Live_Steam_Mad

16 hours ago, DaveS said:

I would be thinking of a location that was fairly central so nobody has an excruciatingly long journey.

A good point. But by "Central", where were you thinking roughly? We have to remember the SGL members in Scotland also, it's not fair to make them travel enormous distance either. For example, they used to hold the Lombard / RAC Rally at York, one of the  reasons that they wanted a place that is "central" to the UK.

But for a Starcamp it has to be somewhere where there is a pretty dark sky, with no big orange glows to spoil our viewing. I think Bortle 4 is the minimum to aim for, and consider that even Bortle 4 is horrendously polluted compared to Bortle 1, many people forget that or aren't aware of the impact of Light Pollution.

The problem is basically that any convenient flat ish part of land has already been built on as much as possible, and with people come lights, it's just a sad fact of life. So "Central" i.e. anywhere within reach of Manchester / Birmingham with level ground etc is already Bortle 7 and higher, realistically. So if we want to get away from lights it has to be somewhere near a winding river / forest / hills where the population is much lower, basically.

South Wales allows the major Connurbations (London / Birmingham / Manchester) to access it within a not horrendous amount of driving time (I view 3 1/2 to 4 hours of driving to be pretty close to my physical limit of endurance), and is also one of the only places left with skies with low Bortle numbers. However I would be very willing to drive a little further to reach Bortle 3.

One place that hasn't been mentioned much yet here is the Yorkshire Dales National Park / Nidderdale Area Of OutStanding Natural Beauty), that is fairly "Central" to the UK, and they have recently applied to the International Dark Sky Association to become an IDA International Dark Sky Park, I believe. Quite large areas of Bortle 3 are up there, with no established Star Camps as of yet? ;- https://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/10/YDNPA-Dark-Sky-Reserve-Application-240920.pdf

Skies there look decent, no?!

Regards,

AG

On 26/03/2022 at 19:20, Geoff_L said:

That's not a bad idea. I just did a search over on UK Campsite for a somewhere with a rally field, EHU, that takes tents, caravans and motorhomes, and within a 30 mile radius of (GPS: 50.9, -2.5) and got 80 matches, many of which are in the low light pollution / many clear nights region North of Dorchester. One example (and I stress this is just the first looked at) is Oathill Farm Holiday And Touring Park (clicky link to UK Campsite entry) -- I didn't look too closely, but the photos on UK Campsite suggest that trees are limited and it seems to have reasonably open horizons. However, I have no idea whether they have street lighting within the site...

Here's a clicky link to the entire search results. Hopefully, it'll be of some use to the organisers...

Just did a similar type of search, using the clear nights and low light pollution as a guide, and came up with this in a Bortle 4, SQM 21.65 zone in Whitney, South Wales ;-

https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6092

Look at the list of facilities! They accept groups! There's got to be a catch!?

Regards,

AG

Hi, is anyone here going to Dalby StarFest 2022 ?

https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/dalby-forest-starfest-2022/

I will be there, in a tent. Hope to have Hubble Optics UL16 by then (if I can lift it!). I'm a bit concerned by the lack of electric hook up, but I'll have to put up with it...

Best Regards,

Alistair G.

4 minutes ago, LandyJon said:

I like the look of that roof tent, you think it'll go on my car !?  Not sure I'd fancy the trip in my Landy, @ 2 mpgs it'd cost a bit more than the car did (not much mind 🤣) and 50mph top speed I'd have to set off tomorrow !

If that Coleman tent is a standing room one, I suggest reading back (was it this thread or previous star camp ones ?) ... they had some strong winds and some tents suffered, make sure it's rated for high winds or try find some extra lashing kit just in case.

Yes the Coleman tent I bought is one of the very tall ones with plenty of room inside to stand up in (I'm 5 feet 7 1/2). I bought it becase I coudn't stand up in my previous Kobuk Valley 4 tent. I stayed with Coleman because I have a very strong preference for their Blackout Bedroom "technology". The new to me tent has poles which are all heavy gauge steel, so unlikely to break. I also have a couple of packs of spare tent pegs, and I have 8 of the new fangled "Delta Ground Anchors" that arrived today, those can withstand up to 72Kg of pull on each one. But you never quite know with winds... anyway here's hoping.

