Forgot the Aeroguard but no day-light saving.

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

Finally got to play with some new toys between the clouds after 2 weeks of rain, only to have the mosquitoes just about carry me away. Grrr.

Oh well, at least we don't have day-light saving here. (I have experienced 2 trials and was not thrilled that it was 8.30ish before it was dark enough to observe).

[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

Well, I am still waiting patiently for the sky to darken sufficiently here to observe! It will be well after 10 pm before the sky is dark enough!
Worse still, if one wants to pull an all nighter, the sky will be lightening again not long after 4.00 am.
It is shaping up as a great night here.

Steve

[skysurfer]

And here in northern Europe (52N or higher) the astronomical twilight does even not stop at all in midsummer.

Cairns is a much better place, no DST, more equal day/night difference as its latitude is only 17S, but it's rainy season now.

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob

(I have experienced 2 trials and was not thrilled that it was 8.30ish before it was dark enough to observe).

I too went through 2 DST trials, but I just fail to understand that objection. Time is just a arbitrary figure we give and is not always directly correlated with Sol, as with DST. The ACTUAL time is no different; the only thing different is what the numbers/hands on a clock says and your psychological interpretation of same.

Personally, DST made very little difference to me at all. It certainly didn't fade the curtains, nor did the cows forget when to come home because everything apart from humans and human contrivances measures time by the movement of the Sun

Thankfully, moving to the ACT where DST exists, mercy be

[skysurfer]

You are right, but then all timezones and DST are obsolete.
Switch the whole world over to UTC.
That makes that the day switches in the middle of a business day in Australia (and east Asia and Western US) but for night shift workers that is already the case.
One in Sydney gets up at 21:00 and goes to bed at 13:00. But one gets used to it, just like we switched to the Euro in 2002.
Much simpler, no confusion.

[LewisM]

I have been on UTC since the day I learned to fly - I think UTC all the time.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

Personally, DST made very little difference to me at all. It certainly didn't fade the curtains, nor did the cows forget when to come home because everything apart from humans and human contrivances measures time by the movement of the Sun

Thankfully, moving to the ACT where DST exists, mercy be

So erm...you missed the whole point of the OP's post...he stated that without DST he doesn't need to waste too much of the evening with the Sun fading the sky out

Unlike southern states with DST...which helps how exactly? does the extended darkness/light confuse the humans or cows more down south?

[pgc hunter]

If there is anywhere in this country that could use DST (or a permanent timezone shift) is Brisbane. The summer sunrise times there are plain ludicrous. Sunsets are too early, even in summer, you get home from work and it's almost sunset.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

DST has been in NZ for yonks. As far as benefit is concerned it's really only that in summer you get up 'earlier', get work out of the way and have an extended daylight period at home to do things while it is still light.
Astronomically speaking it's a nuisance because if you pull a late nighter you still have to get up 'early' to go to work.
But I enjoy the evening BBQ times during the week otherwise so you get used to it.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

It's true that DST doesn't affect the number of hours of darkness but it does effect when you have to get up in the morning for work - assuming you're not retired, unemployed or one of the idle rich. So, in summer you start latter and then have to be at work an hour earlier than normal. Between that, clouds, heat haze and the silly season it's no wonder my astronomy tends to have a summer holiday.

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

If there is anywhere in this country that could use DST (or a permanent timezone shift) is Brisbane. The summer sunrise times there are plain ludicrous. Sunsets are too early, even in summer, you get home from work and it's almost sunset.

I don't doubt it. Brisbane is 8 degrees of longitude further East than Cairns, so even at the equinox, the Sun is rising and setting some 30 mins earlier than Cairns. Combined with southern Brisbane's early sunrises in in summer, yeah I would want DST also.

However, the rest of the state is not poked in that South-easterly corner, and if the Brisbanites lived here, most would then hate the idea of DST also.

When I retire, they can do what they like. Until then, I have responsibilities that mean I have to fit in with everybody's else's hours. So for me, I am glad that I am not staying up later to enjoy my hobby, as I do now.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Yeah as an outsider I saw it as balancing the timezone out across the state, and QLD is biiiiiggg

Living in the city, people have adapted their lifestyle accordingly...the Sun might rise at stupid o'clock in summer, but it's the coolest part of the day and people get up and do their daily exercise, etc, to take advantage of that. Then at the other end of the day, there's the slight nod towards comfort taking the big fireball out of the equation in the evening. It seems to work and doesn't stop the locals getting outdoors and enjoying their evenings.

And the positive astro upside is that astronomical darkness is reasonably timed all through the year

[inertia8 (Australia)]

Get yourself a thermacell and some refills. Turn it on whilst setting up and it will begin protecting a 3m area within 15mins

[PSALM19.1 (Shaun)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

DST has been in NZ for yonks. As far as benefit is concerned it's really only that in summer you get up 'earlier', get work out of the way and have an extended daylight period at home to do things while it is still light.

I lived in Christchurch alot of my life and DST there is crazy...it gets dark about 9:15 PM...my folks grew up in Invercargill and it's even less necessary down there

Funny thing: most years I get hammered by mozzies while observing, but this year, out of the blue and for no reason that I can pin-point, I have not been hammered at all; in fact the other night at dusk (when I would normally start to get severely bitten) I didn't get one bite! And I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and thongs (ah...jandles!)...a friend of mine was with me and him and his son got peppered...I got zip...anyone out there have any clue as to why I am all of a sudden immune from mozzies?

PS: No mozzies in Christchurch! Or cockroaches....or redbacks....or huntsmen...or snakes...love living in Australia....