantly Coonabarabran has a 'Festival of the Stars' happening in October, but the big telescopes are only open to the public on the following Sunday, the day before I have to be back at work!
Back home on the Thursday, so away for 10 days all together.

Today?, mowing grass to keep SWMBO happy!

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[Octane]

Geoff,

Don't worry, he's only bluffing. We'll be greeted by the sweet scent of a Lucitania. Don't you worry. ;)

If he doesn't come, well, then... it's hammertime.

Regards,
Humayun

[Rick Petrie]

Well I'll just have to crack a cuban on my own then I guess.:rolleyes:
Oh well!

[iceman]

Hope you can make it, RB!

Looking forward to it - forecast looks mixed but there's promise!

I'm starting to pack this weekend - the trailer is filling up, I've been to coles and bought everything I need - softdrinks, water, toilet paper etc etc.
Shirts and calendars have labels on them, name tags are being printed, everything is starting to come together.

The room downstairs is a big mess of boxes but it's only short term!

[Deeno]

Geting closer to finishing the new Dob mount. Couple more coats and its ready.....



Aww c'mon RB:shrug:
You can do it:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

RB i hope you can make it

[GTB_an_Owl]

Dave !

have you got the instruction sheet on how to fold up the porta loo tents ?

mine got wet, and is all stuck to-gether

geoff

[RB]

Aw shucks guys, thanks, I really do want to make it this year.
It will be a close call, this weather has also affected my work too so I hope things will work out so that I can make it.

Now stop tempting me with Cuban cigar posts, you know it's my weak point, not to mention the thought of your great company.

:)

[h0ughy]

mmm tough one - wood glue and origami don't mix

[h0ughy]

ah yes - and together with your cigar watch you will be the talk of the meet;)

[GTB_an_Owl]

looks like i need the expertise of Allan_L to give me a few lessons on the porta loo tent folding then ;)

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl]

just finished giving the dob base a bit of a service
fitted new stalk and holder bracket for the Argo

bet i run out of time and have to rush to be ready (or stay up all Wed nite)

geoff

[Octane]

Bought another Eveready red/white headlamp as my other one's gone walkabout.

Crikey, $36. Oh, well. Better that than blinding everyone with a white torch. :)

All that's left now is to get some tarpaulin's. Bunnings will be getting a visit shortly!

Regards,
Humayun

[sheeny]

Last day at work today!:thumbsup::D

Tomorrow is prep day... Wednesday is travel day.:)

I wonder what I'll forget?... I guess I'll find out eventually...:P

Al.

[iceman]

Sort of a short week for me too.

I'm working from home on Wednesday so I can finish packing the trailer early, go to the bank, amongst other things.

[chrisp9au]

24 hours and I hit the highway! :thumbsup:

[GTB_an_Owl]

Al

if you want a tip on not forgetting anything - here it is

drive 25 kilometres in the other direction first :lol: :thumbsup:

geoff

[sheeny]

:lol:

Sometimes 25k's isn't far enough...

Al.

[GTB_an_Owl]

Agh! - but you see Al, you get another 25k coming back

and it makes mathematical sense

if you go 25k in the right direction in the first place, and you have to go back, you actually travel a total 75k extra :einstein:

geoff

[gary]

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Lostock.

Courtesy of the Three Rivers Foundation (3RF) there will be some Dobs available
for sky tours, including an Obsession 18" scope and a new SDM 14.5" scope
that John Bambury will be transporting up. John will be conducting tours
through the 14.5" and I will be showing people views through the 18".
We will be there from the Friday onwards, so be sure to seek us out on the
field and don't be shy to hang out with us and take-in the views. That's why
we are there! So even if you don't have a scope or don't plan on bringing one,
we'll make sure you can enjoy in the observing fun! :thumbsup:

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Mt Kuring-Gai

[Rick Petrie]

They don't call him the wise old owl for nothin'.
Once he couldn't spell mathematician, now he are one!!!!:rofl:

[iceman]

The forecast is changing hourly at the moment..

It's better now than it was this morning LOL

http://www.abc.net.au/newcastle/news/weather.htm?section=forecast

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/95772.html

It's certainly going to be cooler than previous years.

[spacezebra]

Best wishes for a successful event Mike. Just so disappointed that I cannot be there, Albert is itching to be under dark skies.

Cheers Petra d.

[GTB_an_Owl]

just as long as it aint bloody WINDY

GUESS WHO PUT HIS TARP UP TODAY SO HE CAN PACK THE TRAILER IN THE DRY ?
sooooo - pressure is dropping - wind is increasing - rain is on the way

figures

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl]

Petra

SEND ALBERT !

we will find someone to look after him

geoff

[spacezebra]

Who is going to look after Albert?

:shrug:

Cheers Petra d

[h0ughy]

i was looking forward to seeing you and dave - petra oh well SPSP?

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: hahaha thats funny :thumbsup:

[GTB_an_Owl]

The Mary Rose can babysit Albert Petra

it's not as though he won't have siblings to play with or anything, is it !

he will have plenty of family there ;)

geoff

[strongmanmike]

Yes I know I'm shy :o :innocent: but count me in Gary, this tragic imager needs an eyeball fix :thumbsup:

Mike

[sheeny]

Me, Houghy, Geoff, Deeno, RB (when he turns up;)), Gary, Humayan, Rod and more Mikes than you can poke a stick at (and probably wouldn't want to:P).

