Loving the move!

[sheeny (Al)]

Hey guys. I haven't been as active on the forum lately as I've moved out of town and I'm temporarily on dial up until I can get satellite connected.

But I got to say I'm loving the move! We had fine weather for the move, then two weeks of cloud and cruddy weather, but last Saturday night I got home from driving to Sydney to pick up the girls after their holiday, and the sky was clear...

It was about 8:30 by the time I got through dinner and could take a look outside. After an early start to the day and all the driving in the afternoon I couldn't bring myself to set the scope up, but I did get the 20X80s out.

The views were brilliant. I set up on the opposite side of the shed to the house to eliminate the light from the windows. Perfect conditions! ... but I spent more time just soaking up the milky way naked eye than looking through the binos! Paul said I would! Despite the ideal conditions I didn't last all that late - I simply run out of puff...

Then last night was brilliant and clear after Monday's snow, so I set the scope up, then outside after dinner to enjoy the show. I didn't do any imaging, just touring the sky and spending a reasonable amount of time soaking it up again. The cold beat me this time (it was getting close to bedtime anyway being a workday but that sounds better) it was -1.7C when I packed up, and the feet were getting very cold. I had some work issue thermals on, and I can say they don't cut it as well as the poly ones I have for bushwalking!

There's a lot of skyglow from Sydney in the east obviously, and there's noticable skyglow to the north from Oberon but even so it is sooooo much better than being in town with a street light over the front yard, the back yard and the neightbour's yard!

I'm just hanging out now till the sale of my house settles (May 20!) then it shouldn't be long before I can start planning the obs!

Al.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hey Al,

Grrrr. DIALUP - ouch

Great to hear you getting excited about the "new" sky at the homestead

I know what you mean about the dark sky. Just last night I went out to a new estate not far from me where there were no streetlights and an almost 160 spherical field of view (if that makes sense) and was blown away by how much more I could see in my 11x70 binos!

[edit: I have removed the previous observations and posted them in Observational Astronomy forum as I realised I was hijacking Al's thread - sorry Al, my apologies.]

-1.7C is a bit cold, I must admit I only had a jacket and jeans on with no gloves and it was probably around about 5-10C so the hands were suffering holding the binos after a while and this is what sent me back home, otherwise I would still be out there!

Glad to hear the skies are clear and bright, bring on the Observatory!!!

Cheers

Chris

[Dennis]

Hey Al

Nice to hear from you and glad to see you have survived the ordeal of the moving upheaval.

Cheers

Dennis

[JohnG (John)]

Onya Al

I am still unpacking after over a month .

Cheers

JohnG

[Ric]

Glad to see your settling in to the new place Al.

Cheers

[DeanoNZL (Adrian)]

A move for the better, well done.
Just gone thru the same exercise as well, the night views are "wow"
Clear Skies

[CoombellKid]

Yup! nothing like the bush : ) congrats on the move Al.

regards,CS

[sheeny (Al)]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, John - I expect the be unpacking and organising for a while yet too!

Al.

[GrahamL]

great stuff Al..moving somewhere dark is a good thing

What brand of thermals do use for camping ? ..The lower camping area at astrofest last year got down to minus 2 or something ..and god I was cold no amount of clothing and bedding was enough .

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Great to hear Al. Mmmm those clear dark skies. Nothing like 'em.

[tileys]

Sounds like a good move Al. Had a good Kebab in Oberon (big as a Zeppelin). Was out camping at Abercombie River.

I was camping over at Newnes this Anzac weekend just gone. The sky was just beautiful - could stare at the stars out there for hours. The clear night on Friday was superb - Milky Way was just stunning and I've now got tentative plans to put together a travelling outfit for capitalising on those trips out to darker skies. The Dob's a bit too big to take on a camping trip - especially once I've packed for the kids ! Any ideas ? - small refractor - maybe one with goto ?

Enjoy, and think of us stuck here in the smoke...

Steve

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by nightstalker

great stuff Al..moving somewhere dark is a good thing

What brand of thermals do use for camping ? ..The lower camping area at astrofest last year got down to minus 2 or something ..and god I was cold no amount of clothing and bedding was enough .

I don't think the brand is too important. The material is the key. All the bushwalking ones I've bought are polypropylene (I think). I remember having a running argument with my ex-wife over it. She was a fashion designer and had studied textiles - there was no way a synthetic fibre could be as warm as a natural fibre... well, the proof is in the pudding. They must have developed the microstructure of the fibre a bit for this application to hold small air pockets (air is a good insulator) and to wick away sweat, because they do work. Buy them at a reputable outdoor/camping/bushwalking store.

I think the work issue thermals I was wearing are a cotton blend... not nearly as effective.

Al.

