A Story and Some advice

[Rigel-7]

It's their loss - find another club. I went to my local club last night and they were incredibly friendly and helpful. I believe this to be the norm. I even got to look through a Meade 14" CAT ....

[kernowstargazer]

go back and stand up to him dont think so i dont like the person i let out of the cage i have had a lot of counciling about my temper when i was in my teens so i dont want to walk down that lonely road again. The only reason i would go back there is to cr*p in his hat.

Thanks for all the replies shows there is a lot of descent astronomers out there and in actual fact i was up the spar shop buying astronomer mag and the clerk said " me and my mates meet up at the top of strat hill once a month for a session (hope he didnt mean anything else ). I couldnt believe it. So we have decided to meet on the hill in feb, exchanged numbers and he gave me some emails of his mates and one of them i used to work with so thumbs up i may beable to set one up.

[Flyingpig]

Hi and welcome to a fellow Cornish astronomer (I lived in Cornwall till 2 years ago, when work caused me to move up country).

I cant believe the attitude of some people (I'll bet he was an Emmet). I tried out a number of Cornish Astro Societies; mostly they were friendly but some were a bit odd (one astro club in west Cornwall spend more time talking things like Geology and meterology and only a token mention of astronomy - interesting as this was; it hardly filled my need for an active astronomical club friendly as it was the only observing session is the annual Perseid meteor! Another group could only be described as very geeky - unless you have a physics or astronomy degree you'd find yourself lost!

There are however some very good Cornish astronomy clubs and groups. If you don't mind travelling to go to a decent club there are two I can highly recommend look up Brannel Astronomy they meet in St Stephen, this is the best Astro club I have ever been to (and I have been to a fair few); very friendly and down to earth nobody has a stuck up type attitude, very active observing wise too. The other club I can recommend is Callington community Astronomy club, Callington space centre hosts astronomy courses too so if your interested you could get a GCSE in Astronomy or whatever. Another place to look at is the Roseland Observatory which has links through Brian Sheen to Brannel Astronomy.

If you do plan to start up your own Astro soc in your part of Cornwall these organisations could be of help to you with advice and support.

[onesmallstep]

Whaaat??? You're best off out of that club, mate. Did you say that one of the members was a taxi driver? If he asks for a tip tell him to be nice to people for a change.

If you're still interested in joining a club in your part of the UK then try out the following linky for the Federation of Astronomical Societies Members page. Cornwall has five separate clubs listed so that should be enough to get you started. I joined my local club in 2005 after attending a star party and haven't looked back since. I'm now a committee member and have made some really good friends as well as seeing sites (both terrestrial and astronomical) that I'll never forget. It's also helped me to cope with losing both parents as it provided me with an outside interest and a support system. I also get to spend my evenings watching real stars, not some reality TV talentless wannabes making a noise like a cat being neutered with a melon-baller. The only downside is that I can't join in with the water cooler scuttlebutt at work as I don't watch reality TV talentless wannabes making noises etc.

Go on, give the clubs another go, you have nothing to lose but your binocular case.

Federation of Astronomical Societies - Member Societies

[Flyingpig]

Cornwall has five separate clubs listed so that should be enough to get you started.

As already mentioned here's a list of Cornish astronomy societies and facilities including some not in the federation of astronomical societies.

Brannel Astronomy - Highly recommend

Callington Community Astro Club - I also recommend

Cornwall Astronomy club - Ok for advanced in the hobby, not great for beginners

Observatory for Cornwall (think it closed due to funding/Security issues)

West Cornwall - Friendly; but can go off topic (not member of fed Astro)

Roseland Observatory - Recommend; Not strictly a Society butY worth joining/ visiting

Callington Space Centre - Astronomy teaching centre (not member of fed Astro)

Goonhilly - Radio Astromomy centre / tourist attraction.

It would seem that the club you visited is not a member of fed Astro either; membership of fed Astro gives a society among other benefits insurance cover - a club without public liability insurance could end up in trouble if any accident occurred at a public open day or observing session. They may of course have a separate cover of their own; but be careful especially if your on the executive board of such a society!

[sticks]

That bloke was a ***, so move on, there's loads of advice here - just ask away and you'll be inundated with it. A lot of clubs get "taken over" by a clique of individuals who look on the society and its assets as their personal property. They then want to control who joins, (not too many of those young johnnies old boy). I suppose they put in most of the work to keep the club going and it is just an inevitable outcome of that. I've had similar experiences and just put a line through them and move on 'cos you won't change them and an ABH rap is hardly worth it!

[Astro Imp]

Can't add anything printable about Mr Tash.

You might like to read Astro-Baby's review of of the Skywatcher 103PM.

[idbvideo]

I cant add anythign about clubs, there is one near me, I may take a look one day.