:D

Al.

[Doomsayer]

Hope the airborne dust goes away. Not good for optics or for transparency.

[toryglen-boy]

soz i cant make it guys ... weather reports say the weather has to be awful until the end of next week


:question:

[gary]

Hi Mike! :lol:

Looking forward to seeing you up there.! With all that imaging, I am sure your
eyeball muscles are in need of a good workout and we would be more than
delighted to facilitate. :thumbsup:

Best regards

Gary

[gary]

Hi Al,

Some might be excused for starting to wonder whether Albert exists at all.
At Border Stargaze, there was always some reason it was inopportune to
see him, "It is raining", "He is under the covers", etc, etc. Now the story is
"We can't make it to Lostock".

Apart from Petra, can anyone actually vouch for Albert's existence??? :poke:

[GTB_an_Owl]

i think the "unbeliever" may have done away with "Albert" Gary

perhaps "Albert" was receiving tooooooo much attention

there is still time to pack the car Petra, and solve the mystery of "Albert" for us all :P

geoff

[gary]

A victim of a trebuchet attack maybe?

Packing the car with said "Albert" would certainly circumvent a telephone
call to the authorities to investigate his disappearance.

And you can imagine the reaction of the authorities upon discovering the
aforementioned weapon of mass destruction in the backyard. :eyepop:

[spacezebra]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: :lol:

Cheers Petra d.

[spacezebra]

Hi all

Albert does exist :D:D (his shroud has slipped - overt eyes!). WMD is "Out of Sevice" at the moment.



65344


Cheers Petra d.

[gary]

Hi Petra,

Slipping shroud aside, he looks very handsome and the green hills of Lostock
would make an attractive backdrop for him.

Failing him being at Lostock, what we really require is a Proof of Life,
like Albert reading a copy of today's Border Mail.

[GTB_an_Owl]

how do we know that "THAT" is Albert ?

probably photo shopped ! :question:

geoff

[Octane]

Mike,

Is there a master list of everyone who is attending this year?

It'd be nice to know who's coming along and who we can bump into. :)

Regards,
Humayun

[alan meehan]

Packed and ready to go going up tomorrow to get lostock ready for everyone .all have a safe trip and see you at
IISAC 2009 :stargaze:

[iceman]

Thanks To Matthew Scott for alerting me to the fact that the "How to Get There" link was broken.

Here it is, fixed:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac/iisac2009/IISAC2009-HowToGetThere.pdf

If you'd prefer to follow a google maps link, use this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=9397393388469762010,-32.813360,151.635520%3B986745634749 3413319,-32.329810,151.451900%3B141125169994 15519569,-32.314966,151.424090&saddr=Weakleys+Dr+%40-32.813360,+151.635520&daddr=Paterson+River+Rd+%40-32.314966,+151.424090&mra=mr&mrcr=0&jsv=107&sll=-32.444885,151.491852&sspn=0.521518,0.928345&ie=UTF8&ll=-32.59542,151.622314&spn=1.041284,1.856689&t=k&z=9).

If you're still unsure how to get there, let me know and I'll try and make it clearer.

Cheers

[sheeny]

Just having my last breakfast at home, then finish packing the car and I'm off.:) I can't get the hang of this car camping business:shrug:... I have too much stuff:rolleyes:. Bushwalking camping is much easier - if it doesn't fit in the pack and the pack doesn't weigh less than 20kgs it's not going!:lol:

Shorts and tee shirt will be the go for me today I think... I wore jeans and a flanelette shirt to Bathurst yesterday and near died of heatstroke (I had 2 shirts on at home:P).

See you all at Lostock:thumbsup:.

Al.

[jakob]

Al, are you missing to pack the staff for your wife and girls?:)

[RB]

Ok, if all goes well here today, looks like I'll be making it to Lostock.
I'm hoping to leave mid-day tomorrow or at the latest on Friday.

See you all there.

:jump2:

[iceman]

Fantastic!!!!

[Octane]

No attendees list, Mike?

Regards,
Humayun

[RB]

It'll be great to catch up with everyone Mike.
Looks like it'll be a mad rush tonight to get things packed and get some basics from the supermarket.
The Hotbox is on charge and so are all my camera batteries.

Drive safely everyone.

:)

[iceman]

I just picked up my new 24-105 IS lens :)

Can't wait to try it out at Lostock!

[iceman]

First report from h0ughy from Lostock, is that it's windy! It's windy here at home today, windy in Sydney, so no surprises there :)

He also said there's some roadwork on some of the bridges between Lostock Dam and the Scout Camp, so just be careful and drive slowly.

[erick]

Have a great time, everyone! Travel exceedingly safely please! :)

[RB]

Awesome mate, you're gonna have a ball.



The wind will die down by tommorow, and we'll have some very nice conditions by the end of the week.

:)



Thanks Eric.

[Rick Petrie]

Onya RB.See you there.
Cheers

[GTB_an_Owl]

see you for breakfast at the twin servo's at 8-30am in the morning then RB ;)

geoff

[Jen]

Drive safely all you travellers and have a great weekend :thumbsup::thumbsup: Hope the weather picks up ;)


:eyepop: wow its going to be quiet in here on the weekend with two astro camps happening :lol::lol::lol:
:P

[bird]

Hi guys and gals, I'm not going to make it to lostock this year... I was looking forward to it all year, but a combination of work and another booking for that weekend means I don't have any time to get away...

