2010 Queensland Astrofest in review

[firstlight]

Thanks for David for suggesting to have a review thread.

I hope that everyone traveled home safe and secure.

After spending almost all day packing up the Astrofest and our gear, Anne-Louise and I rolled back into our driveway at about 18:30 (after picking up some takeaway :)). We had a great time and there will be more stuff from me as we come to terms whit what has transpires over the past 4 days and O have some figures of temps and weather but my memory is a bit shaky... so much has happened.

Friday - clear and down to -2
Saturday - clear, -4?
Sunday - clear, -5
Monday - cloudy, 4
Tuesday - rain, 10
Wednesday - clear and dewy, 2
Thursday - mostly cloudy, :question:
Friday - clear, 0
Saturday - clear, :shrug: (too tired and I went to bed without uncovering the scope).

I had a whole new set-up acquired over the past 9 months to play with and from my point of view I had a great Astrofest. This was the first Astrofest I was able to set up for the first night for about 7 years. Not only that I managed to actually get every working and get a result. I pulled 4 04:00's and 2 all-nighters - 06:30 and 08:30, and one philosophical discussion over a few ports on the rainy night until 02:00.

I will try to post some images in the next few days but I will leave that to others to begin to do that, and any other thoughts and comments they might have.

Cheers
Tony

[acropolite]

Tony, I noticed David commented on the power issues, it seems to happen every time, I suspect the culprits were mainly Rcd safety devices and also the use of hair dryers to remove dew. I had most of my stuff running on a 12 V supply so it wasn't really a problem, but I can understand the frustration of those who were affected. I think at the end of the day it's not that difficult to provide your own ups or battery backup. A note to campers about not using the power for electric kettles etc would help with the power outages in the van areas.
Overall it was a fantastic event as usual, thanks to yourself, Anne-Louise and the organizing committee for your efforts. We'll hopefully be back next year.

[stanlite]

i have a solution to the power issue ... surely among all those that come to astro fest there is a nuclear technician with a spare pound of plutonium to spare so we can build a reactor to power all those mounts. :P

[firstlight]

These are the first two images I have processed... don't know what I'm doing, but I think I am happy with them. Both taken on the 2nd Friday/Saturday.

Omega Centauri WO 110 ED Doublet, on a NEQ6 mount, Modded Canon 450D, 11 x 180 sec subs (33 min), 800 ISO. Stacked DSS, post-processed PS CS2.

M17 (Swan Nebula) WO 110 ED Doublet, on a NEQ6 mount, Modded Canon 450D, 19 x 180 sec subs (57 min), 800 ISO. Stacked DSS, post-processed PS CS2.

80690 80691

[PeterM]

Hey Tony,

Just got the IAUs official announcement about Stuart Parkers 10th discovery and yep it mentions Astrofest (where the confirming image and position were done by Greg Bock & Colin Drescher ) as I thought it would when I reported.
It created quite a bit of excitement on the imaging field with some being only the 3rd (Peter Bester?) or 4th on the planet to image this new transient object. Even though discovered many ks away in NZ, the confirming image & follow up work by Bock & Drescher adds to Astrofests long list of achievements and is in keeping with The Queensland Astrofest promo "Where it's starry one night Supernova the next".

(CBET 2410) SUPERNOVA 2010gw IN IC 4992
Peter Marples,..... reports the discovery of an apparent supernova......... by Stuart Parker (Oxford, Canterbury, New Zealand) as a member of the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search team. The new object is located at R.A. = 20h23m25s.31, Decl. = -71d34'04".9 (equinox 2000.0), which is 12" west and 11" south of the nucleus of IC 4992 (position and magnitude measured by Colin Drescher and Greg Bock from the Queensland Astrofest, Camp Duckadang, Linville, Queensland, Australia. A confirming image.............. by Bock .......shows the new object clearly.

PeterM.

[pmrid]

Tony,
congratulations are more than due to the organisers. A mammoth undertaking and executed with good grace and humour.
If I had been as organised as you were, I would not have forgotten my dew straps, supply of warming fluids or UPS.
Power issues are probably the ones that will remain highest on most lists of 'things to do'.
Overall, a great event and well managed.
Peter.

[h0ughy]

Astrofest 2010 – where do I start.

Well I would like to thank Anne Louise and Tony, and Pat Pearl for all of their hard work as they epitomise the event! Without their efforts and the rest of the committee I think it would be lacking in a lot of qualities that has made the event what it is.


One of the most important unsung heroes would have to be Paul Russell. Without this man I think a lot of us would be up the creek. If he hasn’t got Velcro to fix it then he has the knowledge and the bush sense to get it going. I dips me hat Ponders and thank you for your unwavering help

It was great to put a few names to faceless avatars.