Back to scopes....

From what I understand Dobs are alt/azimuth types ie they go round and tilt up and down. Having never used one I can only say that they are probably more natural to steer round the skies, a bit like a camera tripod.

I started out before Christmas with an Astromaster 130EQ, then discovered that its mount is not very stable, the finder scope is naff and I could not use it. The Equatorial Mounts do take a bit of getting used to. As I wanted to do astrophotography, I was kinda dissapointed with the focuser, it is too coarse for focusing with the camera on.

What happened to me was I wanted a scope, I had to have one for Christmas and found an on line shop not far from me that sold over the counter. They didnt have a Skywatcher 130P in stock but had the Celestron in so I went for it.... What was that saying .....

The Skywatcher has far better reviews. I went for a slightly better one, a bit out of your price range, I ended up with a Skywatcher 200P and EQ5 mount... Although not had first light yet, setting it up has been a revelation....

Good luck with your hunt for a scope.

[kernowstargazer]

Cheers for the advice flyingpig i will look into these nice one. Im not really bothered about tash man anymore he can stick his clicky group. I have been going out now on my own for over a year and i seem to get more and concerntrate more on what im doing. Ive done group hobbies and team sports now its time for "ME".

I seem to meet these type of people quite alot now i went into a optics shop on my delivery journey and met a right Tw@ of a sales bloke the owner of the shop wasnt in so i got the clerk, so i started asking questions about the 2 telescopes he had on display one was the SW 250p Skyliner (What a beast of a scope that was) the other was a Celestron 130eq.

I asked if he knew if the celestron had a parabolic mirror or a sepherical mirror which his answer was all refector telescopes have a parabolic mirror so we ended up in a heated exchange as i said that there was a debate as to weither the 130eq actually did have a parabolic mirror or not which he called my stupid.

so i proceeded to take control of his computer and show him this site and FLO site which states the SW 130 doesnt have a parabolic mirror and is stated otherwise in the end he told me he didnt know much about astronomy and was a sports photographer. My answer was "WHAT ARE YOU DOING SELLING TELESCOPES IF YOU KNOW NOTHING" :mad:anyway the owner had come back and we had a nice chat as he was an astronomer and i have now decided to buy the SW 150p Dob. Why does this keep happening to me, WHY:rolleyes:

[Flyingpig]

Unfortunately it's a very common experience especially in photography centered optical shops; of these if they stock telescopes at all they will only have a couple to choose from. The telescopes typically found in these Photography shops are usually small to medium Newtonians on rather flimsy basic mounts;(actually that's progress since not long ago it was usual to find cheap refractors with small apertures and terrible chromatic aberration or even toy scopes). The assistants in these stores are normally photography enthusiasts with little if any astronomical knowledge you may even see equatorial mounts set up totally wrongly - not exactly inspiring!

Personally I avoid these stores; they dont treat astronomical customers with much respect and probably won't even stock any eyepieces or other accessories. I order online or visit astronomy focused optical stores who will give you much more time, mostly reliable knowledge and stock all the accessories you are likely to need. Unfortunately I don't know of any astronomical shops in Cornwall so it's probably best to look online and get your advice here on SGL or telephone a proper astronomical supplier for advice on your purchases.

[newarcher]

this story is terrible did the organiser not realise for a society of any kind it needs new members to survive and fllourish i am a member of an archery club and you could not wish to meet a better crowd carry on mate you will find a better club

[kernowstargazer]

Im not bothered about it any more as i have met about 6 people so far in town that dont go any of there meets and are avid gazers so may be able to have a monthly gathering but not a club just a social (cough cough Beers Cough cough) and do some star gazing seem to be quite genuine as well but we'll see as said before i seem to be enjoying the "me" time and using this forum and stellerium as my advice. Cheers all.

[dag123]

Hi,

For interest this recent thread, http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/172693-celestron-130eq-info.html seems to confirm that the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ does indeed have a parabolic mirror.

dag123

[Tribal-Wolf]

I am thinking of taking a look at a couple of clubs near me, one I have emailed and got a friendly reply, the other is on the other side of the Humber bridge so it can be costly until I get my free passes. I will let you know how I get on lol

[Probablynot]

Lucky you! My nearest club seems to be about 50 miles away. The most convenient one is 70 miles away. And here's me. living right in the middle of Wales, where the skies are so dark I can't see the road when I walk the mile home from my nearest pub!

[JamesF]

the skies are so dark I can't see the road when I walk the mile home from my nearest pub!

At least, that's your story and you're sticking to it?

