Lostock Writeups

[tornado33]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8910&stc=1
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8911&stc=1

Hi all
Im back with Photoncollector from IISAC Lostock, (got back early last night,)and what a great time we had. Skies were good, albeit dewy, but next time dewcaps and heaters will be the go. The camp was run very well, the nightly dinner MOST appreciated. I got to meet some great people. At the meeting area Ive never stood amongst so many astrophotographers before, it was amazing :)

Many thanks to Mike and all those who worked hard to make it the sucess it was. Many thanks to the owners of the big dobs who gave us such great views of the skies through their light buckets. Thanks to the presenters at the talks and the donors of the prizes.

The amenities were good, and the river MOST appreciated in the hot weather.
Well done everyone!!

[Rodstar]

Yep, I'm just back from Lostock. I arrived on Friday night, so I was there for the Friday and Saturday night observing sessions. Last night there was not a drop of dew, absolutely fantastic conditions, Friday night was quite dewy, as Tornado 33 reported.

The skies at Lostock are darker than at Ilford (SPSP). At times I found myself just gazing with my eyes rather than using the scope. Mindblowing! :)

By all accounts, Thursday night saw the best viewing. John Bambury (ausastronomer) was able to get sharp views of Saturn at x400 in his 10" dob! :scared:

The best moments for me were seeing NGC 1365 in Hector, and a rising Omega Centauri, which looked absolutely spectacular in the 22 Pan in my 10 inches. I also enjoyed lots of star clusters in the Puppis area.

For those interested in learning, there were some fantastic sessions presented. Anthony Wesley (Bird) gave a ripper of a talk on astrophotography. His self-made newt is georgeous, and it was very interesting to hear how he has come to the conclusion that 13" is ideal for imaging.

One thing my two kids (aged 7 and 4) particularly enjoyed was the chance to play with other kids. They had a ball at the swimming hole. Oh, and Noah (aged 4) was particularly chuffed at winning the 12" Dob in the lucky door prize competition!! ;)

I am absolutely exhausted, so I will add some more detailed comments later, but in short, the location was beautiful, skies very dark, a great gang of amateurs of every level of experience from newbies without scopes to people with 30 and 40+ years experience. A wonderful event, not to be missed next year.

Thanks to Mike, HOughy, Brendan, and the others who helped with putting the event together. It ran like a Swiss clock - testament to the hard work of the committee, and possibly also an indication of just what a fine bunch of people amateur astronomers make when they get together! :drink:

[frogman]

im going to start 2 new threads in the photo (general) section one called Lostock photos and another titled our Sausage man....

[merlin8r]

Yes I made it back too. And what an amazing long weekend it has been. This was my first star party, and I couldn't fault it. Everything went smoothly. I don't think I have been anywhere before where I could walk up to anyone and just start talking, the atmosphere was that friendly. Highlight for me, finally getting a decent astrophoto, plus seeing my first comet (C2006 A/1).

Many thanks to Mike, Houghy, and everyone else who helped in every way possible. And a big thanks to everyone who came, and shot the breeze. Same time next year??

[venus]

Back, totally awesome time even with forgetting my scope....lol
Thanks everyone *group hug*
Now for some rest... :zzz:
IISAC Lostock (http://venusien.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php)

[Rodstar]

Thanks for those great shots Venus. Brings back lots of memories!

[venus]

You're welcome:)

[Brendan]

Im glad every one has enjoyed themselves, although I can take little credit in the organisation, that qudos should be given to Ice man and H0ughy.

It was great to catch up with so may like minded people and weren't the skies fantastic, I only live about 50 Km away and they were even darker than home :)

[bird]

I had a great time, was good to put faces and people to the names on the forum. We sure are a very diverse group, with all sorts of unexpected skills and interests outside the one we all share.

A big Thank You to Mike and his co-organisers, everything went smoothly. I'm looking forward to seeing everyones pictures (the daytime ones as well as nighttime ones!).

Bird

[Sausageman]

I second all the praise given to those hard working organisers of the event.

What a great weekend.
By the way, Erik and I just got home after a 10 hour drive. even with getting caught up with those Tamworth Festival morons pulling caravans.
I am now enjoying a well earned :drink:

Hey Iceman, How do I change my username to Sausageman.?

