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Astrofest, who went?

DaveS

By DaveS
in Star Parties & Astro Events

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DaveS

DaveS

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OK, as the title, who went to Astrofest this year? And did you buy anything?

To start, I've been and got back about 5.20 (Thank you TfL, not :(). Managed to catch up with Rupert at Astrograph and bought a 0.75x Riccardi reducer for my triplet, and at W&W Astro picked up some dew control kit.

I think I also saw Helen of this forum, so, who else?

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michaelmorris

michaelmorris

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Had a marvellous day at Astrofest on Friday.   It was great to bump into a few familiar faces (Hi to Steve, Grant, Owen and Callum). Good speakers including the inimitable Dr. Allan Chapman. 

I also did a wonderful job of emptying my bank account by buying a ZWO 8 position filter wheel, an Atik 460EX and a Skywatcher EQ8! :icon_biggrin::eek:

Got back to Worcester at 10:20pm (Thanks Highways Agency for closing the M5 for roadworks - again :angryfire:)

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AKB

AKB

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Started on the slippery slope towards narrow-band... bought a Baader 7nm Ha filter from Ian King.  Who knows where this will lead... 5nm, 3nm Astrodon, OIII, ...  aaarghh!

Thought there were fewer vendors (no Telescope House) and the rest was all much the same as usual.

 

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Helen

Helen

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31 minutes ago, DaveS said:

OK, as the title, who went to Astrofest this year? And did you buy anything?

To start, I've been and got back about 5.20 (Thank you TfL, not :(). Managed to catch up with Rupert at Astrograph and bought a 0.75x Riccardi reducer for my triplet, and at W&W Astro picked up some dew control kit.

I think I also saw Helen of this forum, so, who else?

You may well have seen me ?  (say hello next time ?) Now on the train home.  Good to catch up with Daz, Ian, Josh and MikeP ☺️.  Resisted urge to buy anything really, was tempted by the TV reduction at wide-screen, but decided that even with the reduction the difference between the TV and the Nirvana alternative couldn't really be justified.

Wasprobably most tempted by the Technosky mounts - nice alt az and encoder ready.  Generally, it was good to mooch around a bit, but I felt there wasn't much new or different to see...

Helen

 

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michaelmorris

michaelmorris

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2 minutes ago, AKB said:

Started on the slippery slope towards narrow-band... bought a Baader 7nm Ha filter from Ian King.  Who knows where this will lead... 5nm, 3nm Astrodon, OIII, ...  aaarghh!

Thought there were fewer vendors (no Telescope House) and the rest was all much the same as usual.

Definitely agree.  Every year there seem to be fewer and fewer vendors. 

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Alan White

Alan White

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18 minutes ago, michaelmorris said:

Every year there seem to be fewer and fewer vendors.

Michael, that is a sad thing in many hobby orientated shows,
the vendors cannot attend due to cost.
This is perhaps from our drive for keen pricing via the web perhaps.

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DaveS

DaveS

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34 minutes ago, Helen said:

You may well have seen me ?  (say hello next time ?)

Helen

 

OK, I will :D. I thought of introducing myself but thought I wouldn't be welcome as just another random bod :D.

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Uplooker

Uplooker

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1 hour ago, DaveS said:

OK, as the title, who went to Astrofest this year? And did you buy anything?

To start, I've been and got back about 5.20 (Thank you TfL, not :(). Managed to catch up with Rupert at Astrograph and bought a 0.75x Riccardi reducer for my triplet, and at W&W Astro picked up some dew control kit.

I think I also saw Helen of this forum, so, who else?

Hi Dave,

not likely to attend due to the distance. Well done on getting the Riccardi reducer. I would like one to use with my APM 107/700 but just a bit short of the funds at the minute, really interested in how you get on with it. What scope are you planning to use it with?

W&W Astro - do they not sell dew stuff under the name "Dew Control" online?

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DaveS

DaveS

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I hope / intend to use the reducer with my 130 f/7 triplet Apo. Rupert said I should try from 81mm but is going to try and get a definite BF for me

Yes, I think W&W do sell as "Dew Control" as the packets are labelled as such. I'm waiting for the controller as I'm getting one made up with power leads ending in 4mm banana plugs to plug into my ASA power supply. It should be coming Monday.

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Stu

Stu

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41 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Michael, that is a sad thing in many hobby orientated shows,
the vendors cannot attend due to cost.
This is perhaps from our drive for keen pricing via the web perhaps.

Surely it is not beyond the wit of man for someone, even the manufacturers themselves, to put together a low cost show in a cheaper location i.e. Pretty much anywhere APART from the centre of London!

It's a small industry, doesn't need anything too fancy and I'm sure more vendors and potential buyers would attend.

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Stu

Stu

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7 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

Check my twitter feed, probably a dozen tweets over the two days showing all the shinny new toys you could have purchased. @Alpha_lyrae_uk is my twitter handle.

Did temptation get the better of you at all Matthew?

Any chance of a few pics for those of us who don't tweet?

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mikeDnight

mikeDnight

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31 minutes ago, Stu said:

Surely it is not beyond the wit of man for someone, even the manufacturers themselves, to put together a low cost show in a cheaper location i.e. Pretty much anywhere APART from the centre of London!

It's a small industry, doesn't need anything too fancy and I'm sure more vendors and potential buyers would attend.

There's an astro gear event in the Midlands later in the year!

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Ant-33

Ant-33

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Sadly didn't get there this year, although I normally do.

2 hours ago, swag72 said:

Anyone got any pics? I want to see some shiny things :D 

OOh yes, me too :hello2:

27 minutes ago, Stu said:

Surely it is not beyond the wit of man for someone, even the manufacturers themselves, to put together a low cost show in a cheaper location i.e. Pretty much anywhere APART from the centre of London!

It's a small industry, doesn't need anything too fancy and I'm sure more vendors and potential buyers would attend.

I agree - trouble is where do you do it instead? There's definitely good reason to have one in the north, but as someone already said, there is an event later in the year. For me, I'd love it if it wasn't in London, but only if it's in the south-east - and that's not much use to anyone who's not in the south-east. 

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JeremyS

JeremyS

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Yes, I was at Astrofest on Friday on the BAA stand. It was great to see many old and new friends  - and to welcome new members who signed up on the day (we currently have an offer of 18 months BAA membership for the price of 12 months, which was a good enticement to many!). A least the stand duty kept me away from spending too much time at the vendor stands!

Jeremy

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StarryEyed

StarryEyed

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I went with my older son and did comment to him that I thought that there was more high end equipment on display than I remember being typical. All the scopes and mounts seemed to be highly machined and anodised black and red with the odd bit of carbon fibre. Seemed more like Ferrari shown room , not that I have ever been in one.

I came back with a 9mm delite, Brain Mays book signed to my younger son and a bit of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite which I suspect will end up in my older sons science project which is fine it was still cheaper than a large packet of felt tip pens.

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Alan White

Alan White

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1 hour ago, Stu said:

Surely it is not beyond the wit of man for someone, even the manufacturers themselves, to put together a low cost show in a cheaper location i.e. Pretty much anywhere APART from the centre of London!

It's a small industry, doesn't need anything too fancy and I'm sure more vendors and potential buyers would attend.

They already do, it's called the IAS!

 

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