James

[Adrian]

Im not bothered about it any more as i have met about 6 people so far in town that dont go any of there meets and are avid gazers so may be able to have a monthly gathering but not a club just a social (cough cough Beers Cough cough) and do some star gazing seem to be quite genuine as well but we'll see as said before i seem to be enjoying the "me" time and using this forum and stellerium as my advice. Cheers all.

Wow - some dark skies down there

Glad you're finding people to chat with over a beer or 12 (Is it true that the Carriers is closing, or was that just a rumour?) I grew up in Bude and I'm back down for a few days later this week (no room for a scope due to kids :))

I'm always stunned by the clarity when I get there. Here, Jupiter is obvious - Got to Bude (well, Widemouth now) at Xmas and I had to really search amongst the thousands of stars to find Jupiter.

Whilst I enjoy observing on my own, the occasional group observing session is excellent to share ideas, methods and to check out other kit without having to buy it so I hope you manage to set up something.

[kernowstargazer]

Yes the carriers has shutdown it was the best traditional pub in bude. I dont have to go very far for a dark site just across the road and down a couple of fields and i have a wicked view of the northern skies as it looks over the sea no LP over that. Widemouth is a very good place as well just the eastern sky isnt very good as it looks over the town. The best place is up on the holsworthy road about 5 min drive and you get really good view. My back garden was very good until they decided to build a play park behind me now theres about 6 street lights there:mad: but they are the hooded ones so not to bad as long as i stay low behind my wall.

[Flyingpig]

Cornwall Astronomy club - Ok for advanced in the hobby, not great for beginners

Observatory for Cornwall (think it closed due to funding/Security issues)

West Cornwall - Friendly; but can go off topic (not member of fed Astro)

Oops I got two clubs the wrong way round

West Cornwall Astronomy Society who meet in Falmouth and Helston are the club who are better for those more advanced in the hobby; they are a member of fed astro.

Cornwall Astronomy Society who also met in Helston at the godolphin club are the club who are very friendly but who go off topic often covering non astro topics such as Geology, Meterology, History of the Royal society etc. and are not members of fed astro.

Sorry about the mix up!

In truth most Cornish astronomy societies are friendly and they co-operate and colaberate alongside each other with regard to speakers etc.

WCAS and CAS have a few minor issues with each other - they were once the same club but split over a disagreement; for most this disagreement is well in the past and over with but one or two older members bear the odd grudge with each other - I guess that's life.

Brannel and Callington do a great deal more practical observing than the other groups and are better equipped at teaching beginners the hobby. WCAS does the least "first hand" observing but they do make extensive use of online telescope facilities.

Phil

[SeedyF]

Yikes!I just asked the secretary of my local society to send me an information pack - the first meet is next week. If I see pitch forks or flaming torches I'll just turn around.

Like others I think that reaction is a real shame. Lucky people on here are quite the opposite. :-)

[glowjet]

We once had a County Secretary who was an ex army Major ( with tash ) who would insist on ignoring newcomers he didn`t like the look of, and calling everybody by their surname, I was Captain of my club at the time and at a County meeting, after he had addressed me in like manor, I got up and told him that he was not in the Army now and that if has going to address me in future it was to be either by my Christian name or with Mr in front of my surname, I also added that maybe others felt the same way, there was pandemonium for a few minutes and its was quite obvious that many were a bit intimidated by him, needless to say he did not like it and took his bat home a few weeks later, said he was retiring through ill health. An Astro or any society should be strong enough to stamp out this type of thing, as newcomers are often timid enough without being brow beaten Senior hierarchy

[kernowstargazer]

I have found quite afew more people that are well into astronomy but dont go to the local club meets because of mr tash. I dont really see eye to eye with either as they seem to think that astronomy should only be for the rich (i dont understand this at all) So looks like im going to be a loner ( oh well. Most of the clubs in cornwall are all over 60 miles away and thats to far for me to drive for a meet when i can come on here and chat with nice , friendly and helpful people and observe in my garden and local dark site. Clear skies everyone.

P.S im getting my new scope next week so thats more cloud for me then.

[Flyingpig]

Most of the clubs in cornwall are all over 60 miles away and thats to far for me to drive

You could always set up your own group or society! It might seem like a daunting prospect but its not too difficult especially since you seem to have found a good number of other astronomers who are in the same position as yourself.

I've just began a group myself by putting out a few messages and posts on SGL asking if anyone wants to join a group to go out and observe.

Setting up a society who have regular meetings is easier than you think too, - contact the federation of astronomical societies for details; the running of a society is normally co-ordinated as a team who are voted by the membership onto the executive and consists of a chairperson, treasurer, secretary, and maybe others such as webmaster, publicity etc; the workload of running the society is thus shared out.

Hope your new scope gives you some fantastic views - wish I still had your unpolluted Cornish skies - Miss them so much, and Surfing and Cornwall.....

Clear skies dude, Phil