Regards.

7 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

I've also packed 'The Bear'. This is a WW2 style bomber jacket designed to keep you toastie at 14,000 feet. It's honestly too warm to wear above about 5°!

Any chance of a link? Or link to something similar. Sounds like a useful item.

Regards.

It seems that Bil Irving on the Facebook Astrocamp "forum" is offering pitch #50 with EHU since he can't attend? If someone fancies to come along who is not already booked, maybe that's your chance?

I'll miss observing with you Mark, Best Wishes and hope to see you next time and / or at some other Starcamp!

In mid February I ordered a Hubble Optics UL16 Ultralight Newtonian for next Starcamp, it should have arrived by the next Starcamp, that should be good for some Galaxies and Planetary Nebulae.

I am also booked in to Dalby StarFest, Kielder Autumn Starcamp and Galloway Starcamp for later this year.

Regards,

Alistair

20 hours ago, Physopto said:

Hi. you phone or email the campsite. Contact Lesley Shell at Drumroamin directly. Do not try to book on line as the site will say fully booked as it is reserved for the Star Camp.

The addresses are on the web.  But you may well be too late now as I think the Star Camp may actually be fully booked by now.

I would get in touch asap to find out.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks, I've just paid the reservation fee to Lesley at Drumroamin, she confirmed that there was at least one place left for me, so I am booked in for Monday 21st November 2022 for 5 nights with EHU (I will be in a tent 4.8m long), with a grass pitch hopefully (or at least with enough grass to put my Coleman MacKenzie tent on).  My skies like a lot of us are extremely nauseatingly bright and orange color at night and can barely see any stars (Bortle 8, LM barely 4.3) here in St.Helens, Merseyside!

Hopefully by November for start of Starcamp I will have my Hubble Optics UL16 telescope to bring along with me.

This will be my first time at Galloway.

Best Regards,

A.

Hi, I would like to attend this event. Who do I book with? Have all the pitches gone now?

Regards.

3 hours ago, Geoff_L said:

That's not a bad idea. I just did a search over on UK Campsite for a somewhere with a rally field, EHU, that takes tents, caravans and motorhomes, and within a 30 mile radius of (GPS: 50.9, -2.5) and got 80 matches, many of which are in the low light pollution / many clear nights region North of Dorchester. One example (and I stress this is just the first looked at) is Oathill Farm Holiday And Touring Park (clicky link to UK Campsite entry) -- I didn't look too closely, but the photos on UK Campsite suggest that trees are limited and it seems to have reasonably open horizons. However, I have no idea whether they have street lighting within the site...

Here's a clicky link to the entire search results. Hopefully, it'll be of some use to the organisers...

You would also have to exclude Adults Only and also exclude Members Only. But that's a very good idea, and would help a lot I think.

Regards.

I found this to aid in picking a place ;- https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/275117-uk-map-combo-of-light-pollution-and-clear-nights/

8 hours ago, Starflyer said:

It looks like a lovely campsite and the setting is stunning.  I know the area quite well and have spent plenty of nights with relatives close by.  Maybe I've been unlucky but in around forty nights spent there over ten years I've had two clear nights, there always seems to be a lot of moisture in the air.

Ahh maybe then we should pick somewhere that is drier. Maybe something in the East of England but not too near the coast? Any suggestions anyone?

Regards.

I found this site in a Bortle 3 zone ;- https://www.fforestfields.co.uk/campsite-wales

They seem to have a decent sized field and electric hook ups (for the tents?) and facilities. Thoughts?

Regards,

AG

Any updates on this event yet?

Regards,

AG

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Cheers, I must try to get to one this year.
I was going to go to this one anyway even if I could not set my imaging gear up but just checked and I am at a War of the Worlds concert in Leeds that weekend so dates not good for me anyway.