If anyone wants the sausage recipe's to make hamburger patties let me know and I will post them.
A special thanks to Erik, who I roped into helping me make the snags. It's the best way to clean under your fingernails. Hahahahaha. joking of course. :lol:

Its great to have a hobby that you can eat the results. Next year could be cheese making under the stars 101.

It was great meeting you all, stay in touch.

Oh and its cloudy here again.

Mike

[Itchy]

It was certainly an enjoyable few days. Thanks to everyone involved.

I think I'll sleep well tonight!!!!

cheers

[gary]

Congratulations to all those who took part in the inaugural NSW IceInSpace AstroCamp!

Special thanks to the organizers for helping make the event a huge success.

The weather provided some very welcome observing opportunities at night
and the right temperatures for a refreshing dip in the river during the day.

AstroCamp was a fabulous chance to put a face to the many monickers, to renew
existing friendships and to strike up some new ones - plus see and look through
a large range of telescopes and to chat day and night about the universe's
No. 1 hobby.

There was a surprise visit by Ron Knight (aka Astroron) who drove from Perth via
Victoria (including a 1000km detour near Esperance due to road closure). Ron was
en route to Queensland but couldn't miss the chance to catch up with the IceInSpace
community and to get some observing in. Now that's dedication!

Special thank to iceman, h0ughy and the many people who worked behind the
scenes.

Hats-off to the local RFS members and their families for the catering.
This time of year is always a good reminder of the work these fabulous
volunteers do to help protect our communities and families, so please be sure
to donate to the RFS if you haven't done so this year already.

IceInSpace has put Lostock on the astronomical map and what a great find
and a beautiful venue.

Mai and I would like to thank you all. Our two young nephews also had
a great time.

Once again, congratulations!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
Home of the Argo Navis DTC
20 Kilmory Place
Mount Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[h0ughy]

Thanks Gary,
please accept this as a token of your executive boardroom........... :lol: :wink2:

[venus]

I'd like also to thank Alan Mehan for the great "IISAC T-Shirts" didn't want to take mine off:)

[RB]

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mike and all involved in organising the camp. It was a fantastic oppertunity to meet everyone and put a face to the names.
I'd like to thank the sponsors who generously donated the prizes, I'm still stoked in winning the Argo Navis, cheers Gary and Mai.
And also to the RFS for the usual FANTASTIC job that they do.

Lostock was a great place and the skies were unbelievable but what made it all worthwhile was the company and mateship that existed and was nurtured by all involved.

Thanks also to Louie Atalas for letting me use his equiopment all night long to image the heavens and for all his advice and freindship.

Cheers

[gary]

Thanks h0ughy!

Next year I propose all the AstroCamp talks be held whilst everyone
is in the river! :thumbsup:

Best Regards

Gary

[Noidea]

Ditto to all the praise directed at Mike and Houghy for organising such a great weekend. Also thank you to all the behind the scene people who helped as well.

This was my first experience of a Astro meeting of any kind. I literally received my first real scope the day before the camp. As a new comer there was no shortage of approachable people willing to chat, advise, assist and even demonstrate on their own equipment.

I especially want to thank Eddie for the Sky tours, Wazza for giving me so much time and teaching me about the night sky, and Andrew for giving me a one on one late night session with Hector.

The location, amenities and food was great. The swimming hole really topped it off.

Lostock 2007? Sure, I 'm there! :campfire:

Cheers Paul

[h0ughy]

Yes he did some wonderful work and was dedicated as well, devoting his holiday time to doing the shirts, and without them the camp would have missed some recognition factor without them :)

[gary]

Thanks Andrew! We appreciate that very much.