Maybe next year...

cheers, Bird

[RB]

:thumbsup:



I wish I could Geoff but I can't leave here till around midday so I'll be there in the arvo, save me a spot next to you and h0ughy.

:thanx:

[ausastronomer]

I hope to get there sometime just before 4pm tomorrow afternoon. Everything is at the front door ready to go into the car, except for 2 very important things :)

Unfortunately I striped both the 14" and 18" scopes down for a little cleaning and TLC before ISAAC 2009. The weather since has been absolute crud and I haven't been able to re-assemble them with all the wind, rain and dust flying about. At the moment both scopes are in about 11,000 pieces on the floor of the garage.

You might say I have a little re-assembly to do before I can pack everything in the car and head off.

Cheers,
John B

[ausastronomer]

Um Mike,

Are you listening to HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ?

WTF is going?

Cheers,
John B

[iceman]

There's about 113 people coming so far. Lots of families coming too , which is great to see.

Hopefully we'll get some more turning up on the day when they see the beautiful weather we're going to have ;)

[Octane]

At the Caltex/McDonald's at Alison, approximately 60 km out of Newcastle.

Watched the sunrise over Lake George whilst leaving Canberra this morning. It was surreal! Seriously wanted to pull over and take photos but decided against it and kept going.

Regards,
Humayun

P.S. iPhone's rock. :P

[montewilson]

Good luck guys - I'm not going so it is sure to be clear on both nights!

[Octane]

I just got back after a 7 hour drive. Absolutely buggered.

Jason and I had so much fun putting up our tent (we fondly referred to it as the Hilton -- a ten man tent for the two of us -- very comfy) in the gale force winds on Thursday morning. It took us 2 hours to put it up. :lol:

I had the best time. Pity about some shoddy weather here and there, but, Friday night was just unbelievable. Capped off by two of the most amazing fireballs I have ever seen!

I only got to make it to one of the talks (as the rest of the time I was catching up on sleep), by Professor Geraint F. Lewis about the Anthropic Principle and I found it quite fascinating. He is an excellent speaker.

It was so good to catch up with the regulars, put faces to names, and make new friends. Fred Vanderhaven and Mike Sidonio had us all in raptures when no imaging was taking place due to the inclement weather.

IISAC 2009 was a huge success.

Thank you, Mike and all the volunteers.

Regards,
Humayun

[Rhino1980]

Sounds like it was great weekend for you all :thumbsup:

[iceman]

For those that attended IISAC2009, I'd really appreciate it if you took a few minutes to complete a feedback form (http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1387047).

Your responses will help me to plan an even better event in 2010.

IISAC2009 Feedback Form (http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1387047)

Your answers will be kept strictly confidential, with the exception of the (optional) testimonial, which may be used in the promotion of IISAC2010.

The date for IISAC2010 is the 7th-10th October, 2010 - so put the date in your diary and I hope to see you there!

Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed your time at IISAC2009!

[h0ughy]

I'd like to thank Mike for a well organised event this year. The guest Speakers were terrific and i managed to stay awake through them. this year i camped up near the dunny's so i could get some power. I have included a few happy snaps of the area. When i arrived at the site on Wednesday to help prepare it for the event we were in the middle of another dust storm, then it rained mud, was extremely windy destroying my tent and gazebo Wednesday night - both will probably be landfill soon. there was hope of clear skies and we got some with Friday night being the best of the time there. I'd like to thank Chris, Alan Meehan, Sheeny for their help for Wednesday - we never watched so much TV eh guys.:lol:

anyway each star party has its memories, good and bad. id like to remember this one for the good experiences shared by all:thumbsup:

i had a total of about 10 hours sleep the whole weekend:) from wednesday to sunday - slept well last night i can tell you

[h0ughy]

and some more shots

[h0ughy]

boring yet? here are some more

[madwayne]

Never boring for those of us that couldn't make it David. Thanks very much for posting your pics and I hope you had a better time of it this year than last year when you had all sorts of dramas with your 127ED.

Thanks again for sharing these great photos.

Wayne

[sheeny]

Thanks for posting the photos Houghy! I wasn't up to taking any:sadeyes:. Nice spectroscopy shots there!:thumbsup::D

Al.

[Greg Priestley]

Just wanted to say that the weekend was a blast - I really enjoyed it. Well done Mike and all the others who made it a success!

I've got some good shots and video sequences which hopefully I'll do something with in due course to share.

During the talk on the anthropic principle I was reminded of the following cartoon which I did mention to a few people over a few drinks on Saturday night
http://xkcd.com/638/

Cheers
Greg

[Dennis]

Hi Dave

:thumbsup:A great set of photos that convey the environs and atmosphere of the camp so very well – thanks for posting them. Boy, does it look green compared to the Qld Astrofest!!!:eyepop:

Is that a TOA150 on the Tak EM200 with wooden tripod parked on the silver coloured tarpaulin with Al in the background? (7th photo)

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

no its not a door stop it is indeed a 130. oh and if you require a description of a doorstop then see RB
:lol:

[h0ughy]

i like them too - it really was a bright rainbow

[xstream]

Well I've been looking with my eyes closed, don't want to see what I missed out on. :sadeyes:
We definitely won't be missing out next year!

