QLD Astrofest Suggestions

[earthlight (Anne-Louise)]

Hi Everyone,

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for all the great comments. The committee do try to do our best in providing a great event for all involved.

We're having our QLD Astrofest De-brief on Monday night. So we'd appreciate any suggestions that would help make the camp better.

Did you have any problems? i.e. Fridge space, bunks, observing fields, registering.
Was there something that could have been done simpler or smarter?
Can you suggest a main speaker?
Or a topic you would like to hear about for the Friday talk.
Do you have a rain/cloud activity suggestion?

We'd like to hear about it. Please e-mail registrar@qldastrofest.org.au with your comments.

Sincerely
Anne-Louise

[h0ughy (David)]

Firstly Anne-Louise I wish to congratulate you and Tony for all your hard work. You helped make the event a success.

Probably the toilets being uncleaned, and no one prepared to sweep out the grass in the allnighters, I took a broom to it several times to sweep up some of the grass. Toilet paper supplies initially. The food was excellent. More time for you guys to enjoy the event somehow? We arrived early, and were unsure of the proposed layout of the site for the event. I was glad everything worked out. I was prepared to defend the title too, ;-).
too much red light from a few people that had hutches, likes of Gerald and Max only had a ND filter on his lappy screen, very bright over the field unshielded. It went too quickly, I had a ball. people insisting on driving too fast in the site during the day. Thanks for the memories!

[astroron (Ron)]

Hi Anne-Louise and Tony. I had a great time same again next year,six days!, as with Houghy the Computers are becoming a nuisance, even on what used to be the Dob Field is being encroached upon by very bright computers of people doing imaging, these people don't even look through their scopes so don't give a damn for night vision, as well as the people walking around with bright red lights on their heads when you could walk around quite comfortably without a light if you followed the white lines and all the red lights and computers lighting up the place.
This year was the brightest sky I have seen at AstroFest, Why I don't know?
How about trying to get the field next door for campers and people who don't need power? I think if the farmer is not using it we could give him afew dollars for the week.
As I have said great week .Thanks for your and the committies work. Ron

[Davelrkn]

Hi Anne-Louise
Congrats must go out to you and Tony and the Committee for a well organized camp once again.Astrofest has certainly come along way over the years and has continued to run smoother each year.
I have to agree with Houghy that the speed situation with some vehicles through the camp raising the dust was not a great mix with optics and electronics,let alone a safety issue with the number of children that are now present at Astro Fest.I have herd that a sugestion has been made in creating a new observing area behind the all nighters and the pool area for people using laptops ect.Is this true or only a rumor.This may work but then there is a problem with parking & would the area be big enough.

Regards
Dave

[CoombellKid]

We had a great time too! many thanks for a fantastic event put
together by Tony and Anne-lousie + Committee

I think the white lines through the oberving areas (we're they a new
addition this year?) was an excellent idea. I agree about the over
use of red light torches when just walking around it wasn't really
needed. The amount of PC's over both fields, mixing both imagers
and observers. but I also notice there seems to be a few PC's that
observers are hooking up to their Dob's which usually rotate with
the scope . Although I think most had reddened screens they were
still quite bright. Ron's idea of trying to get the paddock next door
for camping or even a observing field for folks who dont need 240
and like to work out of the boot of their cars ie:Me . I'd be out
there in a flash. But then again if you stuck all the campers out
there, then that would free up alot of room too.

I too worried about the speed of some cars moving through camp.
There are alot of lil ones, it was a worry. And then there is the dust.

suggestions...
Since there seems to be a nice collection of kids, perhaps some
sort of kids astro activity to bring them all together for a bit of
group fun on the Saturday.

Make the family bunkhouse "Bayley house" a quit area during the
night a permanent thing especially up to midnight. Some folks cold
weather clothing were amazingly noisy, as well as talking in the
toilets, tended to wake up the kids. Not using the outside doors to
access the toilets in Bayley house certainly helped. But next year
they will probably have doors fitted to the rooms and this may not
be a problem anymore.

regards,CS sunny days

Rob & Co

[Argonavis (William)]

Originally Posted by earthlight

Hi Everyone,
We're having our QLD Astrofest De-brief on Monday night. So we'd appreciate any suggestions that would help make the camp better.
Anne-Louise

Qld Astrofest was just about perfect in the way it is run. May thanks to Anne-Louise and the Committee.

