Yep.
Had a fine time despite the weather. Seems to the norm this year for dark sky trips away.
Always great to catch up with people...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut
The imaging comp was fun, Mike Salway did very well as expected, as did others. Entries for the imaging comp were down this year unforch, but the entry criteria are constantly being reviewed and tweaked to encaurage more ppl to enter, its a hard task, but Monte did an excellent job this year on top of his other duties.
Your too modest Freddles
Your winning interpretation of M8 minus stars was truly inspirational
Feeling keener than ever for the next one......
Deeno
I hardly missed the night sky. I caught up with people I had not seen for years. Talked and listened. The effort that was put in by the organisers was outstanding and I am sure there was no one who did not have an enjoyable weekend. To tell the truth I did not miss the lack of viewing. There were too many other interesting things to do and people to talk to.
One thing I was particularly pleased about was the effort put in to entertain the younger ones. Lesa had them enthrawled for hours.
Was a good weekend despite the clouds, wind and rain. Like the others, was able to catch up and make new acquaintances.
Stirling job by the organizers and volunteers
Yes, it was very windy and very cold ( at least for me). A bit dissappointed with the weather and unable to experience a star party down under ... well the observation that is..
but I thouroughly enjoy the day events and talk. And Mike (okiescopey) was the very person who spotted me (and recogniseme ) at the parking space! Thanks man, for the help with the registrations and stuffs..
But the day before SPSP, on Thursday night, I was at Conna, and quietly join in for a while at the ozsky star party there, and lucky me..the weather was fantastic!!! First time I saw Coalsax with the naked eye!!
.. and when Gary of Wildcard was telling how the sky was clear on Friday night at Conna, I can only shake my head in disbelief ! Oh well... better luck next year.
Glad I came to Australia, regardless of how the weather is, and sure there's a lot of stories to bring back home when I fly back tomorrow. Glad to be able to meet up with Mike (okiescopey), Gary, Steve Mogg, the Bintel guys, Glenn Dawes and others. You guys were great!
The comments about the timing of the event are interesting. I Think the event has swapped between March-April-May for quite some time and the end result has been a simply an appalling run of bad luck with clouds and the weather. But it has been just that -- bad luck.
I remember my first which was either 1994 or 1995 I think (May) and the weather was 'orrible. It rained, blew and was very cold to boot for three days and nights. I think I've been to six SPSP all up (on three occasions I was a speaker) and four of those were substantially clouded or washed out. Having said that, like all you guys, I had a great time socialising, meeting new people and seeing new 'scopes and ideas. Its worth going just for that. Observing is a bonus.
Of those events I went to, the organisation and hospitality by the ASNSW hosts was simply outstanding. Maybe its time for a SPSP for me next year in lieu of a Mudgee? Better still in addition to a Mudgee ??
Alan Meehan and I left in windy rain squalls, heavy at times to travel up to SPSP via Mudgee. The trip seemed to go quickly and soon we were in Mudgee, and met up with fellow Novocastrians Dennis Zambelis, George Livanos and Richard Crisp. Some other NAS club members went a different route via Rylstone. We arrived on site Thursday afternoon after having lunch in Mudgee (I bought two more tarps and a handheld white light led torch – somehow I sensed that we would not be viewing stars).
After arriving on site we met john and Anna who were camped near the infamous Mike Sidonio who had arrived earlier and set up camp. Alan and I quickly set up the campsite and tents, boy was it cold and drizzly and windy. After that we set to having a Chook for dinner that Alan bought – Yummy and thanks Anna for heating the chook up on your stove until we found ours!
The evening came quickly and with the cruddy conditions (and seeing Mr Sidonio with the help of others build a recycling monument outside Bobs tent from the nights consumables) it was an early night. But the wind was howling and it was difficult to go to sleep…….
Friday saw the registrations and meeting some others who showed up overnight and that morning. It was good catching up with Fred Vanderhaven and Monte “I can organise anything” Wilson, and all of the other volunteers that did a great job. I suppose Friday was a bumming around day until the afternoons speakers and discussing the usual Astro topics.
Friday night was almost a mirror image of Thursday night – but with very brief glimpses of stars on the odd occasion. The informal talks Friday night were brilliant, as too the hot donuts….LOL.
Saturday morning I was in the packing up mode as I had to return home due to a family problem that happened Friday night, but I still entered a few of my images, and Mike Salways images as well as the poor dear had to go into town for a hot breakfast. Life is tough. LOL.
