beginner on the central coast of nsw

[sally1jack (Phil)]

im interested in getting in contact with a club in the central coast of nsw area, ive heard there is a club or an unofficial club(gathering ) in the Kulnura area, can anyone let me know if that the case, im a complete novice & have no equipment, but i was told to find a club & go from there.

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Phil

You've come to the right place! I used to live at Wyong Creek (now at Wyoming), and there's at least 1 member out at Yarramalong, and a growing number on the Central Coast.

There's no Central Coast club or society (and no plans to form one), but we do have regular get-togethers up at Mangrove Mountain Pony Club, every new moon. The last one was on the weekend just gone. We get a bunch of people from the Central Coast, as well as some from Newcastle and Sydney areas. We'll usually get between 6-20 people each time.

The December new moon falls during the xmas holidays, so it's unlikely there'll be much of a gathering at the end of December, but there might be.. keep an eye on the "Star Parties & Observing Sessions" forum - a thread will be created there when the next gathering is being organised/discussed. There's also a map in that forum of how to get to the Pony Club.

Heading along to an observing night is definitely the best first step. You'll get to look through a bunch of different telescopes and decide which one might be best for you, depending on what you want to observe, photograph, your budget etc.

Cheers, keep asking questions!

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Welcome to IIS Phil. Wise decision to have a look before jumping in and buying lots of gear.

After saying that, if you want a jump start get a planisphere (large Chandler one) from somewhere like Bintel and a red torch and start getting to know the constellations. If you have a set of binocs give them a go, its amazing just what you can dig up with them.

[jungle11 (Greg)]

I agree, the sky is a whole new place once you know more about what your looking at. Good luck Phil, reckon you'll love it.

[bones]

Welcome Phil

Mike's just about said it - Mangrove Mountain Pony Club - new moon..

I started going up there earlier this year and they are really good nights.
Meeting once a month the skys a bit differrnt every time we're there through the year and there's so much out there that there's always something new to see.

There's a pretty diverse range of scope's that are there so you're bound to get an idea of what would suit you.

You're most welcome to come along. See you there.

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

Hi Phil
I'm the Yarramalong member, good to see someone around locally, also good to see more coastie members

Much better to see some clear nights

[Octane (Humayun)]

Originally Posted by iceman

We get a bunch of people from the Central Coast, as well as some from Newcastle and Sydney areas.

Ahem!

Regards,
Humayun

[spaceace]

I'm at Lisarow. I've had my telescope for almost a year and really havn't had a chance to use it properly (Real life + shiftwork and kids getting in the way)

Is there any one on the Central coast that meets a little more regularly than once a month and wouldn't mind a newbie tagging along?

[Ian Robinson]

All the local clubs (would you be prepared to head a hour or so north to Newcastle or Kurri Kurri ?) are probably in Xmas recess.

Astronomical Society of the Hunter (Kurri Kurri , last I heard)
Newcastle Astronomical Society (Callahgan Uni campus)

would both be worth looking up.

There're some NAS members around Lake Macquarie last I heard , I'm not a member of either club BTW , not been a clubby for near 30 years , who might be approachable.

Some of these guys might be only too happy to get a visit from you and give you a look see.
I'd offer myself only my scope is in rebuild / upgrade mode and in piece right now so unusuable and likely be that way for a couple of more months (plan on setting up a permanent roll off roof observing shed in my BY as well finishing off my scope upgrade).