I am not sure you need any more events - the guest speaker/lecture, the astrotrivia quiz and the Saturday night dinner are all excellent and should be kept. In the early days of Astrofest there was probably too many events when people just want to relax during the day. It is a really good idea for catered meals to be available, it saved the kitchen crush.

There could be more in the way of kids entertainment - maybe DVD or videos at night. Same for the adults if it is cloudy. Maybe a matinee movie session at 2pm, and maybe another at night if cloudy. I don't know how do-able this is. Just a thought.

It is getting a bit crowded. AstroRon's suggestion for expanding the area would be great. Not everyone likes to be constrained by white lines. Some of us want freedom.

The chimney wall in the dining room became a noticeboard (items for sale, lifts required) - maybe this should be formalised.

Kevin Dixon and AstroRon do a great job of introducing people to the sky with their telescopes; as the event becomes bigger and more impersonal, and more beginners and people with a casual interest turn up, maybe this could be formalised into an "introduction to the night sky" type sessions?

Yes it does get messy and I found that I had to take to the broom on a few occassions, but what was frustrating was the lack of cleaning products handy. The sinks in the bathroom needed cleaning, so it would be nice to have a sponge and ajax/bicarb/whatever handy to quickly clean them before and after use. A mop and bucket for the floor for the bathrooms/showers in the bunkhouses.

Anything else need improving?

A softer ground so my tent pegs are not turned into pretzels and my tent peg hammer does not fall apart (many thanks to Gargoyle Steve for lending me his hunk-of-metal-used-to-hammer-in-tent-pegs);

More prizes for me not to win;

lock the gates at night to prevent the randoms driving in;

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

For me it was just right in almost every way - very well done

To be perfect, I would allocate a special area for imagers so that the visual observers (me anyway) could enjoy a little more red light to socialise by. That way I could wander around and chat without a) tripping over wires everywhere, and b) getting shouted at by someone desperately trying to get every last second out of an image (sorry!).

It's never going to be easy with the site so full and with so many conflicting interests. Maybe we just need a serious field and a not-so serious field!

[Davelrkn]

I would hate to think that we are on path of Imagers vs Visual with some of the comments being made so far on this thread.No one attending a viewing night or whether it be at an ASTRO Camp goes with the intention of ruining someone viewing session.We are all there for the same reason to enjoy the night sky. You have those that prefer to eyeball and those that like to record their efforts and have seen many a time people gathered around a laptop day or night taking in the efforts of someones recorded image.In the US they are now doing seperate Star Parties as they do have the population over there. I would not like to see this happen here, quite frankly we would not have the numbers here to make them affordable to hold seperate events and would not like to see Imagers or Visual observers not feeling comfortable to be at the same event.
Seperate fields not seperate events

Dave

I enjoy it each year but I would love to bring my family. It is billed as a family friendly event but it just isnt. Camping facilities are too close to the viewing area's, sleep is impossible due to loud talking, laughing, singing, music etc. We show courtesy to observers by being quiet until 10am but observers show no courtesy to those that choose/normally sleep at night. Personally, I go to view at night and would like to have family fun during the day but alas, I will never bring my family unless things change dramatically.
Toilets could have been visited by the cleaning fairy but otherwise a good event.

[Argonavis (William)]

Last year I set up my tent near the swimming pool behind the bunkhouses - it was very quite until the Friday and Saturday night when the overflow started setting up their sleeping accomodation next to me.

If you want peace and quiet (and you won't get any near the observing field, especially when it is cloudy and people get tired an emotional, and boisterous and happy, etc etc) I suggest you set up down near the tennis court. In previous years one stalwalt attendee always set up a lonely little tent there, although he wasn't down there this year. Some other late arrivals were. You can always run an extension lead from the top of the hill down. And you are away from the crowds.

Nice idea Argo but some of the noisy one's were banished to the tennis courts this year, I wont use names but a red kombi comes to mind, last place I would want to be was near that car.

Nah I will just come alone I think.