Thanks for the pics Dave.

[iceman]

Well I guess it's time for another writeup.

I arrived at Lostock on Thursday morning, with sunny skies but very windy and very gusty. The marquee guys arrived shortly after to erect the marquee, and with those wind gusts they certainly had to work hard!
But they did a fantastic job and the marquee gave excellent protection from the wind and sun and didn't move all weekend.

Most people started arriving on Thursday, and after a very windy day, the wind died down and gave us a few hours of clear skies on Thursday night before clouds came over at about 10:30pm. I had equipment issues for the first time at a star party, with my guiding in DEC just not working.

Friday started out beautiful and sunny again, but very windy and some very strong gusts. One of the gusts blew the hutch off my table, which contained the laptop and all the cords. Nothing appeared to be damaged, with the exception of my long-exposure serial box which had its box smashed apart but the electronics were still intact.
Andrew Murrell and John Bambury gave the first talk of the weekend, describing some of the objects that can be seen in the October Lostock skies. That was followed by Lesa Moore, who gave an account of her experiences travelling to Mauna Kea, which was very entertaining and enlightening.
Some clouds came over and we even got 5-10 minutes of rain on Friday afternoon, and I thought we didn't have a chance of getting any observing on Friday night, but it cleared away beautifully and Friday night was just magic.
Clear ALL night long, a slight breeze keeping the dew away, and 2 magic fireballs that sparked and broke up as they glowed through the sky.
My equipment problems continued to haunt me, as even though I figured out my guiding problems (by changing some settings in PHD), my DSLR (which was being controlled by the laptop) kept disconnecting and reconnecting from the laptop.
Turned out that my 4-port USB hub didn't survive the fall, and was causing the problems with the camera.
So even with the clear skies all night long, I didn't get any prime focus photography done and headed to bed about 3:30am.

Saturday was a beautiful day - virtually no wind now, sunny and very warm. I went up to the top of the nearby hill to log on, and drove past Mount Disappointment where we had the spectacular views of Comet McNaught in 2007. It certainly brought back some memories!

Later on Saturday, Greg Bradley gave a talk about the basics of great astrophotography, and was followed by Prof Geraint Lewis who gave a very interesting talk about the anthropic principals in astronomy. Some of the cosmology stuff went over my head, but the history aspect was very interesting to me.

The Lucky Door Prize went off without a hitch, and the new format seemed to work well. It was certainly over and done with nice and quickly.

Lyn Petrie (Rick Petrie's wife) won the Peppers Gift Voucher, Dean Yates (Deeno) won the Binoculars, and Mikael (the exchange student from Finland) won the 50% Argo Navis discount.

Saturday night started out beautifully again, and I was hoping we'd get another all-night clear night, but it started clouding over again at about 11pm. I think a few people were sort of relieved, happy to hit the sack to get some extra sleep after Friday night!

Some light rain on Sunday morning sped up the packing up process for a few people, and most had left by around 9-10am. I managed to get out of there by about 11:30am and spent the rest of the day unpacking!

So all in all the weather was really good - it would've been nice to have been clear ALL night long 3 nights in a row, but what we got was a bonus. For the visual observers it was perfect, with a few hours every evening - especially for the sky tours and casual stargazers who got their fix and were then able to go to bed.
For the imagers, we would've liked a few more hours but that's always going to be the case :)

Some thankyou's!

Firstly to the volunteers - the guys that help out on-site are just fantastic and I couldn't have done it without you. Especially Chris Poynter (chrisp9au) - his first IISAC but he was a machine! He pitched in and helped out in almost every way - manning the rego desk, cleaning, stacking chairs and tables, picking up rubbish. Thanks very much Chris, your help was greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Fred (bassnut) for the P.A setup again this year. He does such a professional job, and the added bonus of the additional speaker pointing down to the camping area was fantastic. A lot of people commented how clear it was, and it was great to be able to announce the programme, dinner etc to people down on the field. Thanks again Fred, much appreciated.

Thanks to the Gresford RFB for the catered dinners again this year. The food was just fantastic - 3 courses every night and I don't think anyone walked away hungry. They bring it all in, serve it all up, wash it all up and take it all away. I couldn't ask for anything more!

Thanks to the Guest Speakers for sharing their time and expertise and talking to the group.

Thanks to the Chris Bond (CB) for recording the talks. They'll be made available for download or youtube in the next week or so.

Thanks to Andrew (RB) for being the official photographer, taking pictures of the guest speakers and the group photo.

Thanks to Cathi for picking up the projector/screen on Thursday, Thanks to Alan Meehan for the shirts, and thanks to the sponsors (York Optical and Wildcard Innovations) for the prizes for the lucky door prize competition.


It was great to have my family there this year. Jacob came up with me on Thursday, and Kate and the girls came up on Friday. They all went home on Saturday morning, but it was nice to have them there and spend some time with them.

It was also great to catch up some old friends, make some new ones, and put more faces to the names of the people we know online.

It's always a lot of work putting IISAC together, but I'm getting better at it and this year was the best in terms of organisation and being able to relax during the event.

Some changes this year such as the witches hats down on the camping field, helpers for the rego desk, the black draping in the marquee and the better projector/screen, were all improvements that had a positive impact.

I want IISAC to be the no-fuss star party, where people can come and relax and have a good time in each others company. I want it to be the family friendly, relaxed environment and I think that now the balance is just about right.

