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wackyscot

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Posts posted by wackyscot

  1. 4 hours ago, mapstar said:

    Had to resite the van to shelter the tent from the easterly that's whipping through the site at present. 

    20240208_0954122.thumb.jpg.11aa20ec1d8af46c52e739b0009dc9c4.jpg

    unfortunately we have a tent casualty. Ians toilet tent has had the pin loop ripped off. Fortunately there is no rain so his equipment is now stowed in the car and the tent is packed away.

    Nice to meet Alistair (Grimly) and hope he has a safe uneventful journey home. 

    Any snow down there Damian ???

     

  2. I have a large pair of Strathspey 25x100 binoculars - I had a calamity with them 1st time on a tripod they fell off the threaded screw and stripped the female thread within the mount, see picture below. Does anyone know where I could get a replacement part, or are they beyond repair??

    WhatsApp Image 2023-11-07 at 23.36.23_739c7792.jpg

    WhatsApp Image 2023-11-07 at 23.37.41_d6e556e3.jpg

  3. Last few days were challenging, weather wise. Galloway Star Camp is a unique opportunity to set up equipment and gather photons on a camera or in a telescope eyepiece. I opted for the latter. It's easy😊 Stuart Duff went for the former on his new toy. PC issues and drivers hampered his experience. We did get something from Stuart's kit, but not what hoped for. 
    When Stuart gets his issues sorted, I can't wait to see the results, his kit has some cracking possibilities. 
    Apart from the above, it was great to meet the Astro bunch, Katie Hughes, Amber Pryszcz , Helena, Wullie, Steve, James Chapman James Murphy and Denise, Calvin Hall Damian, Irish Ian, Jake Lancaster ,  Nick Mac, Ian who busses and walks to the event, Kenny and Roy Cunningham  in no particular order. 
    Thanks guys for what Galloway always produces, great skies, great company - and Stuart, it wouldn't have happened for me, but for you.
    See you all next time - I guarantee clear skies 

    Above text is from Facebook post.

    Below is also me adding to the post.

    Big thanks to Jim and Dawn for jumping in at the last moment to organise stuff, and to Lesley and Ralph for towing most of the campervans out. 

     

    David aka Wacky Scot 

     

  4. 4 hours ago, mapstar said:

    Many have departed today and just 4 left on site for what looks to be a cracking night from midnight according to the BBC. 

    Kenny caught a slight bit of aurora last night so should get those posted later. 4 clear night with the 5th to add tonight has been superb.

    A few shots were taken of the site yesterday so hopefully they will get posted.

     

    Glad you guys got some great skies, hopefully see you later in the year :)

    • Like 3
  5. On 05/03/2022 at 02:33, Physopto said:

    Well not too bad a night. That is appart from Win10 deciding to update even after I stopped it for 28 days !!!

    That caused all sorts of problems, including the computer refusing to boot for over 2 hours. Then just to comound it, it corrupted my mount computers positioning for polar alignment.

    Eventually I started getting some subs of the Rosette.

    Others were struggling with learning Sharcap and broken Telrads. One (not to be named) accidentally dropped his finder scope and broke the end off!

    AHH, the joys of astronomy !

    Well, still tomorrow night to see what fun can be had 😈

    Where are all the pictures, not seen much of the camp and attendees :(

    • Like 2
  6. 2 hours ago, jamie56 said:

    Well guys that's us arrived and partly set up, field looks really good and no flooding or water logged, walking around with soft shoes on and not wet, sun's out but part cloud as well, as usual  this place has its own little micro climate. Hopefully get polar aligned tonite and who knows after that. 

    See you Wednesday - watch out for Aurora tonight, Saturday. If clear there is a good chance :)

    • Like 1
  7. On 21/10/2021 at 15:58, Adrian Condon said:

    Hi David,

    My best memories of you and the lads from Perth was parking the car in the tent, brilliant driving!!!!!

    Trust you will have a safe trip.

    All the very best 

    Adrian

    The things we do for a bet Adrian. I have a picture of that somewhere, need to search for it. I hope you are well.  Look after yourself and hope to exchange jokes over a drop of the gold stuff soon. :) Couldn't find the tent pic, but here are 3 good memories :)

    Best wishes

    David

    43161185_10213171645666295_22292031317475328_n.jpg

    43302758_10213179574904521_1877214898094604288_n.jpg

    73472712_10215781604953646_8597776012576555008_n.jpg

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 1
  8. 1 hour ago, Physopto said:

     

     

    Just a note of interest maybe for all. 

