Well i'm at SPSP, arrived just before 10am to help Rod set up his tent (which is fair enough cause i'm sleeping in one of the rooms of it ).
My NextG wireless modem works great but my blackberry gets no signal go figure.
I've registered, setup the scope and ready for it to get dark now. It's pretty cold in the shade but nice in the Sun. It's going to be a very cold night tonight.. Geoff will be pleased
Have caught up with some familar faces and met a few new ones already, looking forward to the next day and a half of fun and frivolity.
Just about time for lunch now, catch you all later for more updates
LOL I talked with the crew from NAS this morning and they said it was a lovely warm night last night, and only just a hint of breeze......clear skies and couldnt wait for the doughnuts...... (i think they froze their proverbials off.....and it was gusty so the wind chill kicked in big time - even George wore a few layers of clothes and a blanket)
Mike Sidonio is on his way - probably get there around 2 or 3 this arvo.
enjoy the warm night you are going to have tonight
LOL I talked with the crew from NAS this morning and they said it was a lovely warm night last night, and only just a hint of breeze......clear skies and couldnt wait for the doughnuts...... (i think they froze their proverbials off.....and it was gusty so the wind chill kicked in big time - even George wore a few layers of clothes and a blanket)
Mike Sidonio is on his way - probably get there around 2 or 3 this arvo.
enjoy the warm night you are going to have tonight
Yeah funny to see George wearing a pair of trakky daks but still with his thongs on.
Well the first night is underway.. Absolutely perfect conditions. Very cold, but transparency excellent and seeing above average too.
Anna's Guiness Stew was an absolute treat for John and Anna, Rod, Chris (33South) and myself. Definitely warmed up our insides.
I finished drift aligning at about 8:45pm and I've just setup the imaging run on the Leo Trio and that'll keep it busy for the next few hours, so I'm off to go observe through Rod's scope.
Last night was absolutely beautiful, too. Better than the first night, which ended up getting smoked out for a couple of hours from a backburn in the nearby forest.
Imaged until dawn with Chris Wakeman's modded 350D
Heading home soon, very chilly this morning with wind and cloud.
Have had a great time, there'll be more reports soon I'm sure.
Glad to hear that everyone is having fun up there.
I sounds like it has been a great weekend along the east coast. On the southern highlands it was great on Friday and Saturday, though quite wet last night. The small group I was with observed until 2.30 and a good time was had by all. Fingers crossed for next month.
I really enjoyed my 16th SPSP. It's great to catch up with astronomy friends made in 30 yrs association with the ASNSW. Myself and two friends were the first to observe there one weekend in 1986, and `luxuries' consisted of a shelter tarp we strung up between some trees, so its heartening to see how far Wiruna has come. I love the balance they have struck between development, and natural minimalism. ASNSW have got the running of the camp down to a fine art.
We were really lucky again with the weather. The second night had increasingly excellent conditions, with an asteroid occultation occurring at 3AM Sunday. 'Late' on early Sunday morning, I felt little desire to look much through any telescopes: the bowl of sky rising with the Saggitarius Milky way nearly overhead was exhilerating, and my deck chair seemed to be the best place on Earth right then.
Stand out experiences for me on the first night were many hours spent with neighboring 20" F4 and 16" F4 Newts mainly using the 100 degree AF Ethos 13mm, which used with shorter ratios becomes a great allround eyepiece ( 3mm pupil), rarely needing to change power up or down. Maybe I'm getting old and lazy, but I didn't feel up to climbing any ladders for my viewing fix : one step is about it these days and comfort is becoming paramount. Peter Bobfroffs all aluminuim open frame 16" F4 seemed to allow the optics to deliver crisp images no matter how fast the temperature was falling, as the mirror was so well ventilated : no fan in sight.
The other 'high' was hours spent with the Kendal's pair of amazing `Kunming Optical 'BT-100 45 degree ocular binoculars on fork mount. Being able to use 24 Pans, 17 Stratus, 13 Nagler and 7 Nagler pairs with them brought a whole new meaning to "grab'n go" binocular astronomy. I had to rethink what I know of refracting binoculars . These binos are basically a pair of 100mm F6 Triplet semi-apos in a sturdy housing, on a very stable fork mount. Images were crisp and sharp to the edge at all times, superbly baffled, coated and collimated. I just couldn't fault them. It is truly remarkable what can be seen if you persist with smaller bino apertures, and some magnification, and the convenience was incredible. I visually detected the dust lanes in a number of edge on spiral galaxies, and tracing threads of dark nebulosity through the Milky Way was like strolling in the park. Teaming these with an Argo Navis would be a binocular enthusiasts heaven.
I'm allready looking forward to the 17th SPSP and all the new toys that another 12months will bring .
Cold and freezing but lots of fun. It was great to see you all, and the variety of scopes on the field.
Mostly i enjoyed the naked eye view of they sky above, it was just awesome.
Pics, the first is of the lost boys myself, apoman and Kal, and the second one is of a confused bird.
I'd agree with Mark on the viewing through Kendal's "Kunming Optical 'BT-100 45 degree ocular binoculars on fork mount". Both the 24 Pans and the 13 T6 pairs were really enjoyable to look through. It was a very pleasing experience.
As noted in another thread on this topic...it was a nice weekend of Astronomy!
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go figure. 
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Yeah funny to see George wearing a pair of trakky daks but still with his thongs on.