The friendly nature at IISAC is an extension of the excellent culture we have here on IceInSpace. It's a testament to the great group of people we've assembled in this fantastic IceInSpace community.

I'd love to hear your feedback. If you haven't yet done so, it'd be great if you could fill in the Feedback Form (http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1387047) and let me know what you liked and didn't like, and/or any changes you'd like to see.

IISAC2010 will be held on the 7th-10th October, 2010. So same time of year - last weekend of the NSW school holidays, and another week earlier so it may be a bit cooler at night.

Attached is a low-res version of the Saturday afternoon Group Shot. You can download a medium res version (1.2meg) here:
IISAC2009 Group Shot (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/iisac/iisac2009/IISAC09-GroupShot-1280px.jpg) (1.2meg)

More pics will come in the next days or weeks, and I'd love to see some more writeups and pics from others!

[ausastronomer]

Well I will post some feedback because it seems others are a little relectant to do so, for whatever reason.

I have been to every IISAC so far, Jan 2006, Jan 2007, Oct 2008 and Oct 2009. The observing conditions at the first two were OUTSTANDING. Dark clear nights on all 3 nights in both years, capped off with the magnificent views of Comet McNaught from Mount Dissappointment (how inappropriate can a name be?) at IISAC 2007. IISAC 2008 unfortunately was a washout and cloudout, but that is a hazard of the hobby and passion we have chosen. Unfortunately, despite the magnificent observing conditions and camaraderie at IISAC 2006 and 2007 I just didn't enjoy things like I should have because of the sweltering heat by day. It really made the days terribly long and arduos. I felt IISAC 2009 was easily my favourite IISAC so far, notwithstanding the observing conditions were not to the standard of 2006 and 2007. I didn't cook by day. The catering was the best yet by Gresford RFB. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and everyone was keen to help everyone else out and by virtue of past experience Mike and the other volunteers had everything running like a clock. I also enjoyed listening to the guest speakers by day. The marquee worked really well and it was comfortable to sit and listen and enjoy the talks. The guest speakers in past years were excellent, but I found it onerous to sit under the tin roof, while you self stewed in your own juices, trying to look at the slide presentation on a sunlight affected screen.

Like all good operators Mike has taken the constructive comments in the right vein and noted all the things that weren't right in past years and fixed them.

An excellent effort Mike and a job very well done. It is a great event that as a 3RF volunteer I will support whenever possible.

Cheers,
John B

[iceman]

Thanks for the feedback, John. Much appreciated.

October is definitely a more comfortable time of year :) It even got quite cold at night! The swimming hole was braved by a few kids but I didn't see many adults take the plunge :)

Here are a few of the shots during the guest talks (thanks RB):
1. Andrew Murrell
2. John Bambury
3. Lesa Moore
4. Greg Bradley
5. Prof Geraint Lewis

[iceman]

And during the formalities:
1. Mike during the speech
2. Mike and Geraint
3. Winner of the holiday (Lyn Petrie)
4. Winner of the binos (Deeno)
5. Winner of the argo (Mikael), with Gary Kopff

[dpastern]

Looks like a great time was had by all. Enjoying the photos and commentaries, keep them coming. Looks like a great success.

Dave

[jakob]

I would like to thank Mike and all the helpers for the fantastic 3 days!
:thanx::thanx::thanx:
The organization, the food and the company more than made up for the slight hick-up with the weather (and the cold feet).

I also would like to support all the comments by John (ausastronemer).:thumbsup:

Cheers J.

[jkrah]

I would also like to thank Mike and all the helpers.. This was my first IISAC.. actually my first real start party and it was great.

As others have said - great location, great food, great company and the weather was pretty kind as well.. (although I thought wind would destroy my tent on the first night)..

Congrat's Mike on putting on such a well organised and great event..

Heres some of my photos of the weekend..

[chrisp9au]

On the way home from IISAC09, after visiting the AAT at Coonabarabran, I called in to Parkes, and in the visitor centre found a display of all the CWAS David Malin Award pictures, which of course includes pictures by Iceman (Mike), h0ughy (David), and strongmanmike (Michael), and possibly other IIS members who I haven't met.

Looked very impressive, sorry about the quality of my pics, the light reflections were terrible!

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[Deeno]

Firstly I would like to thank York Optical and Mike from IceInSpace for the Celestron 20x80 binoculars. They make a great replacement for the old factory seconds purchased years ago and will provide many hours of observational ecstasy.

My first IISAC was back in 2007, when I rocked up with a recently purchased 10" DOB, a small cardboard box containing the eyepieces, camping gear and my girlfriend at the time, Amanda. All comfortably packed in a Corolla.

These days I need to borrow a van to cart all the crap that I've managed to accumulate in that time (Still have the 10" DOB). Its thanks to IceInSpace that the enthusiasm hasn't waned, otherwise that DOB would have ended up in a forgotten dusty corner in the shed.

It’s the relaxed, friendly and jovial atmosphere that keeps bringing me back each year. Even Amanda (now wife!) wouldn't miss it, who has no interest in astronomy at all.


Viva IceInSpace!!