And once again, congratulations on winning the Argo Navis!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
Home of the Argo Navis DTC
20 Kilmory Place
Mount Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[cahullian]

Big thank you to Mike and Houghy for putting on a fantastic camp.
Ron and myself had a blast and we would like to thank Paul for generously donating the Star Atlas Pro we won. Im using it as I type this. Although I didn't get to use my scope too much I really enjoyed the tour John B gave me on Planetary Nebula( about 40 in as many minutes) Mikes sausages are to die for and and I'm sure Erik is an expert at making them now also.
The RFS done themselves proud and kept the entire clan well fed each night.
I also got a new focuser and I can tell you it is 300% better than the one that came with the scope (anyone who has ever used it will know what I'm talking about)
It was great to catch up with the centel cost new moon mob again ( weather and fires have made my visits there few and far between) I also found out who was blasting the camp with a laser pointer on the last night... It was Mark Latham...he thought the red lights were cameras.

All in all we both had a grand time and can't wait until the next one.

Gazz/Ron

[iceman]

I had a great time at Lostock!

The event was (in my opinion) a huge success, with many more people coming than I'd originally hoped/planned for, everyone was friendly, and we had 3 crystal clear nights. We had almost 100 people for a first year event!

The first 2 nights were quite dewey, but the 3rd night was fantastic.. a light breeze kept the dew away. The skies were really dark, darker than SPSP at Ilford from all reports and it was a beautiful setting. The facilities were excellent, with plenty of toilets and showers, cold and hot water, loads of space for camping, bunkbeds, observing on grass, great cooking facilities, and the swimming hole was just fantastic especially on those hot days.

Many thanks to h0ughy who helped me with the organisation - he went above and beyond and it would've been much much more difficult for me, if it wasn't for him. Also thanks to the other helpers and organisers who contributed time behind the scenes.

Many thanks to the local Gresford RFB for the catering.. they did a top job feeding the troops with a 2-course meal.

Many thanks to the sponsors for providing the prizes for the lucky door prize draw. Congratulations to those lucky sods who walked away with a prize.

Many thanks to Mike Boggan (and Erik) for making the sausages! They were soooo nice.. I don't think I can ever buy a sausage again.. it just won't be the same... back to gristle? No way!

It was great to meet everyone, I made some new friends as well as strengthening some old ones.

I didn't do heaps of observing, I made sure I got some sleep each night and I spent a lot more time socialising and looking through other people's telescopes! :) I didn't do any imaging, the dew made it too difficult on the first two nights, and on the third night the seeing wasn't as good.

We'll definitely have an IceInSpace AstroCamp 2007, and there's no reason it won't be at Lostock again. I hope to see you all again next time.

For those that attended, in the next few days I'll be distributing a feedback form to get some feedback on the camp, things you liked, things you didn't like, and things we can do better for next time.

[Orion]

Well what can I say, the Astrocamp went extremely well!
I'm sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

When we arrived at the camp it was overcast and drizzling but it soon cleared up and we didn't see the rain or clouds for the whole time we were there.
Like most people have mentioned the swimming hole was great and it seemed like a meeting place at times.

I can't thank Mike enough, and Houghy did a superb job of lugging all that gear up for the event. Thank you to the committee members involved.
The catering was first class and I enjoyed going back for seconds! Well done.

A thank you to the sponsors and the people doing the talks (very informative) I sometimes wished I could be in two places at once because there was so many things to do.
I had a big surprise when I saw Ron Knight walking up and introducing himself he was coming back from Perth going back home to Queensland. Good on ya Ron for making the effort and to all the people that had to travel hours to get there!

I made some friends the past few days and I am sure to make many more in the coming years, thanks to IceInSpace!

[iceman]

A few people I forgot to thank!

Alan Meehan for the GREAT looking t-shirts! The remaining shirts will go on sale in the next few days.

Lesa Moore, Itchy and Tornado33, Anthony Wesley and Gary Kopff for doing their respective talks. All talks were very informative and a lot of people got a lot out of them.

[h0ughy]

I had an absolute ball, going to bed the first night only due to fog and dew at 3am, then 3.30 the next night and I think 2.30 or so the last night.

I would like to thank the weatherman for the near perfect skies, cloud free!!
Mike did a great job getting the detail drawn together, Ed and Brendan helped immensely getting the keys and unlocking the houses and organising the crew from the gresford RFS for catering, they went way beyond with their friendly service and help with the garbage and food!