Hopefully meet up with some of you soon though, I hope the clouds stay away that weeknd 🙂 

Steve

Oh that's a shame, well hope to meet you at one of the other Astrocamps soon.

The Dalby StarFest would have been ideal for you, I was booked into that for their 20th Annual one in Autumn 2021 but it got cancelled due to Covid late on. However, Dalby StarFest has no EHU, and no WiFi if I remember right, so that would be a problem for me, as ideally I need both. Maybe try booking for Kelling or something else from the GoStarGazing website?

AG

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I really want to attend a camp, and have been booked to go to two last year or two but either covid or flooding put paid to that.
I just checked availability and the only pitches with EH are those right next to to road so maybe not great for imaging, should have tried earlier.

Is there some way of knowing when all these stargazing camps are on as I think generally they do get booked up pretty quick 🙂 

Steve

I wouldn't worry about the road, it's a very small village with very little traffic from what I experienced, and there is a hedge that blocks most of the car headlights, and if you are imaging it won't affect you hardly at all I imagine, and during the event the Council of Powys switch off the street lighting along the road at just beyond the bottom of the site, so don't worry about lights there so much. There are 4 pitches with EHU left, and if I were you I would grab one quick.

Last year I attended Brecon Astrocamp 15 in October, then SWAG at Pencelli slightly later in October, then Kielder Astrocamp in November, so there were quite a few to choose from that went ahead. This year there is also a decent choice of Astrocamps to go to. Yeah I recommend you get to know all about the ones within driving distance, then book early for them.

Best Regards,

AG

A mix of observers and imagers are in attendance, several people that I know who are going are imagers, I am a kind of hard core visual observer, as it were. There is usually at least one person with a large Newton telescope on a Dobson type mount. I will be bringing the usual 12" SCT, but in future would like to bring a 16" Ultralight Newton when I finally get my hands on one. You are going to love it, they turn all the lights off at the campsite or put them on dull red light, and the Council turns off the Street Lights just beyond the bottom of the campsite along the road, so we get a great view during the event.

Best Regards

Alistair G.

29 minutes ago, Freff said:

Hi Alistair

The get together in April is not a SWAG organised meet per se, but rather an impromptu invite. 

I will be there with one or two others as of now, and hopefully a few other will join in.

Enjoy Cwmdu, and hope to see you in October.

How about making it April 30th to 2nd May then instead at Pencelli, so more people can come due to the May Bank Holiday on Monday 2nd May? Or you could hold the Pencelli event 25th -27th March, Friday until Sunday with basically no Moon?

Best Regards,

AG

Yes I am going to Brecon Astrocamp 16 at Cwmdu, 2nd - 5th April 2022, I am booked in on pitch 26b.

Best Regards,

Alistair G.

On 16/10/2021 at 15:09, Freff said:

A very big thank you to all those who attended this year’s  autumn SWAG  SP at Pencelli Castle. Especially to the newcomers who contributed by sharing their astro gear,  knowledge and friendship.

We had a great turnout for our first event since the outbreak of Covid, and hopefully the unprecedented amount of public that were amongst us was not an issue, In fact I'm sure there are now a few converts.

We did manage a few clear nights with longer periods for the imagers to do their magic. Hopefully we will see some of their images posted here soon.

Next year’s SWAG SP  has been provisionally booked for weekend 21st - 23rd October 2022 with the New Moon on 25th, and the Orionids Meteor Shower the same weekend.

There is also a weekend on 1st – 3rd April  2022 when a few of the group will have a get together to help shorten the time until the autumn event. Anyone is welcome to join us.

Again, many thanks to all. 👍🔭🪐

Hi, since Brecon Astrocamp 16 is on from 2nd - 5th April 2022, is the SWAG meeting this coming April going to be rescheduled?

I am booked in for Brecon Astrocamp 16, I'm on pitch 26b.

Best Regards,

Alistair G.