Phil was brilliant and gave me one of the best gifts a man could give – a straight 5m attachment and lead for the eq6 hand controller. Man it was so easy to sit in the “command” centre and just move the scope around. Thank you Phil, and it was a pleasure to catch up with Liz….

I would like to thank Peter Bester for becoming the Autofocus motor for the 300mm lens ;). Peter's help made it somewhat simpler to focus the beast as I was for the very first time capturing on the laptop, thanks to Mark.;)

JJJ it was a pleasure to share the field, the rotunda and the goodies.:D

We had a little rain (75mm) on Tuesday/Wednesday) which allowed me to delve into the 70 gig of data i had aquired by this stage.( I was greedy and has 5 cameras going at times). All up i have just over 100Gig of data. it would have been more but three clouded nights didnt help.:P

There is so much to say and even more not to say ;) but I would like to say congratulations to Alan Meehan for winning the telescope section of the photo comp. Well done mate!:thumbsup:


my parting word - i will miss those skies:sadeyes:

[DavidTrap]

I'll echo the sentiments of those who have already posted and add my thanks for the efforts of the organisers. The event runs extremely smoothly - a tribute to the prior planning.

Obviously, there are things that cause concern. I discussed a number of issues with several attendees, many of whom have been coming to Astrofest for many years. What I will follow with is a "summary" of some of those musings.

I was not affected by power outages when observing (camping is another matter), but did help some who were. Solutions are difficult, given that we are an energy hungry mob using a site that is not designed for that task. I plugged most of my equipment in on Sunday to take some dark frames and measured my power consumption at <200watts. Given a standard outlet is limited to 2400watts, could there be a policy that no more than 10 people be attached to any given power-point/circuit. My suspicion is that outages were due to overload of a circuit, rather than an earth leakage problem. 240V hairdryers would impose a sudden load (often >1000watts) that could tip the balance - do the majority think they should be banned? Another solution would be for individuals to bring a UPS. I priced a basic UPS yestereday at $100-150, ultimately a small fraction of the cost of many rigs being used at Astrofest.

Camping continues to become more popular - Tony what is the proportion of those camping vs sleeping in the dormitories? There were certainly more camper trailers & caravans scattered around the site vs last year. It was certainly quite crowded between the camper trailers, which does detract from the enjoyment. Some of those I talked to believed that Astrofest may have outgrown the site - although it would be no mean feat to find somewhere better... We did experience some power outages there - could toasters, kettles or electric blankets be to blame here and need to be treated like hairdryers on the observing field? The site is not designed to cope with those power demands, and concessions are needed.

Many of the campers also thought $20 per day for a shower, toilet and 240V power was a bit steep. It certainly adds up when staying for a week.

I certainly enjoyed my time at Astrofest - it's a pain that work commitments and the weather reduced the length of my stay. I don't want the above to be seen as a whinge - I'm just passing on comments from myself and others that we hope could improve an already fabulous event.

Regards
David T

[Park123]

Yes it sounds like all you guys were have a great time when I contacted Pete at Astrofest wish I could of gone but work won out.
Fantastic job by all the BOSS group to get this one done.
Many thanks for Greg and Colin for there conformation and of course Pete for his link in the Chain.
Here are my first images pretty crappy as the weather here is shocking.
I hope everybody had a good time maybe next year it might be worth the trip.


http://parkdale-supernova-factory.webs.com/latestdiscoverynews.htm (http://parkdale-supernova-factory.webs.com/latestdiscoverynews.htm)

Stu

I would be really keen to see any images taken at Astrofest!!!!

[jjjnettie]

Stu, Peter Bester took an image of the SN not long after confirmation. I was eagerly looking over his shoulder to see it.
Congratulations! I hope to see you there next year.

[alan meehan]

Just like to thank everyone that went into the making of a great astrofest,it was the best 10 days i have had topped off buy the winning of the astrophoto comp.it was great to catch up with old friends and meet many new ones ,special thanks goes to the guys that helped me fix my eq5 mount that ground to a halt on wed night we had a workshop to repair it on thursday morning.look after those great skies and cannot wait until next years astrofest.
ALAN

[earthlight]

First of all I'd like to say Thank You! :thanx::thanx: for all the thanks I've read so far.

It has been a great time being a part of running the QLD Astrofest. But my available time is not what it used to be, so even though I am pained to do so :sadeyes:, I have to give this job up. I will miss it. I love talking to everyone and seeing people have a good time. It is a real buzz!

What I would like to say is that it really disappoints me to hear the usual complaints about fees.