Alan Meehan did a wonderful job on the t-Shirts, they will no doubt be the envy of other star parties for quality and attention to detail, they just looked great! the speakers, as Mike said, were great, although I must confess I slept through the talks due to being bu99ered. :o

Many thanks goes to Gary K for the inspirational baptisms (river swims) and his enthusiasm and inspirational pep talks throughout the camp. You have a lot crammed up there mate, lots of wonderful and helpful knowledge! :)

Andrew and "Hector" for his "all" night talks kept the punters awake! :lol:

Eddie (orion) for his 18" wizzbin, allowing me to use a few naglers on it, very ordinary views mate!! ;)

Thanks too for Striker and especially [1ponders] for getting me drift aligned and the great offer from Atlas!! :prey2:

Mike Boggan, what a legend! Those are now famous sausages Mike!! You do deserve a huge pat on the back for that one :bowdown: :thumbsup: not only making but cooking for over 80 people at a time!!

The beers that were shared at the Taj were great, as with the company in Lostock Heights, the heat made then really nice! :cheers:

I had a ball, the friendly crowd from Qld, those from south coast, sydney and Canberra, Newcastle (and I must say a good representation from The NAS) just to name a few of the people who helped make the event what it became. I think the relaxed and cooperative atmosphere made this event, so congratulations to all attendees :party2: :)

Here are some examples of what i looked at, Lostock Dam, orion, beehive (M44) and Saturn, pleiades, orion and running man, and George flaked out in my doorway after a big night ;)

[Striker]

I had a great time...put me down for next year as well.

It was great to meet the Guys and Girls and family.

I think by having a relationship with members online by the way of the forum made it a great group event instead of having Astro clubs sticking together and not participation with the entire group...in that respect it put this camp ahead of most others as far as I am concerned.

The trip back was difficult....another 10 hour drive when both of us needing more sleep really took it ouf of us on the return home trip...we got home at 6:00pm safely.

Thanks for a great meet Mike and David and everyone who was responsible for making this camp work.....well done.....I will post some pics later.

[h0ughy]

some more pictures:

Eddie,

Eddie and Cow???

my scope setup day 1

scope setup day 2 & 3

the TAJ

captivated by the inaugural talk

[Orion]

The bull was getting to close for comfort. I was ready to throw that empty beer bottle at the dam thing... and then run for my life! It started shaping up to me when I tryed to shoo it away!

[h0ughy]

Big brave Sir Eddie, I think they sang about you in Monty pythons holy grail!!! DId George and the cedar seeds get home Ok

in actual fact the image shows you about to place the beer bottle in the recycling 18" WIZZBIN :lol:

[Orion]

I felt a bit silly stoping at the side of the road for these little seeds but what magnificent trees they were.
George got back safely nurturing his seeds.

[h0ughy]

Just for everyones information these are RED cedar seeds! if george gets them growing now in 40 years time you can have a red cedar 48 inch scope!! ;)

[ving]

great pick david, that bull looks very friendly :)
is that 48" scope free tho? ;)

[Thiink]

I want to say thank you to absoltely everyone at the camp, especially Mike and all the organisers who had a hand in making it possible, you did a great job! Everyone at the camp was extremely friendly and approachable which made for a great day/night :). I had a great time, and would have liked to have been there for all three nights with my dob, but oh well.. maybe next year (hint hint Mike :P). Lostock was a great site, I should have taken some photos (the camera never made it out of the car!) but forgot my tripod which made it hard. The drive up there from Muswellbrook was great as well as I had never been out that way. The drive from Gresford to Lostock was very scenic, it was a shame the roads werent wider or I would have stopped frequently to take some shots. I may even visit the area again soon and do some camping.

I enjoyed having the chance to speak to people about everything astronomy, listen to some of the talks, and check out everyone elses equipment. I tell you what, between the big dobs, Bird's newt (and Marcus' mini-beast) and everyone elses equipment it was hard to keep my tongue in my mouth. Also a special thank you to Astroron, Orion and Houghy, Bird and Marcus (sorry I dont know your forum name), Striker and Mr Ponders, Sheeny and Lyn and anyone I have forgotten for putting up with me and my barage of questions on Saturday night, and for letting me look through your scopes. It was muchly appreciated.

ps. Rocketboy: you owe me an Argo (ie. damn you AND your D75 raffle ticket!). :P :P :P

[RB]

Blame Louie, it's his fault for not being there for the draw.
t'was the longest 2 minutes of my life.
Thanks Louie........ :love:

It's funny but another interpretation of the Greek word "argo" means "Late" !!! :lol:

[gary]

Hi Thiink,

Also, did you like the road signs that were still in miles?! :)
e.g. Winding Road 11M. :driving:

Back around 1972 when the country went metric, I remember just about
every road sign in the country was changed within about a week.
A remarkable achievement.

