Finding somewhere to set up

[DHEB]

12 hours ago, SacRiker said:

Has anyone ever had a bad/dangerous experience while observing at a dark site away from home? 

Good question. No, never, specially when in forests far away from people, who are for most part not fond of being in far away forests at night. In my post above I was specifically referring to the kind of risk one is exposed to when observing alone in city parks or suburbs. Out in Nature, far away from people, everything is fine as far as this aspect is concerned. Other factors are to be taken into account though, as safety in car, storms, wild animals (often more a psychological fear than a real one), etc. Here in Sweden we have the privilege of the "allemansrätt", the right of public access to Nature, with some rules (like "do not disturb, do not destroy"). We also have plenty of nature reserves and national parks, so there is no shortage of dark and semi-dark places to observe in peace and safety. The only question is what happens when one does not want/can move 20/30 km just to observe 1 hour on, say, a normal weekday. Clear skies are not scheduled to occur on Friday and Saturday nights, and when the perfect night arrives on a normal Wednesday it is nice to be able to observe just 20 or 40 minutes before going to sleep. Therein lies the idea, that it is a good principle to observe as often one can, in whatever conditions one has.

[scarp15]

Good point mentioned concerning your vehicle. Mine once started to roll backwards towards a ditch whilst alone at a dark site. So as Mike has stated, in the worse case scenario, be prepared to walk someway to get a mobile signal.

[skywatcher58gb]

Quote

Why not pop down to Sunderland Astronomical Society which meets at the Wetlands & Wildfowl  center Washington, we meet Thursday and Sunday evenings from about 7pm. We regularly observe from Derwent Reservoir and have a text service to alert members when we are going.

 

[James]

On 27 May 2016 at 21:43, SacRiker said:

Has anyone ever had a bad/dangerous experience while observing at a dark site away from home? 

Not so far... except once when I set up the wrong side of a hedge and was in the field full of cows. They were perfectly friendly and amicable but when a cow brushes past your setup you can be sure you'll need to redo your polar alignment...

Maybe twice.... I was out once with a neighbour on his uncles land and there were a bunch of kids driving around the next field taking pot shots at vermin (I presume) with rifles... the person I was with frantically flashed the car headlights a few times and the shooting stopped, four rifle toting people with quadbikes roared into our field drove round us, saw my Celestron 10" Newt on it's mount and drove off in a hurry... no more shooting.

Aside from those I've been out literally hundreds of times over the years, in towns, out of towns, in the sticks etc and I have never had a problem, never been abducted by aliens (as far as I know??), never seen a UFO...

James

[Davesellars]

Don't underestimate how disconcerting it can be to set up and be alone in the dark away from home...  initially at least.    Some good suggestions from above.  I can't get to any astro-group not having a car so I schlep my stuff out to my allotment which has worked well for me and I get mag 5 apart from to the east directly over Oxford.  I've gotten used now to be own my own in the dead of night so taking it to the next level...

I'm just getting a grab and go setup together to go by bike with lighter equipment out to the countryside so hopefully darker skies.  I used a light pollution map together with Google maps to pin-point areas of interest that are relatively easy to get to etc and then checked them out by day.  Most importantly for me was the lack of nearby access by car!  Actually I've chosen a site that's on a public footpath but certainly not going to see anyone around in the night as it's in the middle of nowhere.

[James]

19 minutes ago, Davesellars said:

Don't underestimate how disconcerting it can be to set up and be alone in the dark away from home...  initially at least.    

 

Thats a good point - it is a bit different... and you won't necessarily have the same access to a loo or to a fridge full of goodies in your kitchen. I don't mind being on my own in the middle of nowhere and usually have everything I need sorted but there are times at say 4am midwinter when the fog starts to set in, and I'm cold and very tired, that I wish I'd never ever watched any horror movies...

[SacRiker]

1 hour ago, Davesellars said:

Don't underestimate how disconcerting it can be to set up and be alone in the dark away from home...  initially at least.    Some good suggestions from above.  I can't get to any astro-group not having a car so I schlep my stuff out to my allotment which has worked well for me and I get mag 5 apart from to the east directly over Oxford.  I've gotten used now to be own my own in the dead of night so taking it to the next level...

I'm just getting a grab and go setup together to go by bike with lighter equipment out to the countryside so hopefully darker skies.  I used a light pollution map together with Google maps to pin-point areas of interest that are relatively easy to get to etc and then checked them out by day.  Most importantly for me was the lack of nearby access by car!  Actually I've chosen a site that's on a public footpath but certainly not going to see anyone around in the night as it's in the middle of nowhere.

Haha! I've actually yet to be out to any other site than my backyard. I am planning a trip to a very dark site about an hour drive from my house...I think it will definitely be unsettling. I think it might be a good idea for me to check the place out at day first.

[DHEB]

19 minutes ago, SacRiker said:

I think it might be a good idea for me to check the place out at day first.

It definitely is! Things at night look different and one can get lost, be confused, etc. Wise to be there during the day first. Good luck!

[Linda]

It is so much more convenient taking the scope out of your house onto the terrace, rather than dismantling it, drive somewhere, set it up again in a public area, observe while thinking about other people, dismantle and drive home again. I have tried standing on a small, private, but not marked as private, parking place along a small road, a few kms from my house. I wasn't bothered by anyone, but I was of course bothered by the car headlights of the passing cars. And the thought in my head that I didn't want them to stop and check out on me. 

When we are at our cabin, I sit on our parking place that we share with some neighbour cabins. We are usually alone there. It's 200 meters from the cabin. I feel very comfortable there, because it is a tiny village. Although we heard later that a still freerunning murderer spend a lot of time there. (For the Dutch readers: the murderer of Els Borst). Also along that road people drive with the big car headlights on because of the lack of streetlights. But they don't stop.

I have discovered 2 other possible places near my house at the Oslo fjord at a grassy beach area. That would be my only option for viewing somewhere without trees or hills standing in the way, at least on the water side. But there are very much public areas and I am more sceptic. I am imagining that youngsters who want to drink beer together typically would go to such a place and have fun with whatever they meet there. I guess the weekends are the most critical times there. My husband goes fishing at night at one of these places sometimes and once the license plates of his car were stolen there. So criminal people go around there late at night. But in general on weekdays I prefer to stay home so I can keep the session a bit short.

I have also stood 2 streets away from home on a gravel road that leads nowhere (probably an old road). One dog owner walked by with dog over the new road, but didn't bother me with questions. Unfortunately that place (I wasn't aware of that when I went there for the first time) has a house on a hill with 8!!! porch lights on the opposite side of where the street and his front door are and where the hill goes steeply down. My personal thought is that whoever lives here won't be able to see his own (potentially splendid) view at night, because his own lights overshine everything.