I missed out on the group photo and the prize draw, as well as the Imaging comp results but I expected both Mikes to do well and Fred with his narrowband shots (I am sure he said that he took them with a DSLR …..) But the image that impressed me the most was the star trails shot behind a domed observatory –that was a great shot.
The vendor sales on Saturday were good and for some reason popular. I got my Kendrick Digifire 10 there for a good price from Bintel, but the other vendors seemed to be doing a roaring trade - even tried to get Geoff to do a inpropmtu ad for the camera for his wares - might need a better actor for the voice over geoff LOL.
The gear is still drying out, the Astro gear that never made it out of the car was packed away, and I have the evidence on video of Mike Sidonio paying off Monte for the imaging comp LOL….. wasn’t nearly as much as what FRED must have paid Mike so take heed LOL. I will have to work out how I get my video posted?
Anyway the pros were meeting people and getting to network and gain new ideas and fresh insight into the hobby, the cons – the dribbly hot showers with possible prostrate problems in the new male block, but better than nothing.
Putting weather aside it was a great 4 days. Very well organised. Finaly got to meet and chat with a lot of IIS folks there. The presentations were also very interesting and entertaining. Good for networking and exchanging ideas. Looking forward to the next one.
Finally got home to Melbourne! Besides the weather it was a good trip catching up with everyone. Did some good observing in Gundagai on the way home to complete the trip (till 2AM).
Thanks to all my IIS friends who were up there and hope to see everyone at Border Stargaze in 3 Months.
Picture below was a good weekend summary (Omaroo, Big Dave & Greg Walton!) - LOL
Still a bit pd off I couldn't make it, and catch up with the regulars.
Spent Thursday evening packing the car then came down with the flu (local variety)
Friday morning sadly decided against going to avoid prolonging it. Especially as I'm off to UK next weekend for a month to see grandchild #6 (aka Perry).
Hope to see some of you at BSG in August or Lostock
A real shame we didn't see you there, Chris. Given the circumstances, though, sounds like it was a wise decision. You would have been absolutely miserable given the weather conditions. Hope you are on the mend.
A big thank you to everyone who attended the SPSP this year and I really hope you had a great time despite the conditions.
I spent 5 nights there (Wed-Mon) without a single hour of observing, but still found it an enjoyable event.
If you have any feedback you can send it to the organising committee via http://asnsw.com/info/contact.asp. We really value any feedback, so I would encourage you to send any thoughts, positive or negative. Praise us, or rip us to shreds, it is all important to plan better for next year.
My obviously biased thoughts on the event:
The new "Mens" toilet block really cut down the queues this year. We only just got it up and running in time (as you might have been able to tell from my duct tape wiring job), but we will have that fully working for next year. We are going to put a screened area around the new showers to give a bit more privacy.
The speakers were all excellent, especially the impromptu ones and it was a real treat to spend some time with Charlie after the talks. (Though we did have a little panic attack when Fred Watson did not arrive until about 3 minutes before his talk was due to begin).
I didn't get a chance to have a look at the entries for the astrophoto competition, but the winning photos were really stunning. Judging the Telescope Making comptetion was a highlight. In these days of cheap mass produced dobsonians, it is great to see that amateurs are still innovating in this area. We gave quite a few awards this year and they were all thoroughly deserved.
As to the weather. Well it was not really that cold out of the wind, and there was little rain to speak of. But the wind!!! That is the worst wind conditions I've experienced at Wiruna in all my time there. But everyone seemed to stick it out in good humor.
Another highlight for me was the Saturday night roast. Delicious!!
And lastly, the Kandos Scouts. They do an excellent job each year and this year was no exception. There is nothing like hot donuts on a cold, windy night or a big breakfast to get you started again the next day.
From my side of the fence, it seemed like a great success, despite the weather. I hope you agree and that we will see you next year.
I'd be interested to learn why there has been a return to May.
Hi Greg,
Obviously every month has pros and cons and I don't think there is any
single reason for returning to the traditional date again next year.
The night sky at Wiruna in May can be simply spectacular and some
people will appreciate the campfire atmosphere and longer nights
afforded to us in May, while some others won't.
The cons – the dribbly hot showers with possible prostrate problems in the new male block, but better than nothing.
Hi H0ughy,
I'm interested to hear that because they seemed to better than the old ones when I used them on the Thursday. When did you have a shower? Was it before about 8am? We were using a 240 volt water pump that only works when the generator is running. But maybe the pump was overwhelmed at times?
First time I saw Coalsax with the naked eye!!
) it was an early night. But the wind was howling and it was difficult to go to sleep…….
. Life is tough. LOL.