Somehow Lostock missed out (judging by the road surface, I don't
think it has been worked on since 1972 either. :work: )

The good news, I somehow can't imagine Lostock becoming over-developed
and hence light polluted any time soon! Astronomical heaven! :astron:

Best Regards

Gary

[RB]

Some images of Anthony's (Bird's) pocket travel scope. :scared3:
When my wife saw these she commented that it looks like it's on life support. :lol:
Yes it's on a G11 mount.

[Thiink]

Actually you know what, I didnt directly notice that they were in miles, but I remember driving past a sign that had "Winding roads - xx" going to the camp and in my head I knew something about the sign wasnt right, I didnt remember seeing a 'k' or 'km' after the distance! I didnt see any on the way back though.

Well there you go, I wasnt going insane! Anyone have a picture of the sign by chance?

ps. Ive started my Argo saving fund Gary. Expect to hear from me in a few months time (:().. Seeing the Argo do its thing on Ed's scope was awesome.. the Servocat sure helped as well of course! :prey2:

[Thiink]

Poor Louie, although he didnt seem too upset. It wasnt long after John said "I wonder if that was Louie's ticket" that he turned up and confirmed it. Oh well, cant win them all (or get there in time to claim them anyway).

[merlin8r]

I would like to thank Graeme Auld for the use of his spare power supply. Would have been an ordinary weekend without it. Note to self..... get a deep cycle marine battery. Or better yet, a traction battery.

The cattle was certainly friendly. I found that a laser pointer aimed at their bum sent them running the other way. Go figure.

And I'm pleased as punch with my Sombrero pic. First time I got something decent.

[Dave47tuc]

Great to see everyone had a super time :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the photos and write ups. :)

[ving]

thats a great pic shane!!!:eyepop:

[RB]

Wow what a cool shot of the Sombrero Shane, well done.

[sheeny]

Just wanted to add my 2c worth... Congratulations Mike and HOughy and anyone else involved in the organisation of the camp! It was really well done. Having organised similar sized events (not in astronomy) I appreciate what goes into it. Thanks!

Coming from the high country, I really appreciated the waterhole! Absolutely splendid touch for a summertime camp! I managed to get really wrinkly...:P . Lyn thoroughly enjoyed the weekend even though she's not obsessed with astronomy and I think that says something about having the balance and mix of the event just about right! Casual is good...;)

1ponders... Thanks mate! I appreciated the one on one alignment workshop! K3CCD is the way to go!

I really enjoyed having a look through Hector, and a little lesson on Argonavis thanks to Andrew!

It's great to put some faces to the names, and meet new people - Jakob, Chris, and Simon (Thiink - small world isn't it?)

Mike Boggan - Yes, I'd love your recipe for sausages so I can make some rissoles, etc. Please PM me. In the meantime, I'll practice my guitar work before the next Lostock (been slack lately and I found my fingers have gone soft):o .

While I didn't win an astro prize I was happy to win a bottle of wine and some poultry from the RFS raffle. It created a little dilemma in terms of how to get it home (5 hour drive) without an esky... but fortunately the freezer at Lostock must be almost a cryogenic unit. With nothing but an insulated bag and few towels to wrap it in we got them home without thawing!

As for the suggestion that some of the symposiums / workshops / talks be held IN the waterhole next year... I say YEAH! Just a few minor technical hitches to resolve, like how to keep your polystyrene scope from floating away during the alignment workshop, how to water proof a laptop for the imaging sessions, etc... Nothing too difficult there I feel... we could be on to something...:nerd:

Al.

[[1ponders]]

Thanks Al. I'm glad you got something out of it.

