Looking for East London astronomy club

[knobby]

No worries, we had hours of fun looking around Essex for somewhere, maps are handy but no substitute for actually being there .

[souls33k3r]

Hahahahaha I bet that was fun mate. I mean what is there not to like about hunting for dark sites

Mind if I ask whereabouts in Essex do you normally go for Observing the night skies?

[mcolbert]

would it help with a flyer in any London based astro shops?

michael

[knobby]

would it help with a flyer in any London based astro shops?

michael

I think the only London store is the wide-screen centre

Hahahahaha I bet that was fun mate. I mean what is there not to like about hunting for dark sites

Mind if I ask whereabouts in Essex do you normally go for Observing the night skies?

We found a nice flat open area in Margaret Roding ( Chelmsford ish)

Sadly , we struggle to meet up very often as its difficult to find a night when more than one of is is free at the same time then the weather has to play ball and the full moon etc

[Phil Fargaze]

Hi there. I`m a member of the Upminster club otherwise known as the Havering Astronomical Society. We meet at Cranham Social Hall which is a mile or so from Upminster station on the 248 bus route. We don`t actually take our own gear to the meetings to use because of the high level of light pollution but we do occasional observing at South Weald park near to Brentwood which really would need a car to get to. Not the darkest of sites but a bit better than my back garden. You can always bring yourself along to a meeting to ask questions regarding gear.  

Anyway, looks like you are doing well with getting a group together nearer to yourself so good luck with your new venture.

[souls33k3r]

Hi Phil, Upminister would've been ideal for me and i did look at your club meeting point (Cranham Social Hall). I basically live in Barking and can take C2C easily from Barking and get there in no time but like you mentioned you guys move out to do your observing sessions which didn't work out well for me  

Well i am trying to get as many people as possible here, the more the merrier  

I've been to Flamsteed and BSIA and those are a good bunch and do their sessions in a much light polluted areas and that wasn't too bad but i guess i'm craving for some more darker skies

[astronymonkey]

Hi fella,

You had me cinfused for a few seconds there with the same avatar picture !

As for kit, you have a nice list there but it might be worth seeing the kit in the flesh first to appreciate the size and weight before spending any money. You could even opt for a dual set up with a home scope and a smaller one for travel.

Star camps can be a good way of seeing equipment all set up wnd have a chat wjth owners who have real life experience of lugging them about.

Cheers

[souls33k3r]

Lol astronomymonkey small world my look-alike avatar brada hahahaha

Well as for the said equipment, I was lucky enough to see the complete thing in the flesh which was basically last Friday. I really didn't expect it to be such a beast but a great big scope like that and a beast of a mount does the whole thing justice.

[MattJenko]

A home kit and a travel kit sounds like a decent option. Home setup could include the planetary side of things with the bigger scope/mount as this is less bothered by light pollution, with a travel pack based around a small alt/az mount and a little, light refractor. I find heading away from home with others tends to be very social anyway, and there will presumably be a few people with kit via cars, so needing your own full monty when you are not a car driver is not essential to begin with.

I also find that any serious imaging I do is always at home where I can set up much more easily, solitary, with no distractions and I can keep it going much longer than off site as well.

You will only find out what works and what you are interested in by getting stuck in, so my advice would be to take things slowly. My away from home kit has morphed over the last year to be quite specialised, as I now do widefield shots with a dslr/lens/little tracker mount which has even been away with me on holidays and I have a mini frac for solar and visual if I want as well or just use some binoculars. You will be surprised at how certain elements of this hobby become favourites, whether enforced or accidental

[knobby]

Wacky off the wall idea alert !

Why don't all you walky astronomers find a driver, have a whip round and hire a minibus, pop up the M11 towards Ongar and find a field :-)

Sorry, I'll get my coat ...

[souls33k3r]

Knobby, I hope you're not suggesting what I'm hearing Funny enough I was watching a motorway cops show on BBC iPlayer during lunch break and while the cops were driving their cars around their respective counties, my eyes were on the fields they were driving past and all what I was thinking  was "God that looks like a perfect spot for observing" ... lol .. how sad is that!   

MattJenko, you're absolutely correct mate, I don't have my first scope yet and am already thinking of buying the next scope for wide FOV astrophotography. So at least I know exactly what to expect from my new scope and what I need to do the rest. So in effect my hopes are high with what EdgeHD will be capable of (even with the Focal reducer) and then the triplet or at least a doublet refractor for the rest. Most of my astroimaging like yourself will be done from the comfort of my home and where I know I can safely walk away from my equipment for a quick pee

[Phil Fargaze]

If you can hang on till February you could check out loads of scopes at the Astrofest in Kensington and get an idea of size and portability.

[souls33k3r]

Phil, the issue is mate, I can't wait. I'm dying to buy and get out there lol ... I'm not really rushing in to my decision on buying my first scope but at least I know I've made the correct choice which everyone seems to agree one way or another Astrofest is always a tricky one, I might be able to get a discount on the kit that I'm looking to buy OR not.

