Adrian Condon

Hi Folks, Glad you all arrived safe and sound. It is a special skill to erect a tent in gale force wind! You are fortunate, that I shall not be attending this event. I have to be at the Hospice of St Francis 40th Anniversary Dinner Dance at Hadfield House on Saturday night. I will be attending the Autumn event......... I hope you have clear skies, tonight according to Scope Night will be clear from 18:00 Monday till 09:00 am Tuesday. Tuesday 18:00 till 03:00am Wednesday will be mostly clear. The rest of the week does not look brilliant.... But the weather can change......else its back to whiskey tasting sessions!! Have a great time... Adrian

Hi Anne, Looking at the list of exhibitors you should be able to make a choice from a good selection of mounts that hopefully they will bring. The Celestron stand run by Adam Hinds had a great selection of mounts at Astrofest 2019. Hope to meet some SGL members there. Adrian

Hi Michael, I am in good health, trust you are too. I am hoping to attend SGL Lucksall when it does not clash with the Galloway Star Party. I searched the SGL site for PAS 2019 earlier today, I did not see it, so I thought that members would be interested in a "Free" show given some of the comments related to Astrofest 2019. I plan to go, if you can make it, it would be great to meet up, even if we have to drink cider! I met some SGL members at Astrofest. Anyway, it is great to hear from you. Clear skies needed..... Adrian

Hi Folks, Just to let you know that there is a free (No Charge) Practical Astronomy Show (PAS) at Kettering Conference Centre, NN15 6PB on the 9th March 2019 09:30am to 17:00. There is an Exhibitors Hall, with a great list of well known companies, including Altair Astro, David Hinds with Celestron, Tring Astronomy Centre and Widescreen Centre, a full list of Vendors is on the PAS website with 30 stands (to buy the bits and pieces you need!) and free talks (on a first come first served basis). The speaker list has a number of well known speakers, for instance, Dr Paul Abel gave a very interesting talk at Astrofest 2019 on "Visual Observations of the planets" will be present addressing "Observing Venus: A Guide for Visual Observer". If interested you can find the full lowdown at the website...... https://practicalastroshow.com It will be interesting to compare this Show to Astrofest 2019. Hope to see some of you there. Adrian

Hi Carole, I take it you got home safely, the Tube service going north in London was suspended, so had to travel via Victoria to Euston. Then at Euston, the train home was delayed and we had 4 minutes from the time the platform was announced to catch it! Great travelling via train in 2019!!! I enjoyed meeting up with you and the SGL members. I was hoping to meeting DAZ, we need to have some banter. The talks this year on the whole were very good. The exhibition is in my view going downhill, which is a shame. I also met up with members of the Wycombe Astronomical Society (WAS) on the Friday and three of us stayed as usual at the local Copthorne Tara hotel and went to Chinatown for our evening meal, had our dessert at the local McDonalds and finished it off with a nightcap back at the hotel. Oh, isn't life wonderful. Trust with all the effort expended we get clear nights..... Adrian

Hi Carole, If you print off the email with the payment details it should be fine, last year I forgot my Pass in the rush to catch the train. They gave me a 4 Session Pass after I gave them my name and address. The people at Reception were very friendly and nothing seems to phase them. I will look out for you on Saturday. All the best. Adrian

Hi Folks, If you are interested in the programme for the sessions it is available at: https://europeanastrofest.com/conference/ Cheers Adrian

Hi Carole and other SGL Members, I thought you would like to note a message from Astrofest 2019 organisers: "Book your conference pass for European AstroFest 2019. Session 1 only available. Note: Sorry Sessions 2, 3 and 4 are now fully booked and Session 1 is filling up fast. Book your conference pass now to avoid disappointment. Exhibition only passes are still available. Session 1 passes will be issued by eticket and you will collect a printed pass from the front desk when you arrive at the venue. If you do not want a name to appear on the pass. The UK’s premier astronomy and space show takes place on 8 & 9 February 2019 at Kensington Conference and Events Centre in London. Visit the official European AstroFest website for further details. When you book a conference pass it entitles you to hear all four talks in each session(s) purchased and visit the exhibition on that day. Also book by phone by calling: 01732 446111. Conference Sessions Session 1: Friday Morning Session 2: Friday Afternoon – Sorry fully booked Session 3: Saturday Morning – Sorry fully booked Session 4: Saturday Afternoon – Sorry fully booked Your conference pass also includes entry to the exhibition on that day." .........Copied from the Astrofest website today 6 February 2019.......... Trust the above is helpful......... Check out the Underground outages this coming weekend. Hope to see you there... Adrian

Hi Folks, There are a number of coffee shops in the area, there are two Cafe Neros, one in the London Underground Station complex and the other one in Wrights Lane. The service there is reasonably speedy, plus there is a McDonalds opposite the Underground station. If I remember there is a Lloyds Bank as well, if you need to withdraw funds to pay for the coffees! I am booked in for the two days, usually less busy on the Friday, the majority of the exhibitors are very amicable and willing to discuss all sorts of issues. Hope all those attending have an enjoyable time.... and I might recognise some of you! Cheers Adrian