Just for you info on the accuracy of the results, Gary K and I did some mount training on Saturday night using the new Argo Navis firmware and there was no discernable error in Azimuth and only about 5 arc min error in Altitude adjustment, and that can easily be explained by the mount settling into the ground over the 24 hour. I checked it before Gary and I did the error readings but didn't feel it needed adjusting. But even so 5 arc minutes is still a pretty damn fine adjustment for the amount of time we spent on it and taking into account any settling.

[merlin8r]

Did anyone else notice this place coming through Maitland? Talk about truth in advertising.....

[Rodstar]

How do you know what that firm of solicitors is like, Shane?

[meade expert]

This is indeed a great pic of M104 !!

[ausastronomer]

I really enjoyed the weekend. My 9yr old son Jake had an absolute ball and met a number of new friends. He was still wearing his IISAC badge when I left for work this morning.

The venue was superb, clear dark skies in a nicely grassed area. Certainly an Astronomers Heaven and only 2hrs from home for me.

There were a couple of highlights for me both astronomical and otherwise. It was certainly great to meet many of the people that I have corresponded with on the forum over the past 10 mths including Tony, Paul, Erik and Mike from QLD, Simon, Richard, Chris and many others.

Observing highlights were several:

1) On Thursday Night the seeing was quite good and I was able to get a great view of Saturn in my own 10" F5 dob at 446X using a 7mm Pentax XW in the 2.5X TV Powermate. I was able to share the view with several others and its great to be able to do this, as its not all that common that the seeing holds up that well. I think Louie (Atalas), HHHHHHHHH (Octane), Paul (1 ponders) and Gaz (Cahullian) got a peak at it, I was rather hogging the eyepiece myself :). In between returning to Saturn many times, I whizzed around a heap of planeteries with Gaz (Cahullian) which were also great under the conditions.

2) Some great DSO views early Saturday Night through Ed's 18" and Hector.

3) Early Sunday AM I spent a fair amount of time chasing some galaxies in my 10" through Leo and Virgo. Some memorable viewing including Markarians Chain under ideal conditions.

The major highlight for me was on the Friday Night and I hardly did any observing that night. I was feeling a lot tired about 11pm after a return trip to Maitland Friday lunchtime and a 4am observing session on the Thursday Night. I thought I will show Jake (9yr old son and very computer literate), how to drive Argo Navis "in Tour Mode" whilst I relaxed in the deckchair and did some naked eye observing through the back of my eyelids. I stuck a 20mm Pentax XW in the scope so he could get some nice low power views and the targets would be easy to locate. I said are you sure you will be ok son ? he said, "yes dad". I said , "go for it!!" I was woken up some 2 hours later by Andrew Murrell wishing to share an eyepiece. I looked at the clock and realised I had been out for nearly 2 hours and my 1st thought was "sheesh!!!!! where's my kid". I looked over at the scope and here he is still driving away at the dob. I said, "you going ok there with the telescope mate? " He replied, "Yes Dad, but there are no Comets or Asteroids in the Database, why not? I want to look at them." I nearly fell off the chair, of course I had been slack and not downloaded the orbital elements. That moment made my weekend.

It was also great to see so many of our regular little Kulnurra observing group in attendance. Over the past 10 months we have put together a small group of Central Coast/Sydney/Newcastle, Ice in Spacer's who meet at least once, sometimes twice, a month out at Paintball Place at Kulnurra. I am proud to say these people have become my friends and we get a lot of enjoyment out of observing together and discussing all topics astronomical, telescopes and eyepieces.

I would like to thank all the people responsible for organising the event and those who gave some very informative talks. For a 1st run star party I think things went exceptionally well. Also special thanks to Ed Roca (Orion) and Andrew Murrell (Hector) who neglected their own observing pursuits and provided "Sky Tours" in their 18" and 20" scopes untill the early hours of the morning.

An outstanding success IMO and I will be a definite for next year as will Jake.

[ausastronomer]

Actually something else I forgot that was quite funny.

A young girl about 7yrs old winning Rod's legal advice prize :)

CS-John B

[gary]

Love this story. Priceless!

Looks like you've got one smart budding astronomer there John.