[GTB_an_Owl]

first off - thanks to Mike and the organising crew for another successful IISAC
Like John, i have been to each and every camp so far. Each remembered for different things, but always one constant - the friendly and welcoming outlook of the group.

the weather wasn't as kind as it could have been, but at least we got some viewing in and i didn't get BLOWN away this year. Apparently it wasn't my turn - a few tarps were lost to the wind again this year i hear.

for me, the number of vendors participating this year was disappointing, hope we get more next year.
Oh, and Mike - could you move the starting time to 10 or 11 am so i don't have to get up so early (and can view longer the nite before)

i would like to thank my driver and transport manager, Geoff (inmykombie), for getting me there and taking me home again - thanks Geoff
Oh, and any time you want more practice towing my trailer around Rick - just let me know :P

congrats to the "pony club" crew for winning all the prizes (well almost all)

what were the odds of the 3 numbers being in the 70's ?

I'm still knackered, so i must have had a good time.
look forward to next year

ps. nice shots deeno


geoff

[iceman]

Wow Deeno, those shots are fantastic!

Awesome!

[chrisp9au]

Firstly a big thank you to Mike for organising such a great weekend, and to all the great people I had the opportunity to meet!
I now feel as though I'm a fair dinkum member of IIS!

I just wish I had taken some 'people' pictures, but I'll put that down on my list of objectives for next year.

Thanks again :thumbsup:
Chris

[erick]

Glad to hear that a good time was had and that some observing/imaging was possible! :thumbsup:

[Rick Petrie]

I would just like to reiterate and say what a great time Lyn & I had at this year's IISAC. After last year's disappointments with the viewing, this one made up for it.:thumbsup:
Thanks go to Mike and all the organisational crew for such a smooth running event and I'm sure next year will be a cracker.
Lyn was ecstatic at winning the major door prize of the Peppers Voucher as she has never won anything in her life and is still in amazement. Thanks go also to all the sponsors.
It was great to catch up with and meet some of the new members together with all the regulars and PC crew.
Thanks to all for posting those magnificent photos of the sites of Lostock.
Great memories there.
Cheers

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: good to hear you all had a great time :)
nice pics ;)

[Big Dave]

Just got back from the U.S. today, it would have been nice to be there and see STARS! I did the LCROSS viewing trip instead this year, however ISSAC would have been more productive than the 2 seconds worth of glimps I got!

P.S. There is some nice photos been posted already of the area; well done to all.

Cheers,
Big Dave.

[RB]

What a great event it was this year.

Mike did a fantastic job in organising the event and with the help of the volunteers, IISAC09 was a great success.

As John.B said all the feedback that Mike has collected from previous years has been used to improve things and make IISAC very pleasant, enjoyable and he's got things running very smoothly.
The presentations are now easy to see and conditions are very comfortable in the marquee.

I had a blast, it was great to see everyone, I just wish I got to spend more time with all the regulars.
This year it seemed like the time just flew by.

Anyway a big thank you to Mike and all the volunteers, I had a fantastic time.

:)

[peterl]

Another great astro camp!
Sue and I would like to thank Mike and organisers who did a great job again.Thanks to John and Andrew for the "sky tours" and good to meet up with people we did not know.Some more images.
1.upstream
2.vendor stall
3.Al meehan
4.daytime activities. kites.
5.imaging time

peter langdown :hi:
peterl

[RB]

Apart from the official photos of the presentations, prizes and group photo, I also had a chance to take some candid shots and portraits which I'd like to share.

1. Al 'Dundee'

2. Chris '007South'

3. Geoff and Gary talking business over a cuppa.

4. Mike and the Blonde

5. 'Cool Hand' Rick

6. Dave 'I want a bottle of milk' Hough

7. Mike and Kate

8. RB taking a break from the camera

:)

[RB]

and some more:

9. John Bambury got in trouble and was made to put his hands on his head

10. 'Chopper' Sidonio

11. Fred brought his Van der Graff machine to entertain us.

12. and Fred again contemplating what he heard on the grape vine.

13. Richard had to reason with his gear.

14. but in the end Richard won.

15. Strong Ear

16. I didn't get a "Harrumph" - Sidonio

:P

[norm]

Just want to thank Mike and the organisers for another fantastic IISAC:thumbsup: The guys do a wonderful and tireless job to ensure everything runs smoothly. They honestly should be commended by all who attended.

It was great to catch up with some of the locals from the PC and also to meet some new folk as well.

For anyone contemplating in going next year, don't procrastinate, you won't be disappointed.

Friday and Saturday was great and ended up doing at least 4-5 hrs of viewing each night. Saturday night did dew up from around 11pm and it was time to call it a night by 00:30hrs. Both nights were cold, but bearable.

Thanks Rodney for allowing me to use your TV paracorr and not to mention your tips on navigating the night sky, it was appreciated.:)

Here are some pics (my first post of pics!) so hopefully they come thru!

Pic4 was a mum with her poddy calf - she was guarding it closely.
Pic6 - resident Echidna !

[dpastern]

What a cute calf norm, I missed it on first glance. Did you manage any clsoer shots of the Echnidna?

RB - had a great laugh at the captioning of your shots. Enjoyed immensely. Boy Mike is a big lad - remind me not to annoy him ;)

Dave

[norm]

Hi Dave,

I managed to get 2 other shots one of the poddy calf close up and the other of the echidna. Unfortunately Mr echidna can move quickly when he has too!