I say, flip everything, lets get out there and do our Thang

[MrWalt]

Hi there, I'm in E London and was hoping to find something happening at the Lea Valley Waterworks & Nature Reserve after seeing it is a Dark Sky Discovery Site

After contacting them it appears that any astronomy events seem to have taken place around the time of the London 2012 Olympics and there is no further funding at present

Interestingly the site has become much more accessible recently as Lea Bridge Station has reopened very close by

I'm sure if there was enough interest something could start up again there

 

[GuLinux]

Hi!

Same here.. new to London (west, actually), no car, small telescope...

I'm very used to travel a lot to get to dark skies, perhaps another solution could be sharing a rented car? This way we could also reach darker sites, Lea valley seems too close to London.

[souls33k3r]

4 hours ago, MrWalt said:

Hi there, I'm in E London and was hoping to find something happening at the Lea Valley Waterworks & Nature Reserve after seeing it is a Dark Sky Discovery Site

After contacting them it appears that any astronomy events seem to have taken place around the time of the London 2012 Olympics and there is no further funding at present

Interestingly the site has become much more accessible recently as Lea Bridge Station has reopened very close by

I'm sure if there was enough interest something could start up again there

 

MrWalt, trust me mate, i've been down that route myself and ended up doing our own thing in East London (Barking to be exact). We 3/4 people meet up on regular basis so you're always welcome to join if you want mate. Just send me a PM and i can ping you over the details

2 hours ago, GuLinux said:

Hi!

Same here.. new to London (west, actually), no car, small telescope...

I'm very used to travel a lot to get to dark skies, perhaps another solution could be sharing a rented car? This way we could also reach darker sites, Lea valley seems too close to London.

GuLinux, there's http://www.wolas.org.uk/ which operates in West London area. If you want a much bigger gathering http://www.bakerstreetastro.org/ they meet up at Regents Park every month and there's another one http://flamsteed.info/ who meet up at Blackheath ... Flamsteed guys are a small bunch so not as much crowded like BakerStreet Irregular Astro which means you get plenty of scope time and also people with knowledge to help out ... hope this helps

[MrWalt]

2 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

MrWalt, trust me mate, i've been down that route myself and ended up doing our own thing in East London (Barking to be exact). We 3/4 people meet up on regular basis so you're always welcome to join if you want mate. Just send me a PM and i can ping you over the details

Cheers - I'll persevere locally but might be in touch when the Goblin reopens and Barking is an easy reach

[souls33k3r]

49 minutes ago, MrWalt said:

Cheers - I'll persevere locally but might be in touch when the Goblin reopens and Barking is an easy reach

Sure thing, no worries any time you feel like coming, you're always welcome, just give us a shout in PM because i might not necessarily see the message here  

Because we are only 3/4 people, this patch where we do our thing is good enough. If comes a time this thing grows in to 10 or more members, i still have a good spot where it will be safe and secure for everyone  Safety and security is my top priority.

[Skyline]

Try driving up somewhere in epping forest.

[MrWalt]

2 hours ago, Skyline said:

Try driving up somewhere in epping forest.

 Don't have a car so spots easily reached by bike and public transport are favoured.

Though I'll definitely try Epping Forest at some point - just slightly put off by the reports of other night time activities that its famed for!!!

[jaspalchadha]

I use to meet up with a few mates when I lived at Stratford. 

 

I live in romford now and and not many ( not at all ) people interested 

[souls33k3r]

14 hours ago, jaspalchadha said:

I use to meet up with a few mates when I lived at Stratford. 

 

I live in romford now and and not many ( not at all ) people interested 

Gone are them days my friend If only it was easier to get to and more clubs around East London part. Well there are still a few of them but not many of course so for those who don't drive, it's just easier to find people who live around you and get things going. This is what we did in Barking ... This post and a few facebook groups helped us find each other. The reason for our meetings is that we don't generally go for once a month kind of a thing, we meet when we find clear skies to make the most of the kit we bought  

[knobby]

Good to see that you've got out a bit souls33k3r, just seen the updated thread. What did you buy in the end ?

[souls33k3r]

hey matey, how's it going? Sorry been super busy at work so hardly had a chance to look at the forum. I ended up buying an Celestron EdgeHD 8" scope on a NEQ6 Pro mount. Future proofing myself for the astroimaging bug which came earlier than i actually thought ... 6 months to be precise lol ... i was about to pull a trigger on a CCD and then Brexit happened and now i'm just waiting and hoping for the prices to go back to being sensible ... oh well, i'm still enjoying the best views of the cosmos while i wait. Oh and i had the solar scope bug as well i love this hobby  

How have you been keeping? you well mate?

[knobby]

19 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

hey matey, how's it going? Sorry been super busy at work so hardly had a chance to look at the forum. I ended up buying an Celestron EdgeHD 8" scope on a NEQ6 Pro mount. Future proofing myself for the astroimaging bug which came earlier than i actually thought ... 6 months to be precise lol ... i was about to pull a trigger on a CCD and then Brexit happened and now i'm just waiting and hoping for the prices to go back to being sensible ... oh well, i'm still enjoying the best views of the cosmos while i wait. Oh and i had the solar scope bug as well i love this hobby  

How have you been keeping? you well mate?

Yep, all good mate... don't get out much though apart from the back garden