We also noted Jake was having a ball down in the river which was good
to see.

Best Regards

Gary

[merlin8r]

Shame about the object database. I saw my first comet (through a scope) on Saturday evening. Was the new one, C2006 A1.

[Hitchhiker]

My 2c from the Lostock camp.

Thanks Mike, Houghy and all the other organisers for a great Astrocamp. The Gresford Fire Brigade boys and girls did a great job of feeding us in the evenings while Mike Boggan educated our palates with his sausages at lunchtime (Mike has spoiled us now - no other sausages can ever live up to his standard). Special thanks to myAstroShop for sponsoring the Vixen LV 6mm eyepiece I was lucky enough to win in the Lucky Door raffle - thanks not only for supporting the Astrocamp and IIS but for your ongoing support of the wider Amateur Astronomy community.

This was my first astrocamp even though I've been into astronomy (and had a telescope) for over 20 years. Not only did I learn heaps but I met some great people. Here's a bit of a detailed description of my three days so that those who haven't experienced an astrocamp can get a feel for the goings on.

On Day 1, I set up my gear near to Chris (33South) and Vincent (sorry Vincent, don't know your IIS name). First plus from the camp was when I was discussing mounting my DSI to my 'scope with 33South - I wanted to use my electric focusser with my DSI but didn't have the right adapter. Out comes the adapter from Chris's toolbox - 'this is what you need'. Second learning was when I looked in Chris' eyepiece case and saw all his gear neatly nestled in tidy little niches in 'pluckable' foam (I'd read about this stuff on IIS, but until I'd actually seen it and touched it I didn't realise what a great solution this is) The first night I just observed visually with a list of objects I had generated before the camp. I wanted to really observe a smaller number of objects by spending more time with each object and by sketching. The transparency was great - just right for seeing some faint fuzzies. Finished up by observing Saturn at 250x - lashings of detail observed including the Cassini Division, the C ring, bands on the disk and dim moons nicely arrayed around the ringed one - there was more detail than I could sketch or describe. Finished up at about 2:30 am as I thought I'd better pace myself over the whole three nights.

Observing on night 2 started with some imaging with my DSI - thanks 33South for lending me your adaptor. My first time out with my DSI mounted properly. Imaged 47 Tuc, Tarantula, and M42 - all badly! - but my intention was to test that my new F3.3 reducer and DSI worked properly together. I was a bit lazy with my focus and a little bit of experimenting will be needed to get the colour right but I was happy with the result (if I converted to grayscale and reduced the images by 50%!!). The rest of the night was a more collaborative effort for Vincent, 33South and myself. We had a look at various objects in each scope - some were a little easier to find in my LX200GPS eg NGC 1566 (Spanish Dancer) and NGC 1365 (Fornax barred spiral) because of the GoTo, but some objects were better observed in an 8" Dob with a wider field eg Leo Triplet where we could get all the galaxies in one FOV where I could only get two. For some objects, it was just interesting to compare views in each telescope eg Eskimo Nebula. This was really enjoyable and time just flew. Again I finished off the evening's observing with Saturn. Again, finished up about 2:30 am.

On night 3, I was determined to check out some other scopes, especially the big Dobs. I had a look through Alan Meehan's 10" Schmidt Newtonian and really enjoyed the crisp wide field but the 20" was calling me! Got some spectacular views through Andrew Murrels 20". Some objects observed included the usual suspects - 47 Tuc, Eta Carinae, Omega Centauri, NGC 5128 plus some more obscure ones like NGC 1566, NGC 1365, and Thor's Helmet. I've got to hand it to Andrew, he is a great guide to the sky. And no, Mike, I will not be getting rid of my SCT and buying a Dob anytime soon! Then headed back to my own scope for a look at a couple of objects including another nice triplet of galaxies in Leo around M105. Finished up again on Saturn but the seeing was not as good as the previous two nights. I tried my new 6mm eyepiece on Saturn but the seeing was nowhere near good enough to do it justice. Finished up a little earlier this night (about 1:00 am) as I thought it would be a good idea to go back to civilisation with a little more sleep under my belt!

