Goto on The Archers

[MartinB]

My wife's very upset. She was listening to her daily Archers fix and up pops Brian Aldridge with an 80mm refractor on a goto mount. It's all there, can't get it to work (he hasn't entered American dates) then off to Saturn to see the rings. His wife Jennifer isn't wildly impressed.

She's thinking about writing to the BBC she has enough astronomy invading her life without it creeping into the inner sanctum that is Ambridge

[radioactive]

Good Grief Martin however are these poor people going to cope? lets hope they can gather some more light on this issue

[Macavity]

LONG dead by now? But I've always sensed Walter Gabriel had a hand in writing SOME Astro Equipment manuals....

[John]

I'll be watching out for a new SGL member hailing from Borsetshire then

[Tiny]

Our neighbour of 98 lives for the Archers. She thinks this everyday story of country scope complete with a telescope is a (light) bridge too far. On the other hand (we thought) if they had the locals tackling light pollution then that might do more good for the cause than all us weirdos complaining about it!

[dogfish]

I heard some of this story yesterday. Someone (don't ask me who as I'm not a regular listener) had got 80mm GoTo Meade refractor. They were trying to get it to work with the help of a child and it made me laugh when I found out that he'd made the mistake of entering the date in wrong format. Clearly there had been some research conducted into this storyline. Of course, the first object they viewed was Saturn and who was least impressed - you got it, it was the guy's wife. So true to life that it really tickled me.

Martin

[Tiny]

Maybe one of the writers is among our number. Having said that there was a kids serial about canals (Joshua Jones) which was totally accurate right down to the rev counter/pressure gauge on his old fashioned boat going up when he put the power on. It turned out that the writers had contacted experts and spent a heck of a lot of time pinning down the exact detail and getting it exactly right. It was a pleasure to watch and it put adult progs - where you can spot error after error - to shame. Like the wife/scope in the Archers it even had a lot of in jokes which a layman would not notice but we enjoyed. Unfortunately it never achieved the fame of Postman Pat and Fireman Sam - its sister serials from the same company. (The lead bod was also the first front man (John) for Rosie and Jim.)

[cplee42]

Inspired planning as always from the best radio show on this planet. Tom Archer will soon be atop Jodrell with some "crusties" and defending it against allcomers - but I for one am routing for Phil to buy a bigger scope and accidently drop it on Daniel who tragically passes away... one for the Hall of Fame alongside the Doris fire...

[ringz]

Grace died in the fire not Doris.

[Starman]

I can only apologise to the spouses who've had enough - it wasn't directly my fault

[Naz]

Thought it was time we returned to this one, just been listening and the astronomy bit is becoming significant 8) . Just can't figure out how someone who showed no previous interest until a few months ago can produce lots of stacked images :shock:

Question is, where do the program researchers get the information, don't they know that it takes ages to find a clear sky for long enough to get a single avi, British weather isn't that co-operative :D

archie

[MikeP]

Apparently, stacking the individual images gives a 3D effect.

Mike

[Naz]

Apparently, stacking the individual images gives a 3D effect.

Mike

[beamish]

Just read the opening post from Martin AND just can't stop laughing

Karlo :D

[Starman]

Apparently, stacking the individual images gives a 3D effect.

Mike

One of the images that they was supplied to demonstrate a typical target around this time of year was M13 and this does have the quality of giving the viewer the impression that it's a 3-D object, especially if it's cleaned up and de-noised by stacking. One of the writers has obviously picked up on this and it's been added into the script. Look at M13 through a large instrument and you can almost feel you can walk into it.

[MikeP]

Hi Pete,

Did you supply images to the BBC writers? If so, I'm impressed with the quality of their research.

Mike

[Starman]

Hi Mike,

Yes - I did a bit of consultancy for them telling them what's what and supplying them with some images. After that, their script writers took over and my involvement was over. They are pretty rigorous in their research. My only concern was whether their script writers would misinterpret anything I'd sent over. Not having a closed loop on the input I didn't get a chance to check what had actually been written. However, it appears that they've been pretty faithful to the subject.

[MikeP]

Hello again Pete,

I owe the scriptwriters (and you) an apology. When I heard the 3D comment, I thought it was just supposition that stacking somehow added an extra dimension - like putting on those cardboard stereoscopic glasses that used to be so common.

Next time we have a clear night, I'll point the C11 at M13 and see if I get the 3D effect - I've recently bought a decent diagonal and eyepieces, so I should get a much brighter view than previously. My imaging is still at the formative stage, so that will have to wait a little.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Mike

[Starman]

No worries Mike. I didn't suggest that stacking would create a 3D effect so it's an interesting take on what the script writers have interpreted from an actual photo.