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Peak Star Party 2015: 5th anniversary extravaganza!

jamespels

By jamespels
in Star Parties & Astro Events

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jamespels

jamespels

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Planning for PSP2015 is well under way and we have quite a special one planned for our fifth anniversary :).

Can't give too many details right now as a lot is still in negotiation but we will be picking a lot of the best bits from the last four years, refining it all and adding a few new things to give it a twist. Expect the same great atmosphere with a few "extras", more electric pitches and a solution to the quarry problem if we can pull it off!

We are aiming to bring it forward a couple of weeks, too, to stack the odds a little better in our favour weather-wise and will announce dates as soon as we get confirmation from some of of the people we want to join us... In the meantime, how would you feel about trading a little moon (half moon rising close to Orion about midnight) for a chance of better weather in early October? As we see it, there is no value in a new moon if it is cloudy! If we do this, we will run a lunar photography competition over the weekend.

Thanks, and more soon,

James & the PSP Posse!

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jamespels

jamespels

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Thanks all, pretty much settled on 2 - 5 October. Planning something a little special so we cannot confirm prices yet but are not planning to run short of electric pitches this time:) Suffice to say for now, please bear with us and I expect to have some more details confirmed by the middle on November (working with third party lead times so my hands are a bit ties at the moment).

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reddoss

reddoss

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Virtually all star parties are around the time of the new moon. I attended one star party a few years ago,  it had been a lovely clear dark night and I had been imaging M27. The half moon came up at 2.30 am and everyone stopped imaging/observing and  went to bed!!!

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jamespels

jamespels

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Yep, appreciated on the moon issue but for the last two years we have had cloud and rain over new moon weekend, preceded by fine and clear weekends!

We are trying to strike a balance that increasing the chances of seeing something, even if that is the moon! Tbh, a half moon is nowhere near as bright as a full moon; it does not drown out DSOs across the whole sky and makes a decent observing target itself. Our only other option is to move to the Sept new moon but that clashes with Kelling so too many people would not be able to make it.

animal666 and reddos: have you been to PSP before? There is a lot to do as well as the astronomy and so far all the people who have been before and replied are fine with a half moon. It is obviously up to you if this is a deal breaker for you or not but maybe you should give it a try?

Thanks,

James

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jamespels

jamespels

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Hi all, I promised an update by mid November but it is taking a little longer to get this sorted than I anticipated. I cannot give to much detail yet but I have been discussing PSP with the local quarries and they have become interested in getting more actively involved. I am meeting with one on Friday 28 Nov and will have a clearer idea what, if anything, they can do support us by then.

Also, we are possibly going to extend PSP to run from the Thursday for 2015 - again, more details to follow. This won't help with the moon but it will increase the chances of a decent night!

Thanks,

James.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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Hi all,

Happy New Year to everybody...

please bear with me a little on PSP2015 - it is proving to be a little more challenging than I anticipated.

Thanks,

James.

Hi James, any confirmation on PSP dates yet, could do with booking time of work

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jamespels

jamespels

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Hi everybody,

with great regret, I have to announce that I am retiring from running PSP. Due to a change in circumstances (I have moved back into contracting and am away from home in the week), I am going to have to give up PSP so I can keep weekends clear for family stuff, help out with the school PTA and so on. I have discussed it with a few people who might be interested in picking it up and there are a lot of people willing to help out, but nobody has volunteered to run it yet. I am therefore opening it up to anybody who genuinely wants to and has the time to do so.


The way I have been running PSP, it involves the following. Obviously, it would be up to you do do as much or as little as you see fit for each of these - I fully appreciate there are better ways of doing much of it!

- sorting out the website

- advertising on SGL, UKAI and UK astronomy press as you see fit

- coordinating volunteers and helpers

- managing bookings

- arranging guest speakers

- arranging trade stands

- coordinating with Ed & Marilyn at Shallow Grange or any other location

- arranging loan of tents from the Scouts, etc.

- arranging insurance

- keeping on top of the financials

 

All the equipment needed to run PSP at Shallow Grange is in storage at the farm; I will move control of the PSP bank account, Paypal account, website, email, etc. to whoever wants to pick it up but please be aware there is some personal commitment when it comes to the bank and paypal accounts (i.e. they need to be in a person's or business' name as there is no legal "Peak Star Party" entity). I will obviously help and advise but cannot commit any substantial time to PSP this year and would need somebody else to "own" it.

