Pony Club 11 Dec

[Allan_L]

Weather has been bad for a while now,
But there's a rumour of something to come
Clarity!
So
there could be another trip to the Pony Club this weekend if it comes to pass.
A few of us expressed interest to try to make it.
Watch this space.

al

[Arthur Alchin]

will do!!!!

[Shano592]

Can't, sorry. Chrissie Hynde is coming to town.

[GTB_an_Owl]

start doing the ground work for your leave passes for sat nite fella's

:stargaze: :astron:

geoff

[jakob]

Yeah, I'm desperate to get the cobwebs out of the lb.
:):D:P;):lol::eyepop:

[Rick Petrie]

Yep, the weather is looking really promising???????????????:question:
Now for the Owl's assessment in full.:)
Take it away mate:poke:

[Arthur Alchin]

have yet to see any weather report that suggests blue skies for saturday: can anyone suggest one that does?

[GTB_an_Owl]

http://7timer.y234.cn/exe/apanel.php?country=AS&adm=AS02&site=1578&en

need i say more!

geoff

[Rick Petrie]

Roll call......bump.

[Allan_L]

I am 95% chance of being there.
If there is a 95% chance of fine skies.

[GTB_an_Owl]

the medication is good to-day, then Al ?

remind me to tell you of the couple of cracker dreams i had earlier in the week

geoff

[Allan_L]

:lol: funny you should say that... not sure if I missed one, or doubled up :help:

[Rick Petrie]

I was going to say......
What have you been smokin' Al?????????????:screwy:
And for mr Owl......tell him he's dreamin'.:zzz:

[Rick Petrie]

Was that Jatz or fireworks?:P

[gmbfilter]

Does this mean that that we have clear sky's but can only see <2.5" ?
I like the Christmas Trees at the bottom nice touch.
I must need more medication

[gb_astro]

I'm in again.

Greg.

[gb_astro]

Looks like the jet stream is back.
During all this rainy weather it was taking a sharp right before reaching Sydney.

http://www.wunderground.com/global/Region/AU/JetStream.html

Greg.

[Arthur Alchin]

if the weather is fine: 95% chance of being present
if the weather not fine: 95% chance of not being present

[Zincberg]

Ok, Im a little confused, just got up and looked out the window, there appears to be a really strange phenominon outside. (see my picture, aiming in the direction of mangrove mountain)

Whats all that blue stuff? Will I still be able to see anything if I come tonight without all the clouds around?????:lol:

fingers crossed that I havent know totally jinxed the whole night.

What time do you guys go up?..and do I need to bring anything other than my "viewing tools"?

[Allan_L]

Hi Andrew,
Hope you can make it tonight.
Yes that blue stuff may scare a few regulars away!

Tonight the sun will set at 7:59.
It is a good idea to try to arrive a little before this to allow you to get the lie of the land and set up in the light.

The other factor is Moonset is not until 11:48. That may delay some people from arriving too early, but as it still should be a crescent moon it should not be too bright.

I expect some will arrive around 6:30 (please confirm guys).

I will probably aim to get there between 7:30 and 8:00.

You don't have to bring anything other than astro gear, but most people try to bring something tasty to share with everyone. Be it Tim Tams. Party Pies. or Mr Owls favourite crackers ( :) ). There is usually tea/coffee making facilities on hand or you can bring your own favourite beverage if you like. There are refrigerators.

Oh, and a red light if you have one.

[Arthur Alchin]

Will be arriving earlier about 1700 hrs but if the gate is locked will have to wait outside.

Will be on UHF ch 8 (simplex) so give it a go.

Will bring a bottle pr two of vino and maybe something to chew on

[RB]

Can't make it tonight. :(

Hope you guys have a great night.

:)

[Amunous]

im going to a mates this arvo for his bday. im hoping to be done and dusted with it by maybe 9. if i am ill def be heading up i really need to get the scope out under some sky and see something... i dont really care what it is just need to see something...

[RB]

You should see Geoff(Owl) and Allan on their new medication........:lol:

[GTB_an_Owl]

you're in a good mood this morning then RB!

geoff

[RB]

:lol: :thumbsup:

[GTB_an_Owl]

get and do some work, so you can come to-nite RB

geoff

[RB]

I'll try Geoff.

BTW people: don't forget that you can check the conditions up here on the mountain by visiting my weather station site.
Gives a rundown of the basic measurements.

Ignore the "Forecast", it's seldom accurate but you can view the web cam (bottom right link) and see the current sky condition.

http://www.mangroveweather.com/

:thumbsup:

[GTB_an_Owl]

geoffro !

could you pack a spare jumpstart battery pack for me PLEASE

geoff

[Allan_L]

We haven't heard from Geoffro of late.
Rumour has it he is on some cruise or something with the missus.

[GTB_an_Owl]

you might be right Al

so will someone bring a spare for me

ta

geoff

[Rick Petrie]

Geoff
If you mean Geoffro (Inmykombi)
He is on a cruise ship to nowhere till Sunday.
The only thing he will be jump starting.....I better not go there????;)
You can use mine if it is not dewy.