The workshops during the day were very helpful - thanks to Leesa, tornado33, Itchy, Bird, and Gary for sharing your knowledge and experience. Not only did these people give up there time to tell us about there specialities but they were more than happy to answer any questions at any time during the camp.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the camp was going around and discussing different bits of gear with people, gear that they had bought or built themselves. During the day there was plenty to do - attending workshops, talking to other astronomers, and watching various images being processed. I must confess I didn't really know what I would be doing during the day at astrocamp, besides attending some workshops, but I found that there was always something to do or someone to talk to.
Once again, thanks to Mike, Houghy and all the organisers for a great camp - I'll definitely be back next year. Also, thanks to Mike and all the Moderators for all the fine work they do on the forum 365 days of the year - I, for one, really appreciate the work they do to make Ice In Space the great community that it is.

[33South]

The view from our position looking down over Dob City (Adam - your term I think) gave a good feel for the size and locale of the camping/observing area.
The photo I took doesnt do it justice as more tents/dobs turned up later but it along with the T-shirt will always remind me of Lostock 2006.

Amongst my viewing highlights were seeing the Spanish Dancer, Ghost of Jupiter, Spindle Galaxy all for the first time.

Thanks to EVERYONE for making LOSTOCK 2006 such a great success, cant wait for next year.


Hey Adam thats a lot more than 2c, great report.
Thanks for your company, also your enthusiasm meant I viewed several great DSOs that Id never seen before and probably would have ignored.


Chris.

[Hitchhiker]

Hi Chris, you'll be happy to know I visited Clark rubber yesterday - have all my eyepieces and barlow nicely mounted just like you! :)



More like the whole mortgage went into that post! :ashamed:
I hope it went some way to conveying how enjoyable a time we all had.

Happy observing, Chris!

[videoguy]

G'day Hitchhiker

Now I'm really depressed I couldn't get up there guys. Your report was very enlightening and reminded me of the enjoyment I felt at an old S&S organised star party at Coonabarabran back in 1995! Great pictures in this thread too!
Sounds like you were in good company! Would love to see that accessoies case Chris :nerd:
Thanks for the thanks... and support.

Steve

[33South]

Hmmm not worth it Steve, remarkably similar to yours as I recall.:lol:

[Hitchhiker]

That's OK Steve - we'll see you at IISAC 2007! ;)

[hector]

Hi All
I must add my own thoughts.
It was a GREAT weekend. I have attended many gatherings of astronomers but I have rarely enjoyed myself as much. The company and location lent itself to a very relaxed and funn weekend. The creek didnt hurt either. A BIG round of applause should go to Mike for finding such a great location and I look forward to many gatherings there in the future. I may even think about using the place more often myself.
As some people have pointed out i spent my time showing other people thru Hector. I enjoy myself more at these events by doing just that. So if you are out observing and you see Hector about come over and pay a visit. You dont know WHAT you may see.
Andrew

[Thiink]

Have you had a chance to get the photos off your camera yet Hector? Im keen to see the group photo to add to my archives. Post up a big version if possible (you too Mike!).

[iceman]

I called Andrew last night to prompt him to download his photos off the camera. He was going to email them to me last night but he must've got distracted. I'll call him again tonight.

[gary]

You all enjoyed Lostock in 2006, right? :thumbsup:

And you congratulated the Iceinspace crew on a job well done.

And you probably wondered how you could ever really thank them.

Well, it's simple. If you haven't done so already, register and pay for IISAC2007
now.

"Why should I register and pay now" I hear you say, "when Lostock is not
until January 2007?".

The answer to that is Mike and his team need your support. They have catering to
organize along with all the myriad of things that go into planning for a great star
party. So by making a commitment now, it makes the job for Mike so much easier.

And there's an additional incentive for you. As announced by Mike, If you book
and pay by the end of November 2006, each attendee in your booking will
receive an extra ticket in the lucky door prize draw!!

For example, Mai and I have donated an Argo Navis unit on behalf of
Wildcard Innovations that you could win by just attending. You double your
chances by registering and paying today.

Thanks to the geneoristy of other vendors, there are also other valuable prizes
to be won.

So show your support for Iceinspace and for Mike and his team and register
and pay for IISAC2007 now!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au