[norm]

Here's one more of another echidna taken last year! Who knows it might be the same one:lol:

[strongmanmike]

Now that's a classic!!..?..Catweazle? :rofl:

[dpastern]

What a nice lil bovine, cute! I've never seen an Echidna in real life before, they're smaller than I thought.

Dave

[RB]

Thanks Dave and Mike.
I cracked up at the shot of Fred, he imitates a plasma ball to a tee.

Great pics everyone.
If anyone has more please share !

Deeno those shots of the camp are awesome mate.
Always love what you come up with.

[Higbyrichard]

To Dave, Mike and Andrew, many thanks for the tips you guys gave at the camp. Very useful especially with a Tak that was determined to believe it was in the Northern Hemisphere. I apologise for not being great company due to feeling crook. A day in bed plus copious amounts of Vitamin C on my return got things back on track.
To Dave (the gadget man), every time I looked up you had some new gizmo from out of space, I have ordered the digital protractor . What a top idea. Plus the Polar Alignment software which will be tried out shortly.

To Mike and organisers, one of the most relaxed and friendly camps I have attended and the evening meals were delicious.

Regards

Richard.

[Allan_L]

WOW! I have stayed at Lostock before, but That was my first IISAC.
I was totally amazed how professionally everything was handled, and with a minimum of fuss.
Great work Mike and crew.
That was bl**dy br!ll!ant!
You should be exceptionally proud of yourselves, and justly so.
AND I reckon you gotta be over the moon that you have organised such a huge following of really nice people.
Hey Deeno, those snaps mate - breath taking stuff. Are you a professional photographer? You know just how to shoot a scene to accentuate its beauty. Great.
And a special thanks to the Pony Club gang. As always it was a pleasure to be among you!

[peterl]

few more shots at Lostock.
1x panorama and some great gear.

peterl

[daveh]

Hi Folks,

Angela and I got back to Cairns late Tuesday - one big drive ! This is the first opportunity to post and say a big 'thank you' to all.

Well organised, well managed, very professional. Again, thanks to All !

We met some lovely people - actually we didn't meet anyone who wasn't.

I learnt heaps of stuff, and maybe I've moved up a notch from below 'lower novice' ( -8 on a scale of 1 to 10) to 'low novice' (-2 on that same scale).

I realise i still have some 'legs' left in my little 6" reflector, but only till I raise the cash for a 10" dob + push to. Anyone want to buy a scratched copy of the Beatles 'Double White' Album - (complete with wine stain on the front cover (so its a 1 and 3/4 white album in reality) - a cordless, batteryless electric drill or a half eaten packet of crisps ?

Thanks again to everyone

[DavidU]

It looks like you fellas had a great time.

[daveh]

Yep.. Fantastic.

Good people, Good wine, great food ! Even the brain got fed to bursting !

[chrisp9au]

Some more pictures.

I was asked by Alchemy to take some pictures of the scopes set up for imaging, as he could not attend.

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[Octane]

Chris,

Thanks for taking a photo of my setup! Image #4.

Regards,
Humayun

[chrisp9au]

No wurries Humayan, maybe I should have indicated ownership of each of the scopes?

1. Alan Meehan
2. David Hough
3. Richard Digby
4. Humayan
5. Jason Kral

I asked before I took the pictures, I hope nobody objects to my showing them here! :question:

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[FredSnerd]

This was our very first star party and we were especially lucky because our 2 daughters joined us (those with older kids will know how hard it can sometimes be to get the family together when the kids are all growed up). Well we all had the bestest time so thanks to everyone (esp Mike) who gave up their time to make this event happen.

Just an amusing aside. My daughter was telling us that she mentioned to a friend that she was going to a star party because she’s interested in astronomy and the friend said “Oh that’s really great, what star sign are you”.

[dpastern]

Thanks for those images Chris - great to see all those wonderful setups.

Dave

[acropolite]

Thanks for the reports and images, feels like I was almost there...:thumbsup:

[Paddy de Klerk]

Confirmation of all the threads posted following another nice happening at Lostock.Told someone sometime back that I was going to Lostock for a star party.Reply was a prattle about pop stars & something that sounded like Woodstock.Great opening to tell the same party what it meant to be part of a community such as IIS,Year of Astronomy,running water & the magic of looking up in awe.They might well be part of next years proceedings.Thanks for making it happen Mike.Might just volunteer to help next year.

[RB]

LOL here's one I forgot all about (maybe I should have left it that way). :lol:

One of the nights I decided to drag out the 20Da and just let it snap away as I enjoyed a cigar or three.

Everything started off normally, I was hoping to get a simple startrail and perhaps make a time lapse with the LMC and the SMC rising.

Well the best laid plans......as the saying goes.

Along comes Mike Samerski and Greg Priestley with their song and dance sparkler act.

So I thought, what the heck, I'll stack them all anyway.

Well bang on the sunnies and sunscreen to view this image.

:lol:

[iceman]

haha very cool RB! :) I look forward to seeing the timelapse!

[RB]

:D

I've had a quick go at assembling this timelapse, never done one before.
I stopped the camera once we got clouded in so it's not very long.
Let me know if it works ok.

Click here to View movie: (http://www.iimagespace.com/files/iisac09-TL.avi)

(Warning: File size is a 2MB avi)

[iceman]

Haha that is so cool!

Samerski and Priestly are such light polluters ;)

That turned out great! (I had to download the avi and watch it rather than playing in the browser, for some reason. Could be a chrome issue).