 

If you are interested in taking all or part of PSP on, please drop me an email to info@peakstarparty.co.uk and I will send out an introductory email to anybody interested. To keep this manageable, I suggest a deadline of the end of the month to agree new ownership which means I really need to hear from you by the weekend of 24/25 Jan at the latest. If nobody wants to pick PSP up by then, I will announce the end of PSP and make arrangements for distributing existing assets to local schools and charities.

 

Running PSP has (mostly!!!) been great fun and I am sorry to have to walk away from it but I really cannot carry on with it; if I do find I have time, I will concentrate on the educational aspects and getting schools involved.

 

Thanks,

 

James.

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Uplooker

Uplooker

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Hi James,

First off, thank you for all your efforts in organising PSP over the last 4/5 years, you have done a fantastic job. It has been evident that you have had to dig deep and make sacrifices at times to make the event happen, that is to be commended! Without you the event would not have happened at all, you certainly resurrected the phoenix from the ashes.

You have nothing to feel guilty or down about. I can only speak for myself, but the events that I have attended have been fabulous. I think that your only downfall has been that you have not sold your soul to the weather Gods and that, and I am sure the majority here, can appreciate.

With most "clubs", they are only as good as their members. I am as guilty as the rest in not being active enough in providing assistance, support  or even  a shoulder to cry on, when things do not happen or go to plan.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for all your efforts, hard work and perseverance over the last 4/5 years, as without it, many hundreds of people would not have come together for a series of fantastic star parties that entertained, socialised, educated and I must say frustrated ( because of the weather).

You should be very proud of what you have done, many would not have even come close to what you achieved.

Just think of that school girl who changed her whole education path based on the fact that she attended PSP. She went onto study astronomy/physics, you changed someone's life for the better. Not many people can claim that, can they?

I wish you many stress free and relaxing days with your family.

All the best for the future and may all your future pursuits be happy and profitable  ones,

Ian Martin

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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Hi James,

First off, thank you for all your efforts in organising PSP over the last 4/5 years, you have done a fantastic job. It has been evident that you have had to dig deep and make sacrifices at times to make the event happen, that is to be commended! Without you the event would not have happened at all, you certainly resurrected the phoenix from the ashes.

You have nothing to feel guilty or down about. I can only speak for myself, but the events that I have attended have been fabulous. I think that your only downfall has been that you have not sold your soul to the weather Gods and that, and I am sure the majority here, can appreciate.

With most "clubs", they are only as good as their members. I am as guilty as the rest in not being active enough in providing assistance, support  or even  a shoulder to cry on, when things do not happen or go to plan.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for all your efforts, hard work and perseverance over the last 4/5 years, as without it, many hundreds of people would not have come together for a series of fantastic star parties that entertained, socialised, educated and I must say frustrated ( because of the weather).

You should be very proud of what you have done, many would not have even come close to what you achieved.

Just think of that school girl who changed her whole education path based on the fact that she attended PSP. She went onto study astronomy/physics, you changed someone's life for the better. Not many people can claim that, can they?

I wish you many stress free and relaxing days with your family.

All the best for the future and may all your future pursuits be happy and profitable  ones,

Ian Martin

Ian, fantastic words that sum up what all of us feel, very accurate and i would say you speak for all of us, well said my friend

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Dannae

Dannae

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Hi James,

I used to help organise the 'old' PSP/PSP Lite many years ago at the Rivendell site before I moved abroad. I was immensely happy to see that the event had continued when I came back to the UK last year and that there had been a lot of effort and work in making the event a wonderful meet up for beginners and experienced alike.

Well done to you and others in making people come together and the personal sacrifices it took to make this happen.

Best wishes

Dannae

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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If we dont find a willing person to pick up the baton, it would still be possible to have the event in a scaled down form, each person attending could book direct at shallow grange and we could have a named coordinator to liase with the camp site

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Stu

Stu

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I agree that it should be possible to keep going in a much simpler, lower maintenance form. I can assist to a degree but am a long way away so any help would be 'virtual Interweb/phone' based before the event itself

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