Hi Graham, I am going for two full days, I found most of the talks interesting. In 2018 the sound system was a total disaster for part of the first talk and I really wanted to hear the speaker. It was corrected within 15 minutes but should never have occurred. I stay overnight at the Copthorne Tara Hotel on the Friday night with some friends. I find the bulk of the traders interesting and more than willing to discuss their products (one or two not interested in talking about their products last year, if the pre-sales is poor, just guess what the after sales is like!!!) Yes some traders are offering discounts that help defray the costs of attending. Remember a number of companies are locating to Europe in anticipation of Brexit..... so will they be attending in future. I like Carole idea of badging up! A Happy New Year and hope to meet up with as many of you as possible... Adrian

Hi Sachakins, Nice to see that you have found an unknown camera to me! Well Done. Mirrorless 4/3 cameras are making inroads in the camera marketplace, this system has been in existence for 10 years. So the technical issues usually associated with any new systems have been resolved, so ignore any old reviews..... Olympus and Panasonic are the original companies that drew up and agreed the basics of the design characters. The Olympus and Panasonic have completely interchangeable lens, ie a Panasonic lens will work on an Olympus M4/3 camera and visa versa. The M4/3 system has a complete range of lens from entry level, enthusiasts and a fabulous Pro range from Olympus (with prices to match). The Panasonic top lens range are also brilliant. Remember these lens have a crop of x2 so a 25mm lens on a M4/3 camera is equivalent to a 50mm lens on a Canon full frame camera. The image quality is excellent, people who pixel count have rubbished the quality, but 95% of the time it is nigh impossible to see the difference in large prints, I have seen the same shot using both M4/3 and full frame Nikon cameras and the prints were about 1 metre high. The 5% is where the full frame wins if shooting in the dark where the noise on high ISO is more noticeable. Up to ISO 3200 the quality is the same. Have a look at a review of the Y1 camera at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1AL5HsKNw4 (not what happens on modern M4/3 cameras) The M4/3 cameras from Olympus and Panasonic leave the Y1 on the camera shop shelves! Have a look at the Olympus OMD E-M10 mkiii (mark 3) is an entry camera little more expensive but offers excellent quality. I have been a Canon user for years but transferred to M4/3 system 2 years ago. I have a top of the range Olympus OMD E-1 mkII and a number of Pro and Premium range lens. I have used it at the Galloway Autumn Star Party this year and happy with the results of the Milky Way using ISO 1600 and 20 second shoots. If you want a camera for daytime and star images I recommend then an Olympus or Panasonic M4/3 would be a good choice also a Canon and Nikon used cameras are also a good choice. Canon and Nikon are moving to mirrorless cameras, the advantages are lighter cameras, and since the mirror does not flip up during exposure, the image is viewable all the time. Plus what use is on the screen is what you get on the image so you have less image reviews If you are interested in M4/3, and I get a free moment I will put a few images on the SGL if that will help you make a choice. Happy Hunting! Adrian

Hi Mike I as usual plan to attend........ ( I suspect Lesley has my name already pencilled in ) It should be a great event with the getting older regulars and the new star party starters..... given the dark clear skies and the craic it is hard to see why not.... All the best Adrian

Hi Peter Glad to hear that you know the area. I always book my meals at the Harbour Inn, Sundays is one of their busy days and early evenings booking is essential. All the best. Adrian

Hi Peter, You are correct, there is no pub on site, we take a volume of whiskey and cans of various liquids.... of course there is the Harbour Inn in Garliston which is great for drink and Sunday Carvery. The food prices are reasonable specially the Sunday lunch. A number of us descend there for a good meal and the locals are very friendly and they make you very welcome. Of course, the drink-drive laws in Scotland are tougher than England..... http://www.the-harbour-inn.co.uk Food shopping can be done in the Co-Op in Wigtown or a Sainsburys and Aldi or Lidl in Newton Stewart, the local butcher there is excellent, two outdoor shops as well plus two or three cafes and a cinema. Forget Chinese takeaway..... So, given the campsite is in the back of beyond, civilisation is only a drive away! Hope to meet up. Cheers Adrian

Hi Peter, Glad to see that you are thinking about the Galloway Star Party.... if the hip operation is delayed, there is a Spring Star Party at Drumroamin, it is usually held in February / March time, so that may be of interest to you. As Ian says the Autumn one is the 10th year of stargazing there, so we are expecting it to be a great event with loads of people attending. The Saturday evening of the party just gone was absolutely fantastic with crystal clear sky and a Milky Way to die for. On the wet evenings we have a whiskey tasting sessions which are great fun. The Star Parties there are very friendly, a great laugh, Pie eating and of course there is a Pool Table as well. I travel 800 mile round trip to attend...... enough said.... Hope to meet up with you there. Cheers Adrian