Interesting to see the 2 different layers of clouds.. the ones from the South broke up nicely, but those thick ones from the west ruined things ;)

[Rick Petrie]

Great light show RB!!!:lol:
I didn't realize there was so much lightning happening up on the hill.:P
Now all we need is the musical accompaniment soundtrack.:rockband::violin:
Reminds me of the old cracker nights.:)
A twopenny bunger or two would have upset the serenity, wouldnit?
Now that makes me look older doesn't it?:(

[RB]

Yeah it was so funny listening to Samerski serenade Mr Priestly with "You light up my life"

:lol:



That's my fault, I wasn't sure how to embed the avi into the webpage. :D

[RB]

:lol: you posted just before I did, yes see my previous post about the serenading that was going on.

Ah yes cracker night.........memories........:)

[iceman]

Ok here's a few other happy snaps taken during the star party.
1. My daughter Abbey
2. Al "crocodile dundee" Meehan
3. Anuska "Joe don't buy anything"
4. One of the byron lads
5. The other byron lad
6. Chris "you should be wearing an IIS beanie" 33south!
7. Dave "another tent wrecked" houghy
8. Deeno and Amanda plotting their next prize win. RB oblivious! Moderate them dammit!

[iceman]

9. My daughter Eliza
10. Eva "and Shaggy" Berry
11. Fred "Shaggy" Vanderhaven
12. Geoff "the freezer suit" owl
13. Jack "this is not a wig" Berry
14. My son Jacob
15. Youngsters plotting the demise of the old people
16. The lower field landing strip. With the headwind on Thursday, a hercules could've landed there.

[iceman]

Last lot.

17. Once we build this dam, we can take over the world!
18. Once we build this dam, we can take over the world!
19. Matt "Great" Scott! (circumpolar)
20. Mike "how do you find time for this" Salway
21. The river continued to flow despite the kids best efforts
22. Rod at his usual Friday night hangout
23. Mike "I'm a little teapot" Strongman Sidonio

Hope you enjoyed!

[sheeny]

Great photos Mike.

I wish I'd been a bit healthier to enjoy it...

Al.

[Bassnut]

Excellent pics there Mike (well, except the class clown, but thats OK, someone has to be :P).

Geez, I had such a good time, thanks muchly for all your efforts Mike, IISAC 09 was excellent, wouldntve miss it for anything, caught up with so many ppl :thumbsup:.

[chrisp9au]

I also wish you'd been a bit healthier, I reckon I caught it from you!
Started coughing on the way to Coona on the Sunday, and haven't stopped yet!

Cheers :thumbsup:
Chris

[peterl]

Thanks for the photos mike....

Certainly some great memories and new friendships from
this 2009 astrocamp. :)

Peter Langdown

[sheeny]

That's what I was afraid of:sadeyes:. Sorry. I did my best to keep my distance. It's only the last couple of days that I'm finally almost cough and snivel free...

Al.

[spacezebra]

Great pics Mike - Im on the road to recovery and ready for IISAC2010

Cheers Petra d.

[Kaarpy]

What a great camp! It was my first Star Party/Camp and I was bracing myself for 'super-blokiness' being one of the few female observers there and getting back into Astronomy after a long (decades) lull and with my first humble, but very nice 6" Newtonian Telescope.

But I was pleasantly surpised at how friendly, laid-back, unpretentious and un-patronising people were (blokes included :)). I had some key help from the people camped next to me. My partner also enjoyed the beautiful environment, being with passionate 'astro-geeks' and sleeping happily while we all stayed up late. I had heard that other camps were not necessarily that friendly, especially for kids and beginner observers so I'm very glad I went to this one. It was great to see some parents with 'scopes engaging their kids or taking them to look through the large Dobsonians for the nightly sky-tours.

Thanks to Ted for helping me with polar alignment and general advice and Evan for lending me his laser-collimator and showing me a moon transit across Jupiter through his 16" Lightbridge (?) 'scope. (I am getting a collimator for Christmas!).

I had my telescope set up well for that fanstastic Friday night viewing where I went through my list of dark-sky targets until 4am!! I saw so many objects for the first time that were breathtaking even through a 6" telescope and Ted loaned me a H-alpha filter to see added contrast on nebulae - wow! I saw my first galaxy - Andromeda of course and found all objects just by star-hopping and using a very handy Telrad. I was having such a good time, I wasn't even tired until about 2-3am, helped along by hot chocolate and butterscotch schnapps alternately :D (Normally I'm cactus by 11pm and thanks to our neighbour for the schnapps top-up!)

Being a keen gardener, I was sad to have no room left in the car for the cow poo! Too much shopping and gifts for friends from an expedition to the hunter valley!

I've already put the dates in my diary for next year and hey, even if the weather is bad, the river is beautiful, the company fun and the surrounds relaxing.

Thanks so much to Mike and all volunteers in creating such a great gathering of nice people and educational events in a gorgeous environment. :thanx:

[Jen]

:thumbsup: Nice read there Kathleen ;) Yes i just recently went to my first star party in October too at Snake Valley Ballarat. And like you i took along my baby 6inch Newt :P and i never seen so many things through that thing like i thought i would ;) I had an absolute ball and i was the only girl there :lol::lol: The guys were brilliant and very helpful i couldnt have asked for such great company for the whole weekend :)
Yep ive penciled in to go next year too :D