    The Star Party starts on the 2nd Novemver OR " Dia de Muertos".

    dia de muertos en mexico is the Day of the Dead 

    Image result for Dia de Muertos en Mexico. Size: 97 x 110. Source: matadornetwork.com

    See the source image

    Well now David,       you look so well after your  laser treatment 😂

    Cheers Derren - best I've looked in a while

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  9. On 15/10/2021 at 15:38, petevasey said:

    Hi, guys,

    I may have met some of you at various events over past years, but anybody who knows me and gets a blank look, please forgive my dreadful memory -  the one remaining brain cell gets severely overloaded at times 🥴

    However...  Never having attended this star party before, I need some advice on what to bring (apart from astro kit of course), and a certain amount of food goes without saying - pity the pie and pea supper isn't going to happen.  So that only leaves liquid refreshment.   I'm sure I have read something about a particular usually brown coloured spirit that seems to have universal approval.  Also perhaps the likewise brown coloured but less spiritual substance from which the previous item can be made.  Any advice, please.  Incidentally my local pub brews extremely good beer - look up Dipton Mill Inn, and bottles of their delightful product are available - perhaps some will find their way into my little caravan  😉

    Looking forward very much to meeting everybody and embarrassing myself by forgetting your names!

    Cheers,

    Peter

    Looking forward to meeting you also Peter, I'll be the guy with the laser tripping over guy ropes ;)

    • Like 1
  10. 40 minutes ago, dweebostar said:

    Well folks, a stranger checking in, i enjoyed my quick visit to you on Saturday afternoon. nice to see some old acquaintances, and some new peeps that attend now, stirred something inside tbh, think i may call in next year, even stay a couple of nights work permitting, good to see my baby going strong and growing up.  cheers steve. 

    Was good to see you Steve, reminiscing about Jura, and the time you left our tent sideways. A memory not to be forgotten. One of those classic moments in time :) Hopefully see you next year for a good catch up and a small sherry ;)

    David

    • Haha 1
  11. 1 hour ago, AndyKeogh said:

    As Derek said very impressive.  I suspect this was about 1am. What exposure was required and did you have to do anything special to stop star trailing?

     

    Andy

     

    Hi Andy, this phone has Astrophotography Mode. You stick it on a tripod, it takes 15 second exposures, over 4 minutes and stacks them on the phone. That's it, point and shoot.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  12. This is text from a Facebook post I made, I hope you allow.

    Apologies for a short disjointed report last night. I had prepared for our meet up, albeit it was going to be a wee tribute to Al whom I reported had passed away.
    I decided to use all the equipment as a tribute in my own small way. So car was packed with all his stuff and I decided to do an old school evening, no goto, no power, just a manual, find it yourself type of night. I arrived around 7.30 to find John McRobbie with all his kit assembled. We unpacked my car, thanks John, and set up the kit. Sky was looking great, and we were waiting for Martyn and Scott to arrive.
    After setting up the kit, we headed to John's stuff, Star Adventurer with a Nikon camera and a Howitzer of a lens which John uses with great skill shooting wildlife. I'd schooled John the night before on the setting up of the S.A. so decided to ask him to have a go himself, between us we were there. 1st target was the Double Cluster, framing was a bit out but focus and subject on a test shot looked great.

    Martyn arrived with Scott not far behind, they had other plans with Ham Radio stuff. They were erecting a huge 7 metre aerial in the hope of catching the ISS going over. We heard some stuff - garbled speech but I'm sure I heard Neil Armstrong . Or maybe Tim Peake.
    Anyhow back to John and his amazing lens. We tried various things, but kept hitting snags and eventually his Star Adventurer clutch had locked up, we all tried knocking, unscrewing
    swearing, tapping with things we shouldn't have tapped with, to unlock the clutch to no avail. John's night was finished, almost!

    Martyn and Scott were swapping around cameras and scopes and Scott saw some targets, Mars in probably 5 different eyepieces. He was suitably impressed. I showed the Pixel 4 Astrophotography Mode, and he was blown away, such things from a phone are unheard of until now. Me, I'd seen Mars, Andromeda, Double Cluster, Vega, all thanks to Al - cheers man, I know you were looking down hoping things would go belly up, it did on several counts - oh and John shot off to Newburgh to catch Aurora, but nowt.
    RIP ALAN FORD. Your kit will continue to inspire others, and as you did, your kit will be passed to others.
    Sleep well big man.

     
    • Like 5
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