SGL 8 - General Banter

[haitch]

Got home this afternoon with an unexpectedly dry tent. The ground sheets will need a good hosing though. I'd given up on the weather before I arrived so a couple of clear hours on Saturday night was an unexpected bonus.

My 2nd Sgl star party so I knew the score with lp and choose this one as its nice to meet up with all the people I know off the forum.

Thanks to everyone involved in organising it!

[Photosbykev]

Another lovely night some haze around late on but worth the extra night. Woke up to a good frost.

The late stayer bonus is the cafe opening at 08:00 see you there

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[NickK]

Good stuff - would have stayed the extra night but Sandrine is working today.

[matsey]

Sneaking in a little bit of last minute solar observing with my morning cuppa

And OMG did anyone just see that stonking great plane fly low over the site! Incredible!!!

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[cotterless45]

We should have held an observing stool contest. I sat talking with HeWhoSnores (Mark) and nearly everyone dropped by had bought over the years an ironing/perching stool, it was a case of "I've got one of those in white !"

Nick.

[dobserver]

Thanks to everyone involved in the organising - once again a cracking event. Glad we arrived on the Wednesday and got a night of viewing in, so nice to actually use the scope you've lugged all the way there! Daz, I was much taken with your 'Patrick' talk, I thought what you guys did for him was awesome, thanks for sharing it with us.

Shame about the weather, specially after getting sunburned last year, it seems ironic that we were sheltering from the snow on Saturday night - in the welcome tent - what a laugh that was, I was feeling a bit Frazzled by the time the skies cleared

And that was a nice surprise too, to get a decent hour's viewing in on our last night, AND through Sarah and Luke's mighty 16" beastie too, they were spoiling me with more than just whiskey in the rain!

It was great to catch up with some old friends and to meet some fantastic new folks, can't believe we've got to wait a whole nother year for the next one now....

[Mark at Beaufort]

Sneaking in a little bit of last minute solar observing with my morning cuppa

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Thanks for sharing the photo matsey - it does look quite now.

Mark

[Velvet]

Thank you all for your hard work in organising the event. Not very good skies but and awful lot of good company

and laughs.

My thanks again

Velvet

[haitch]

Sneaking in a little bit of last minute solar observing with my morning cuppa

And OMG did anyone just see that stonking great plane fly low over the site! Incredible!!!

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Nice to see I've left my mark on the site (A great big muddy patch). Hope you enjoyed your last night. It was clear up here for a few hours so fingers crossed you got at least as good.

[Astrosurf]

It was so lovely meeting all the old faces and some new. I've made more friends this year and that's so important and made up for what happened:

I noticed, while kneeling in my tent Friday afternoon that water was being forced through the floor of the tent so had to buy a ground sheet to put underneath. Went to bed after the SPM memorial do with a nice book, G&T and Pringles (yum!) settled down for a cozy night. Turned off the light at about 9pm and, when I stretched out my arms, my right hand was dosed in a pool of water on the floor. I noticed rain getting in around the edges of the tent but decided to stay in bed as only the edges of the bedding and blow-up mattress were wet. By midnight I had moved my bed away from the wall from increasing water. By 2am I was getting back into my now wetter and muddier clothes to escape the rising pool, grabbed electrical stuff to the safety of the car and had to deflate the mattress and find areas in the car to pack all my wet bedding, in the pouring rain. I was none too happy at this point even though I'm pretty tough! The only thing that escaped the damp was fortunately my duvet. I snuggled under that in the driver's seat and got a few broken minutes of uncomfortable sleep. Got up at some silly o'clock with a bad back, neck, sore tailbone (bent years ago), headache, sore tummy and a low mood! I felt utterly awful. The campsite owners said I could dump my useless tent in their recycling point so I dragged the awful thing along the ground in a heap and dumped it unceremoniously with a nasty hand signal! This is all the abridged version as other stuff happened too but I don't want to bore you!

As I said, meeting you all is so important and you're all so fun and kind that it's all worth it. I'm sorry I missed the hog roast and stupidly forgot to give the ticket to someone! It's all money to a good cause though and I don't begrudge the loss at all.

A big thanks to all those who came to my aid and also to Daz and the organisers for a wonderfully-organised event regardless of the conditions!

Alexxx

[Photosbykev]

All packed and ready for a long soak, it takes longer to detent than when I arrived lol. More to follow...

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[Astrosurf]

I just pulled mine apart unceremoniously and dumped it!

[cotterless45]

Bite the bullet and get a Vango Icarus 500, I was dry and warm with the Dob sat in the front on my Vango carpet that came free.

It's done me proud on 5 star parties, recommended 100%,

Nick ( skull buff!)

[Photosbykev]

back home at last I've just left the car full of gear until I have a long soak in the bath I've thanked the organisers personally but putting it on record seems in order.

Great job once again Thank you Daz and Tracy, Pete for the dc focuser and the cold shower when we took down the welcome tent, the company of many people and advice on image processing from AndyUK which put me on the right path with PI and to the staff at Lucksall, the breakfasts and service were as good as ever but would of been nice from the Monday morning

When does the SGL9 booking form go live?

[Mav359]

Hi guys

Despite the bad weather & the resulting mud can i just say i had a great time, i learned loads, have met some fantastic people, got to see a darker sky then ive ever seen and ate hog. The drive home yesterday was however a nightmare and the 3 hour journey turned to 4 & a half.

Big thank you to Daz for the effort in organising the event, To Mark (Astrognome) & Rob (Uranium235) for there technical help (made a big difference!!!) and the advice and good company of everyone else i encoutered.

Now to clean everything !!!