[Arthur Alchin]

i'll have a spare jumper with cig lighter outlet geoff

[RB]

Oh you make my job difficult sometimes Rick......:lol:

[Rick Petrie]

Then I'll see you tonight to slap my wrist.:D

[GTB_an_Owl]

great nite had by all

only two clouds in the sky all nite

6 in the trap around 2am

closed the gate at 4-30am

good roll up

let the rest of the gang tell the story

time to GTB (go to bed)

geoff

[Allan_L]

agreed, twas a very good night with good company and reasonable skies.

Highlights,
welcome to newcomer Andrew (Zincberg), hope you had a good time and hope to see you back regularly;
A new addition to coffee grinder alley
Eyepiece shootout on Andrews new scope.
Special guest appearances from RB and Bones.
Too many others to mention

thanks to all who came
Have a safe and great Christmas / New Year and see you next year :xmas: :reindeer:

[astropolak]

Hey, this was good...!
I really needed a fix, PC has done it once more.
Nice to see everyone, conditions very good except for the light pollution to the south.
Orion XT14", she is looking good. Very nice mirror, perhaps this is the one for me before I get "THE BIG ONE".
Our "eyepiece shootout", if you only have one eyepiece and use a SCT (1 1/4 focuser) then it better be a Panoptic 24mm, perfect.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all.

Joe

[RB]

Geez what a great night, lovely clear skies and great company.
It was a pleasure to meet our new friend Andrew (Zincberg) and thank you for the views through your LX90 10".

I hope you sanitize the scope after Joe put in that Pentax EP :P, would've had a better view if he put in the Tim-Tam. :lol:
Alan saved the day with the Vixen EP.

Rick got his much deserved wrist-slap, but by geez how good is that new Orion scope, cheers mate the views were fantastic.

Same goes to Greg (gb_astro), fantastic setup you have there mate, what a work of art that SDM with servo-cat is !
Thanks for the views.

Of course it was very entertaining to listen to the Owl's psychedelic dreams on his new medication.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year, thank you for your company throughout the past year and here's to next year.

:xmas:

[jakob]

I agree, was a good night! I enjoyed it even without my proper scope.

Imissed RB, must have been a late arrival.

My night ended on a sad note, My wife's little dog succome to a tick attack.:(:(:(

Merry Christmas to all, Jakob.

ps.
It was the ISS we saw, it passed at 20:58 from WSW to NW. Dist from earth 669km.

[RB]

Yep sorry I missed you Jacob, I arrived very late, around 11PM due to work commitments.



Sorry to hear that Jakob. :(

[Rick Petrie]

Ditto to all the above. I had a great allnighter at the PC once again and great to catch up with all the regulars and a big welcome to newcomers Andrew and Allan's son Steve and friend Liona.
Fabulous sky for a change and really got the 14" crankin'.
Like to take this opportunity once again to wish all fellow astronuts and families a great Christmas and New Year.

:xmas::reindeer:

See ya all next year.
Cheers :thumbsup:
PS So sorry to hear that news Jakob.

[Allan_L]

Thanks for clearing that up Jakob.
That new medication of Mr Owl's must be good, he swears blind he could see the pilot :P

Sorry to hear of your wife's loss. Amazing how deadly those ticks can be to a dog. Hope she doesn't let it spoil her Christmas.

It was great to catch up with you again.
See you again soon my friend, Merry Christmas.

[Zincberg]

Thanks heaps to everyone that was there. It was quite an eye opening experience.
I really walked away feeling welcome.. and learnt more than I can remember. Was awesome to see the differences with the eyepieces will definately be making a hefty upgrade before xmas!!
Only disappointment was to hear that it only generally happens once a month.. All things being equal, I will definately be there next time!

Thanks again all, really informative evening.

Andrew

[gb_astro]

Thanks everyone for a fun night.
Luckily the early mosquito attack did not last too long!
Rick's 14i and Joe's 21 Ethos both excellent.
The sky was very steady but quite soft at higher mags.
Wide views were very nice.

See you all next year,
Greg.

[bones]

Thanks all to last night. The company and views at the PC were great as always. Seemed to improve as the night went on whilst I was there. I imagine it only got better after the moon went down.

Welcome again to Andrew (Zincberg).

Mr Owl, be happy as always. :D

Rick, new scope looks great - enjoy the views. :astron:

Greg, Jakob, Joe Allan, and everyone else, good to see you all again.:) ;)

RB, I left just before 11pm (with a splitting headache, but it's better now). Was that you I passed on Wisemans Ferry Road? :driving:.

Till next year. Be safe and God bless all for Christmas :reindeer: & the new year :thumbsup:.

Tony.

[RB]

Tony, so sorry I missed you my friend, yes we must have crossed paths on Wisemans Ferry Rd.
Glad you got over your headache, they're terrible things aren't they?

Hope you & your family have a Blessed Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.
See you when we next meet at the Pony Club.

:)