cjdawson

10 hours ago, BeerMe said:

Thanks Michael, I wasn't aware of the glamping pods and beach huts that are available for hire, but I'd guess we'd be more or less on our own and away from the main field(s) if we booked one of those?  It's definitely a better option than the car, regardless. 

Would that have to be booked through Lucksall direct?

The pods are just outside the field that we all use.  So you are not as far away as you'd think.   You'd still be very much part of the crowd if you booked one of them.

15 hours ago, Ally8446 said:

Booked Friday till Tuesday. Counting the days already ???

haha.  I've already packed my caravan and car ready.  c'mon, I want to get there early this year, so that I'm not late for the curry.

1 hour ago, michaelmorris said:

Booked. Probably just me being thick but where is the map showing the pitch numbers?

Here

http://sglsp.com/location/

I've booked too.  Looking forward to it already.

11 minutes ago, JOC said:

Wolflady I am really knew to this, but found that Orion target easily - it is well worth a look.  So is the Pleiades cluster as recommended above.  They are not difficult to find - esp. if you ask Stellarium where they are.  I have had just  two good observing sessions and could already easily re-visit them.

Hehe.   Now you are hooked.  

welcome to SGL and the wonderful night sky.

16 hours ago, Wolflady said:

Brilliant thank you we'll do just that now. Learning as we go along really but got excited wanting to see something amazing. Thanks again!

Something wonderful to look at... try this.

tonight look to the south, about 40 degrees up you'll see three stars in a row (the belt of Orion).  Below you will see two bright stars (one of them is called Rigel, the other Saiph).  Between this bright stars you should see three dim "stars" in a vertical line (ish). These will be a bit dimmer, when you look you'll have trouble focusing your eyes on them.   Now get you telescope and point it at the middle of those three stars.   You'll know when you hit the target that I've described, I can guarantee that you will love that one.   Enjoy your evening.

Might be worth you contacting making contact with the QCUIAG group http://www.qcuiag.org.uk/  They used to have a group on Yahoo.  And it wouldn't surprise me if someone there would know how to do the intervention that you are talking about.  In addition, if you are lucky, you might be able to flash the firmware of the camera as I get the feeling that the features you are talking about are software features rather than hardware.  might even be a driver thing!

All that I'm saying here is to manage your expectations as to what to expect from a real time view from a camera.   If you throw enough money at the problem, I'm sure you can get a great image in real time.  However most budgets, means that you'll be extended your exposure time.   That's all.

The root issue here is that objects in the night sky are dim.  Most cameras are designed to work in daylight, so the exposure times that work are are a fraction of what is needed to be able to clearly see night objects.   You can get cameras that are very sensitive compared to about 20 years ago.  However if you take a look at the threads of people capturing images, you will quickly see that the exposure times they are talking about for a single frame is around 2-10 minutes depending on settings.  Then you'll also notice that the same people are talking about that single image being part of a set of 20-100 images.    This can mean that for a single photo, there will be something in the region of 60 mins or more exposure time on the object.    This simple won't happen in real time.

that said, if you are only looking to see feint fuzzy blobs, it can be done with exposures of 10 seconds or less.

Vote out the local government?

12 hours ago, Sirius Starwatcher said:

I'm bringing a pair of well used ear defenders khaki green. No cotton covers for them hence the knock down price of £500.81p

Cheap at double the price.