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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
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