Doesn't anyone listen to the committee? We are charged by Lions per head not by where you sleep. The prices went up heaps this year but we received a discount. This may or may not happen again. So I would guess the price will rise again. FACT. We do not have control over this, we can only pass it on. We add a fee of less than $5 to help cover the other costs we have and to put some extra aside incase of unforeseen expenditure. Most years we have only just scraped in the positive.

If you are wondering what these regular costs are I can roughly list them:

name badges
printing
web page changes/problems
ink cartridges
pens/ duct tape/ masking tape
signs when necessary
electrical leads
red fluros
red bulbs
white bulbs/fluros to replace broken ones
etc.


There is a lot when it adds up. The raffle is our only bonus money. It is run to help get our speakers and all the equipment that we use. That has amassed considerably over the years to make your stay better. So we can help people who have forgotten things,etc


As for percentages I can give you that
This is for the whole week
Bunking 36%
Camping 24%
Caravanning 27%
Family 13%

8076580764

I don't agree we are out growing the site.

The bunk houses have been running at about 50% full for the last 2-3 years. So that is 48 people we can still house. It is getting harder to bunk people who cannot get into a top bunk, and I do see this being a problem in the future as we all get older.

The camping area was only getting full on the first and last weekends but more could be fit if people would put tents in a more orderly fashion. The committee have thought of marking out spots but that would be too much work. There is always the lower camping grounds too.

Less cars on site would give plenty of room for tents and caravans. But how many people would complain about that! I can see that being a better option rather than moving to another site. I doubt anywhere would allow us to replace all the lights like we do.

We still have plenty of space for scopes. There were large spaces in both fields that weren't used this year.

As for power problems:
When found the committee have found solutions each year.
The bay-marie was faulty (not our fault)
Long wait time for microwaves (we bought two)
The microwaves were tripping the kitchen circuit (moved them next year)
Campers couldn't get sufficient power (bought heavier cable to extend AC)
Tripping house circuit board (investigated and found to be earth leakage not overload, everyone must work on keeping boards dry)

Problems arise and we have always tried to fix them the best way we know how. We have spared no expense doing so, as this is a annual event. I have even gone to extent of labelling every bunk so people don't get it wrong. This takes hours preparing and doing. But it makes it all run smoothly so it's been worth doing.

The Committee are just people like everyone who love astronomy. We make mistakes and we try to do better. But all of us believe the event is worth the time and the effort. I just hope everyone will help the new committee find their feet. I know I will. :2thumbs:

Anne-Louise

[PattyP]

Thank you very much David for your feed back.

I agree with you that it does not seem fair that campers and those in vans pay the same amount as those in dormitories. Unfortunately that is something totally out of the organiser's control. Lions Club charge us for every person who stays there overnight regardless of where they sleep. So it does make it hard for us.

The power has been a problem this year. For the campers I have tried to run three separate circuits and many also ran their own leads back to the power points in the family house. For the vans the situation is not as good as we only have the one power point for the entire section. I have tried to split the circuit to spread the load over two portable safety switches but that did not help. I agree with you that toasters, kettles and heaters are probably the culprits and as you stated people will need to be discouraged from using them in the future. Cutting off the plugs with wire cutters as they drive through the gate will do the trick :-)

The main problem on the field was earth leakage. It had to be reset a few times. It seems that as the dew got heavier tripping started. There were a couple of items out there that were dodgy but impossible to find during the day when they were dry. I did find one on Saturday but by then it was too late.

I would urge every one to use a UPS (or similar) on their mount to avoid having to redo an alignment. I run as much as possible from a car battery and simply keep a battery charger going. The only thing that I have yet to convert over is the external power supply for the Canon camera.


Like Houghy, I would like to sincerely thank Paul Russell. Every year he is a never ending source of advice and bits and pieces that he is prepared to lend so that you can get your gear working properly.

Like Tony I had a whole new set up this year at Astrofest so I was on a very steep learning curve. However, thanks to a lot of assistance from many of you, I got everything working and finally took some properly guided astro photos.

I am glad that all of you had a great time. next year Tony, Anne-Louise and I will have a lot more time to spend with all of you. I am looking forward to be able to put my feet up and enjoy your company in the rotunda. Meeting up with all you lot every year as well as people from other local clubs is what makes Astrofest really fun and enjoyable for me.

See you there all next year. Pat Pearl

[acropolite]

Paul was brilliant, he had my mount aligned and guiding in double quick time, I too was on the recieving end of loaned equipment and advice.

Mr Ponders, you should wear a cape and your underwear on the outside....:thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

Thanks for the replies from Anne-Louise and Pat.