I just sent a message to FLO regarding my dead Lynx Astro dew controller (presumably was killed by the burning heater tape? Otherwise I don't understand it). The Lynx Astro dew heater is currently being powered by my old Hitec Astro / BCF single channel dew controller (which seems to be indestructible, well it did go wrong once long ago, the number 1 socket cracked on the PCB but I reflowed the solder) and I'm using that at present for tonight. It’s currently on my 12" Meade ACF SCT. Tonight it has performed very well indeed, corrector is clear, the heater tape is warm to the touch. This heater tape puts out more heat into the OTA than I have ever experienced in any other heater tape, and the elastic is easier to use than the AstroZap one, I am very pleased with the Lynx Astro dew heater tape.

Regards,

AG

Well it turns out that I spoke too soon on the dew heater controller front, my Lynx Astro Dew Controller is dead, no lights in it, despite the 12V plug on it having a red light on it, and the output voltages from the 5.5mm sockets and phono sockets are 0.04V max. It's dead. Maybe the short on the AstroZap dew heater killed it? Other than that I can't understand it. Thankfully I still have my old Hitec Astro / BCF single channel dew controller so I'm using that at present for tonight.

Regards,

AG

Lynx Astro dew heater strap arrived from FLO. It's well made and puts out a lot of heat. I measured the input using my new Jackery 240 battery, that I bought for camping, it takes 21W for that heater alone.
I like that the surface of the strap seems to stick out to touch the OTA, unlike every other strap I've ever used, and there is lots of insulation and material on it, and the elastic strap is very elastic. I think you have a winner with this product, well done FLO. I'll see how it performs this coming year. At the moment I brought my 12" ACF that it was on back inside and am currently cleaning it. Tak CN-212 is outside with the dew heater on that instead. Later edit: 12" ACF now cleaned and ready to go outside. I'll see how it performs on the SCT later on.

Best Regards,
AG

Oh BTW this AstroZap heater that burned tonight was being powered by a recently bought Lynx Astro 4 channels dew controller which also came from FLO.

It seems that I get just a couple of years out of these heater tapes, and that the cable connection to the tape is the weak link.

I notice that my Lynx Astro dew controller still has all of it's lights on, it seems to still be working just fine?

Regards,

AG

On 30/11/2019 at 10:25, FLO said:

Neither have we. We have of course experienced the occasional failure but fortunately nothing as spectacular or scary as that experienced by smr. 
 

I cannot find an order from you for heater tapes so I don’t think they were ours 🙂

FLO only sells AstroZap heater tapes. We have been selling them for as long as I can remember, probably at least a decade. I think in the UK most heater tapes in use today are AstroZap. All are covered by a ‘two year no fault replacement warranty’ so if anyone reading this has a problem with theirs they are welcome to contact us for a replacement. We won’t even ask how it happened... 😎

HTH, 

Steve 

About 2 years ago I have had a Dew-Not brand tape, C11 sized, burn into actual orange / yellow flames when powered on 12V (measured 12.25V no load from it's PSU, on a multimeter) via a Hitec 4 output single channel controller. Quite spectacular, if unsettling.

Tonight I had my second failure, as I went to put my AstroZap 12” dew heater back on, which was it's replacement, I saw smoke coming from where the cable enters the dew heater. This dew heater has thus now failed, it had connection fatigue is all I can think of,  which turned into a dead short, the cable got very got, the thing started to burn.

I didn’t want another Dew-Not brand because it seemed to produce a rather minimal amount of heat for the energy input, and I didn't like the cable input where you might end up pulling on it, I much prefer this AstroZap one where you don't pull on the cable ever, but this AstroZap brand one still failed. I observe rather a lot, maybe that was it's downfall. It is 20 months old.

Where do I stand on getting a replacement for this? I ordered it from FLO on 4 Feb 2020, Order Number: PO125829 . I have e-mailed FLO about this.

Where on the map does the group usually put down their telescopes / observe from ? It would be nice to put my EQ6-R onto hard standing instead of having it sinking into the grass and loosing my alignment.

Also, anyone got any more pictures of the skies there and past meetings showing the scopes etc? Would be nice.

BTW I need a North view for Polaris to use my Ioptron Ipolar on.

Regards,

Alistair G.