Roll on SGL9

[Siriusmeg]

Thanks from us too - our first star party was certainly memorable!! Good to finally meet and talk to lots of you - though as it was generally dark I still don't know who anyone is Only gripe in my family was from my 8 yr old daughter when she found out we'd actually done some observing & hadn't woken her up (at 12.30 am)

Mud does get everywhere doesn't it! Found some on the inside of my windscreen this morning...

[JonH]

A big thank you from me to Daz and all those that made SGL8 such an enjoyable star party. As always it was great catching up with old friends and making new ones, whatever the weather. Looking forward to SGL9!

[Uranium235]

Big thank you to Daz for the effort in organising the event, To Mark (Astrognome) & Rob (Uranium235) for there technical help (made a big difference!!!) and the advice and good company of everyone else i encoutered.

Youre welcome Alan, its just a shame we didnt get more clear sky to put it into practice. Good luck with the cleaning, Ive still yet to get the tent out again because it will need a good cleaning before it can be used again.

[AstroTux]

Got home about 2hrs ago and everything is unpacked and awaiting maintenance..... ( aka mud removal ) :grin:

What a great event. Last night capped it all off perfectly with views of PANSTARRS through my little 130EQ and clear skies for most of the night. The small band who had stayed on seemed to gel into one mass centred around Luke and Sarah's massive machine and many a drop was drunk with much banter. Wonderful times!!!

Our first star party, but it will not be our last. Meeting and enjoying the company of so many like minded individuals must be what makes a real star party.

Many thanks to those who allowed us to peer through their 'scopes and have their brains picked, you know who you are . A big thanks to Adrian for the 'warm' hospitality and allowing me to take my wet socks off in his tent. To Steve, Lewis, Photosbykev and KevUU we'll see you next year.

Above all a massive thanks to Daz for the effort he put in to organize such a wonderful event.

[AllanJ]

Got home early this afternoon after a great star party despite the weather and mud. Very thankful to have been in a comfy motorcaravan, where I was able to offer succour, well wine and beer anyway, to various friends. Finished off nicely with a small gathering around Luke and Sarah's amazing dob (thanks you two).

Big thank you to Daz and the other mods. Same pitch next year please.

Allan

[Mav359]

Youre welcome Alan, its just a shame we didnt get more clear sky to put it into practice. Good luck with the cleaning, Ive still yet to get the tent out again because it will need a good cleaning before it can be used again.

Typical isn't it, I felt like i learned so much this week and am chomping at the bit to get out and try some more and it doesn't look like there will be any clear skies for the next two weeks . as for cleaning...................

My poor car!!!!!

[KevUU]

Thanks to all for a great time Sorry it's taken so long to post, I've barely been functional today!

My most memorable part has to be the now infamous Saturday night Frazzle banter while we watched the monsoon and snow come down, followed half an hour later by a view of the Beehive and Rosette clusters naked eye Absolutely amazing, and really good to end the party on some observing.

I was worried about how I'd fare but it was great to leave 'real life' behind (I can already hear Mark/HeWhoSnores starting about the matrix at that comment ) and meet up with like-minded people and put names and faces and personalities to psuedonyms and avatars.

Thanks to everyone for being so welcoming and friendly, and especially to Mav359, HeWhoSnores, Cotterless45, AstroGnome, AstroTux and Linda, Hadyn aka Table, AstroSurf, Luke and Sarah, and MrFlibble for putting up with me. Apologies to those whose names I've forgotten (there was a mod who came round on Friday, it was really nice chatting to you thanks, and the guy who gave me a look through his solar scope) and to those who I only met in the dark and have no idea who you were - most of the Frazzle clan fall into that bracket...

Lastly, but only for emphasis, a huge great whacking THANK YOU to Daz, and the rest of the organisers, for all their efforts. It's been truly memorable and I hope to come again next time, so what better commendation can I give than that?!? We all really appreciate the effort that must have gone in and are truly thankful for giving us the opportunity

I see the date for SGL9 is impending, at least let me recover from this one first!

[KevUU]

My poor car!!!!!

I'm truly surprised you got it all back in! Hope you weren't too far behind me, shame about your journey home it sounds like a nightmare...

[Andymarrison]

Great weekend, especially last night when the rain departed and left us with some clear skies at last. Matsey and Photosbykev beat me fairly and squarely at the packing away a tent race this morning, so I think I was the last away today. Thanks to all of the organisers - my first SGL star party and definitely not the last. Thanks also to Luke and Sarah for some great views through the mighty 16" Dob; to Adrian for the sharpest views of the moon I've ever seen (1/10 wave orion optics UK 10" Dob with Vixen Lanthanum EP - wow!); to Photosbykev for the company at this morning's cooked breakfast and for showing me how heavy an EQ6 mount is; and to Matsey for introducing me to the Televue Panoptic range! Looking forward to next year!

[Luke]

Sarah and I got back today after our longest SGL stay of eight nights. We had a fantastic time. Thank you so much to everyone involved in making SGL 8 happen!

Sarah and I were very lucky to get some observing done on five nights out of the eight - if only the weather could have concentrated it over the main event so more people could have enjoyed it.

We got some cracking views. I've never seen M37 look so good. M51 floored me on the best night, the spiral structure was so clear. And I can hardly believe that we finally got to see the elusive Horsehead in our 16 inch dob with a Hydrogen Beta filter after chasing it for months at home!

But really we see getting views like that as a very nice bonus. It's really the atmosphere and company that makes SGL special for us.

A big thank you to Mark for very kindly letting Sarah and I have his old binoviewers that met with a slight accident, but still work.We're really looking forward to trying these. Mark, please keep us in mind if you experience a similar problem with a Takahashi telescope

Thanks very much to Andy for costing us some bucks... By showing us your amazing 17.3mm Delos in our scope!

Thank you to everyone who let me take a look though their scope.

It was great to see some familiar faces, and to meet some other SGLers for the first time. Hope to catch you all at the next one!