I was simply passing on comments from people I talked to - some of whom I know are unlikely to post feedback themselves.

My personal concern about Astrofest outgrowing the Duckadang site relates to electrical supply.

Regards
David T

[[1ponders]]

thanks for the kind words folks, always a pleasure to see happy campers making hay when the sun don't shine. And Phil, only at night mate, only at night :lol: :D

[Louwai]

I had a great time.
I must say I was a little "dissapointed" when I removed the scope cover from the 20" on Wed morning to find my rocker box had become a swimming pool overnight & the servocat unit underwater.
Terry lent me a drill & I quickly created a nice new drain in the corner, which was followed by several hrs of hairdryer usage. (day time)
By Wed night all was dried out. I sheepishly turned on the power :sadeyes:... NO SMOKE :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
We were off again.


Winning the major raffle prize was an absolute shock. Those that were there may have noticed my lack of excitment at the time. I was still in shock. Winning that was the LAST thing I expected.....
Funily enough, just before the draw Pam jockingly held up one of our 18 tickets & said "get ready to go up the front, this is the winning ticket".
And bugger me IT WAS !!!!!!!! The exact ticket she held up... I think I'll start a clairvoyance business & hire her out :)



A comment on the issues.
Power:
I can see that it is an issue, but really, we all spend soooo much money on gear. Why can't some of that be spent on stand alone power.
I have 2 batteries in my trailer which operate everything. I recharge with solar during the day.
I had no power issues at all. Granted I'm only running the scope & 1 lappy. More power required?? Then buy more or bigger batteries & bigger solar panels. If more of us can be self sufficient, then the less power issues there will be.

Then the actual 240v supply from the camp can be used for other things.

I brought & used a gas heater in my camping area. Worked a treat. I also used gas to heat water for coffee when I didn't feel like walking to the kitchen.
My fridge ran from the batteries in the trailer.

The only thing I used the 240v for was a top up of the batteries with the charger. Other than that I was self sufficient for the 9 days.
(other than the hairdryer incident noted above:D)


Cost:
I agree that the cost for camping is excessive, but I do understand that we have no control over it. It cost me a total of $200 & somthing for the 9 days. Not too bad really, but I didn't have 1000klm to drive. That's a big hit of fuel cost as well.....



All in all. Was a great success..........

[[1ponders]]

For whatever reason there is a problem, I'm sure it will be dealt with, but I agree Bryan, you have really hit the nail. I started using a UPS last year after experiencing problems the year before. It has saved me many times in the past two years.

I'll be going heavy duty next year. 75 AH battery on continuous trickle charge and leave the UPS to the sensitive stuff. The UPS kept my mount, camera, USB hub ticking away until the power returned. Power came back on I knew where I was and that what I was imaging was right where I left it. A big feeling of relief.

Plus it wouldn't hurt for our gear, especially 240V leads and powerboards get a check now and then.

[acropolite]

Ragarding the charges, I thought them very reasonable and the meal charges cheap.
For those who think it unfair that a van user pays the same consider that the camp owners didn't have to build a dwelling, buy a bunk and mattress and maintain those items. I'd imagine that most of the vanners and campers didn't use any of the freezer or cooking facilities either .

It's all a matter of how you look at it but the charges were cheap by any standards.

[kinetic]

are you kidding David...20 bucks a day and you reckon that's steep?
Stayed at a caravan park lately anywhere in Oz?
I think you had it pretty good.:)
Great company, access to views of a lifetime, great weather.....

priceless IMHO...bring Astrofest to SA I say :)
I will put the beers on:thumbsup:

Steve

[coldspace]

$20 bucks a day is bloody cheap for a powered site. I have to spend at least $30 to $50 bucks a day when we take our van away for family holidays. Even unpowered national park sites are still $15 to $20 a day.

As for power, well if you are not happy with whats provided then bring 1 X 100amp deep cycle battery, one of these easily runs my LX200 scope, mulitple dew heaters,laptop via a puresinewave inverter,camera and this will easily last 12 hrs, then during the day plug ina 15 to 20 amp smart switch mode charger and the 100 amp battery is full in only 3-4 hrs. Easy fix. People have to remember that this site is not wired with 20 amp power points every 3 meters so voltage drop/earth leakage things will happen from time to time, large battery/good charger/inverter will cost less than some eyepieces that I have bought and will give you great flexibilty to where you set up.

Great Job Anne-louise and team, bargain for the excitement and its not easy to get evrything perfect, I was one happy camper.

Matt.