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by tileys

Sounds like a good move Al. Had a good Kebab in Oberon (big as a Zeppelin). Was out camping at Abercombie River.

I was camping over at Newnes this Anzac weekend just gone. The sky was just beautiful - could stare at the stars out there for hours. The clear night on Friday was superb - Milky Way was just stunning and I've now got tentative plans to put together a travelling outfit for capitalising on those trips out to darker skies. The Dob's a bit too big to take on a camping trip - especially once I've packed for the kids ! Any ideas ? - small refractor - maybe one with goto ?

Enjoy, and think of us stuck here in the smoke...

Steve

Ah, yes, Ali's kebabs no doubt?

Whereabouts in the Abercrombie were you camped... The Beach? Silent Creek? The Licking Hole? Governor's Bend?

Don't forget binoculars! I take my 20x80s (and tripod) if I can't fit the scope in. But an ED80 would be an excellent choice as well, or a small maksutov. ...but it is hard to go down in aperture is may experience!

Al.

[tileys]

It was the kebab van next to the pub there. The guy was in the middle of serving us when someone came out to get him with a pool cue in his hand 'cause it was his shot - gotta love country towns !

We were at 'the beach'. It was a weekend where the weather in Sydney and even the Blue Mountains was pretty woeful - lots of rain, but over the mountains it was great - almost clear skies with lots of sun. We saw just three cars all weekend and had a fabulous boys weekend camping and exploring the area. We got out via the 'walls of brass' exit which although it was still only a little damp was a pretty hair-raising experience - even for two large 4WDs - that clay is just so slippery and rutted.

The guy at the servo told us a wonderful story of a couple in a Hyundai Getz hatchback where the guy had followed the instructions of his GPS to the letter to the point where they had long since gone off a recognised track and had got stuck and it took 2 hours for the NRMA guy to physically get to them - and he's a local. Apparently he had to call the police because the couple started a real ding dong argument with each other over their predicament while he was there.

Yes, I'm thinking ED80 - maybe a cheapish one on an EQ mount I can goto later (still pretty pricey though). Probably better that than something that can get knocked out of colimation by the kind of tracks you find away from the blacktop.

Cheers,

Steve

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by tileys

It was the kebab van next to the pub there. The guy was in the middle of serving us when someone came out to get him with a pool cue in his hand 'cause it was his shot - gotta love country towns !

Yep. That's Ali.

Originally Posted by tileys

We were at 'the beach'. It was a weekend where the weather in Sydney and even the Blue Mountains was pretty woeful - lots of rain, but over the mountains it was great - almost clear skies with lots of sun. We saw just three cars all weekend and had a fabulous boys weekend camping and exploring the area. We got out via the 'walls of brass' exit which although it was still only a little damp was a pretty hair-raising experience - even for two large 4WDs - that clay is just so slippery and rutted.

The brass walls exit can also be a bit trick when it's very dry too. there's a steep little section before a tight turn near the clay section at the exit that gets really loose when dry. That catches some novices out!

Originally Posted by tileys

The guy at the servo told us a wonderful story of a couple in a Hyundai Getz hatchback where the guy had followed the instructions of his GPS to the letter to the point where they had long since gone off a recognised track and had got stuck and it took 2 hours for the NRMA guy to physically get to them - and he's a local.

Yeah, there is a fair area that is up to 3 hours from Oberon, yet we are the closest point of "civilisation". I've been out with the previous NRMA guy to help recover a Ford panel van from halfway down parachute hill... A bloke and his heavily pregnant wife drove down parachute hill to the Kowmung River during winter a couple of years ago and they couldn't get out. A good samaritan 4WDer winched them about halfway up again by about 2am and it was snowing. He'd well and truly had enough by that stage and left and called the NRMA for these people. The NRMA guy knew he'd need help so started the ring around. We daisy chained my Hilux to the front of his Cruiser and pulled them out that way...

This guy has a great sense of humour. We got all the vehicles joined up with snatch straps and pointing in the one direction, and he told the driver of the panel van "Now, follow us and don't get lost!" The look on his face was priceless!

Al.

[GrahamL]

Thanks Al I 'll look into that tommorow .

You reminded me of something funny ..A couple of years back I went to help out a backpacker whos van wouldn't start ..I took down a tractor and chain ..and hooked the chain up to the front of his car ..during some chatter I had a hunch it was just his ignition barrel was worn ..so before doing anything with the chain just lying on the ground went and gave the key a wobble as I turned it ..and it started straight away ..he was exstatic but kept looking at the chain on the ground ..eventually he said
"I don't understand could you pleases tell me how chain make my car start ".?

I really thought about saying its a magic chain ..but relented and managed to convince him he needed a new ingnition lock