Money maker...

[bird_2112]

Hi all,

Just come back from a week in Oludeniz, Turkey. Each evening until around 12-30am there was a guy with a 12" dob setup on the waterfront charging people just under a quid to have a look at the moon or after 11-30pm Jupiter. My first look through a dob !! and great on both targets. Would like to have seen other objects but much more LP than expected plus the language barrier. Still, well done to the guy for a different money making scheme. Also great for many people to have a look at the moon in detail and especially for the youngsters... how many will be nagging parents for a scope when they get home.

G.

[reddoss]

Could this activity be called astro-busking?

[PigsInSpace]

Perhaps the Inland Revenue would like to see Uranus.

[Kai]

Small world , we were there at the end of Aug and saw the same guy. He was also using a green laser pen as well to point things out.

As you say the light pollution was hideous but sitting in the Buzz Bar made up for it

Btw my little boy came home with a laser pen , i didnt think it was too bad for £18

Hope you had a good holiday

[Catanonia]

Saw him as well a few years ago.

[ollypenrice]

Funnily enough I wondered about trying to do this, though more seriously, too. The trouble is, of course, that the potential customers and the light pollution go together. I now just do it for free when the chance arises. The sun is the best because (er... obviously!!!) it is there in the daytime. This guy should invest in an Ha solarscope. After 1500 punters he's in profit!

The transit of Venus was a great morning. I just set up outside the local Tourist Office and had over eighty observers enjoy the moment. Some were really tiny but I hope they remember it!

The orignial astro busker was surely the great John Dobson with his sidewalk astronomers, and not a dime changing hands.

Olly

[bird_2112]

Kai... be an even smaller world if you stayed in Hotel Imparator as well !!! Holiday was OK but a bit more built up, brash and LP'ed than expected so need not have bothered with carrying the netbook for stellarium and the binoculars.

G.

(46 more posts and I can finally look at the classifieds )

[west]

The post count will fly past I think as there is always engaging topics to comment on regardless of competency.

[Kai]

Kai... be an even smaller world if you stayed in Hotel Imparator as well !!! Holiday was OK but a bit more built up, brash and LP'ed than expected so need not have bothered with carrying the netbook for stellarium and the binoculars.

Nope we stayed at the Olu Deniz resort hotel and have to say were impressed with it (so much so that i would consider going again and i have a rule never to go to the same place twice)

As you say the LP was shocking , i had real problems making out the Big Dipper to begin with but my biggest problem was dodging the Parachutes

[ScubaMike]

Many years ago I was one of those coming down on one of those paragliders.

Scared the living daylights out of me (I have a real fear of heights!).

Before you ask, Yes, there was beer involved when I signed up and paid for it.

Yes, there was a very large brandy waiting for me when I landed (the guy who gave it to me was responsible for me signing up, and figured I couldn't punch him if I had a brandy in my right hand).

[Kai]

Mike , they launch from Mt Babadag in Olu Deniz........6000 ft !!! , no way you would get me up that high sober or drunk

[Psychobilly]

Welcome Back BB... I'll catch up soon...

I wouldn't get the ETX out in Townhill as a money making scheme though...

Peter...

[barkis]

I think John Dobson would be horrified to see someone charging money to look through their telescope.

Nothing wrong with showing a bit of enterprise, especially if the guy is struggling to make ends meet. Also, if people are happy enough to pay, then fair enough. A high res. look at the moon for the first time

has to be worth a Quid.

Besides, it's a lot better than those seaside scopes, if you can find one that works that is .

Ron.

[ScubaMike]

Mike , they launch from Mt Babadag in Olu Deniz........6000 ft !!! , no way you would get me up that high sober or drunk

I don't know what was the most frightening.... the drive up the mountain, or the running off the edge!

You may start off at 6000ft, but the thermals are mighty and I remember looking down at the take off point a few minutes after running into the abyss.

Worth doing once, but NEVER again.

(PS. You don't half feel alive when you get back to terra firma)

I do also remember looking down and seeing a fair bit of haze below. It may be a prime spot to set up and do some viewing from.

[bird_2112]

ScubaMike... I heard the drive up was almost as bad as the takeoff. Thought about doing it but then spoke to a UK couple who have a property out there. Apparently there have been 18 deaths over the last few years. Earlier this year a passenger fell off the pilot just after take off. The guy has been charged with manslaughter. Also earlier this year one came down on the hillside and it took 3 days to find the bodies. Passenger was a English guy in his 60's. I'm sure there were a few minor accidents last week judging by what another couple by the pool said that they had seen. We also watched one come down whilst sitting by the the pool and he was spiralling/spinning a lot more than others and was still at a hell of an angle when he dissapeared below the roof tops.

G.

[sbooder]

Charging! The Sidewalk Astronomers will be after his blood.

[bish]

Might try in Dudley except I would get beaten up and robbed.