[astroron]

I don't think it is to expensive,Having not long ago done a 17000km jurney to Perth and back, most caravan parks and National parks were charging $14-28 a night unpower'd sites, and that is for a single person, same price for a double.:(

North shore Noosa $21.00 a night just to park on the sand,Showers and toilets included.
Besides isn't the site and the company worth it:question::)

[DavidTrap]

The Astrofest price is per person per night. Many camp sites housed two or more people - so the price is on par with commercial caravan parks (which are operating for profit).

Ultimately, I think Lions are doing quite well out of Astrofest.

DT

[coldspace]

Yep, and I hope they make some profit.
I bet that camp would be far from booked most of the time, and like many things in life, if they don't make an earn then they will close.
And then astrofest will be no more.

[GrahamL]

Best 40 bucks I've spent on accomadation :thumbsup:

AFAIK most every Lions buisness arm is for turning a profit?
And the income is spent in the local comunities.
My experiance mirrors others O/N stuff is usually $20H not always with power, national parks are possibly cheaper but for my $10H I get no water, power,lighting of any kind,, the few pieces of high quality NP dunny paper I get out of the deal is more than offset by the ranger who sees the need to mow the bare patch of sand beside my tents open screen with the disscharge spraying sand all through it.

[COSMOPARADISE]

I had the best time in a long time even if my ETX suddenly spawned gremlins. Thanks Bryan for the tour with the 20, the Veil in O-III was my favourite visual memory and winning the Bino's and ASTROSTACK software was a great treat too. Great meeting everyone and putting faces to names. Sure i'll be seeing most of you all again around. Not enough could be said about how great this event is and to all the organisers hats off to you all. What an amazing team!!
Hooked!!!

[Louwai]

I'm sure someone on here that's local is a licenced electrician. someone who can test & tag.....

Maybe we should ask......

(that's regarding the gear that owned by AstroFest)

[cybereye]

As long as it's not Southwark!!! :)

[Shnoz]

Just like to say all of my friends and I had a great time at the Astrofest! The weather was great for the whole time we were there (we saw one cloud and it evaporated after a few minutes!;)) and then we left as soon as it started raining! And the power was not an issue for us (luckily for me I moved to the northern observing field on Sunday night to do some 'manual' work) So we were very very lucky pretty much all the way through!:D
I've organised a few Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and I actually expected this trip to be a lot more expensive, so money-wise I think it was a bargain:thumbsup:
So thanks muchly to Anne-Louise and Tony and everyone that helped organise the Astrofest for a really good time!

[PattyP]

The electrical gear belonging to Astrofest is tested and tagged. We have over 30 leads and 30 power boards out on the field protected by 10 RCD safety switches. I can guarantee you that it is not the equipment owned by Astrofest that is causing the nuisance tripping.
Pat Pearl

[DavidTrap]

Hi Pat,

Are the powerboards (not the orange RCD protected ones, but the white ones) rated for outdoor use? It may be something that many of us are guilty of - expecting indoor stuff to work reliably outdoors?

DT

[erick]

Yes, it probably is not designed to work outside. I always put a weatherproof cover around any 240V plug/socket - you can buy the standard HPM ones and others. I got a batch of cheap, but OK ones from ALDI one week. Also saves them being kicked apart.

I also put any power board into a plastic shopping bag or two to discourage moisture ingress.

[earthlight]

That was why the prices were raised. They weren't.

Anne-Louise

[mozzie]

i come up each year 4 nights 5 days nearly 8 hours both ways fuel,accomadation,food.costs around $500 bloody cheap holiday for me,try and spend that much in the cities for a week.

[acropolite]

Just a thought, if the main switchboard already has an RCD then the use of additional RCD's downstream is not recommended and can cause tripping problems.

[Tandum]

I believe all the power problems went away on the last night after a lot of people had packed up and turned off. Sounds like supply and demand to me.

Personally I run the show off an old car battery with a 6amp charger across it, just my mount had problems with power. It went northern hemisphere on me after an outage. I'll get a ups for the astro kit I think. It's pretty cheap really and it's best to be self reliant.

With lots of people connected, power trips. Live with it.

[that_guy]

oh yeah, when do we get the group photos?? ive paid for them and all :P:D

[acropolite]

Patience grashopper, they'll come.... in time...:whistle:

[h0ughy]

well got the group photo - thanks guys

[Louwai]

Typical Australia Post.

My group photo arrived in an A4 envelope with large stickers on BOTH side saying
PHOTO - DO NOT BEND

It was folded in half when I revceived it :shrug:

[acropolite]

Mine has arrived and in good condition, neither scrunched or folded....

[h0ughy]

this is the best tribute i can manage at this time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cgMuIyIVHo);)