Practical Astro show.

[Jkulin]

Yep , all three of us shall hopefully be going, be good to see you again.

[kerrylewis]

I’m planning to go- it’s just down the road from me. Good to have such an event on my doorstep so I hope it’s a success.  It would good to meet a few SGLers ?

[Robny]

I'll be ready to make a big (for me) purchase at that time, never been to an Astro Show but the vendors of interest is listed.  Do they hold show discounts? Because its quite a distance for me,just trying to way up to make the effort or not.

Thanks

Rob

[Saganite]

Certainly I have bought kit at discounted prices, at shows, in the past Rob. It depends on the vendor, but you may be lucky, so good luck. 

[Star101]

I went last year and hope to be going this year too. Its less than 2 hours drive and FREE!

Last year I purchased my (Hyperstar) 2" Baarder Fast NB ( https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/baader-f2-highspeed-filterset-h-alpha--oiii--sii.html ) filters from there, well two of them. I got the third, which was not in stock at the show but the vendor agreed I could have it at show price when they did have one. A week later I collected from the shop which is 10 mins from me.  At less than half price for all three, brand new, sealed boxes, it was a very well worth trip for a Saturday

The talks were interesting too. And again, FREE. Whats not to like ?

[Steve]

6 hours ago, Star101 said:

I went last year and hope to be going this year too. 

I don't think there was a Practical Astronomy Show last year. This is the first.

Perhaps you are thinking of the International Astronomy Show? 

[Carbon Brush]

150 miles round trip for me. Mostly on decent roads so 50+mpg.

A definite diary entry.

None of this fighting your way around London.
Us rural types can't manage the busy places!

 

[Davey-T]

11 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

None of this fighting your way around London.
Us rural types can't manage the busy places!

I'd rather drive 50 miles in the other direction than get a train into London 

Dave

[Alan White]

3 hours ago, Davey-T said:

I'd rather drive 50 miles in the other direction than get a train into London 

Dave

Me too Dave, try and avoid London like the plague.

[paulastro]

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 22:15, John said:

Perhaps we ought to wear badges

I've always thought this, and no-one ever seems to do it.  Anyway, I'm taking things into my own hands.  I'm going to convert my Astrofest pass by cutting off all the Astrofest references.  Please say hello anyone......if you want to .  I'll be with mikeDnight, he'll be the tall lanky chap I'm with, and I'll be the shorter good looking one .

I'm getting excited now, only a few hours to go!

[JeremyS]

5 minutes ago, paulastro said:

I'll be with mikeDnight, he'll be the tall lanky chap I'm with, and I'll be the shorter good looking one .

I hope to be there, but rather than wearing a badge I think it will be easier to spot you and @mikeDnight if you were both carrying your Tak scopes.....

[paulastro]

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I hope to be there, but rather than wearing a badge I think it will be easier to spot you and @mikeDnight if you were both carrying your Tak scopes.....

It wouldn't surprise me if Mike had his Tak with him, alas I had to sell mine some time ago when I had a pressing bill.  Still, no complaints, I have a SW 72ED and an Astro-Tech 102ED

[mikeDnight]

On 10/01/2019 at 20:00, mikeyj1 said:

looks good, one glaring omission from the exhibitors, is it too far from Exeter?

I think FLO should have a 70% off offer on everything, just while the Astronomy Show is on. That'll teach all the traitors! 

[mikeDnight]

On 12/01/2019 at 23:55, kippford said:

350 miles from me?

But its all down hill! ☺

[mikeDnight]

On 24/01/2019 at 22:15, John said:

Perhaps we ought to wear badges

That might not be a good idea in my case, after all the sarcastic banter I've unleashed over the years. I'd just like to say, it was all done lovingly, honest!!

[Saganite]

On 08/03/2019 at 16:18, paulastro said:

I've always thought this, and no-one ever seems to do it.  Anyway, I'm taking things into my own hands.  I'm going to convert my Astrofest pass by cutting off all the Astrofest references.  Please say hello anyone......if you want to .  I'll be with mikeDnight, he'll be the tall lanky chap I'm with, and I'll be the shorter good looking one .

I'm getting excited now, only a few hours to go!

Well it worked a treat Paul, and it was pleasure meeting and chatting to both of you 

[Stub Mandrel]

Not long back from the show, it was very good. I was given a ticket for Robin's @rwg excellent talk on imaging with CMOS. Unfortunately they barred the doors on Damian Peach.

Saw several folks from our club, would be nice if there was an SGL badge or similar ?

[Saganite]

16 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Not long back from the show, it was very good. I was given a ticket for Robin's @rwg excellent talk on imaging with CMOS. Unfortunately they barred the doors on Damian Peach.

Saw several folks from our club, would be nice if there was an SGL badge or similar ?

I thought the attendance was good, the talks were excellent, and I had a great day. I met Mike and Paul, and Adyj.

I should like to have had a chat with you Neil, but without a badge or a face it is sadly impossible.

[Stub Mandrel]

<--------

I look a bit like that ?

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, Saganite said:

Well it worked a treat Paul, and it was pleasure meeting and chatting to both of you 

Many thanks Steve, likewise, nice to put some faces to some names.

[JeremyS]

Was a great day out: great venue loads of vendors and well attended. We had lots of visitors to the BAA stand.

I hope they do it again.

Biggest revelation was that @mikeDnight looks younger in real like than his pics on SGL. I knew it was him as he was like a moth attracted to the lights shown below:

 

[michaelmorris]

I got home a couple of hours ago after a full day at the Practical Astronomy Show and thought it might be useful to relate my impressions of the event.
First of all, I will now admit that I was a little apprehensive about this event.  A brand new event that is free, set up by people with no track record of setting up events like this.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?  
So how did it go?  My answer is very well - very well indeed.

The Venue
We’ll start off with the venue.  It’s a modern, modestly-sized conference centre, with modern facilities and none of the slightly aircraft hangar-like ambience at the International Astronomy Show (IAS).  It is conveniently placed just a mile or so off the A14.  There was lots of free parking, although with the very high attendance at this event, I think the car park ended up getting pretty full.   Exhibitors appeared to have loads of room to exhibit their wares, with plenty of space between stands, but there were no empty stands. Catering was okay and very competitively priced  - better than Astrofest, but not as good as at IAS.

Exhibitors
Exhibitors included several well-known retailers with large stands, including Widescreen Centre, Altair Astro, Rother Valley Optics, Tring Astronomy and 365 Astronomy.  There were plenty of small scale manufacturers (including nPaE, 656 astronomy, Dew Control, W & W, Pegasus and AWR) and some importers, societies and magazines.  I was surprised by the absence of the publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Springer, but being a brand new event and following on just a month after Astrofest perhaps this was no surprise.   The exhibition space itself was spread over three interconnecting rooms on the first floor.  The two larger rooms were spacious and well lit, although the third, smaller room was a bit dingy.  

Talks
The organisers had laid on free talks, all very much centred around practical astronomy - not a black hole, space probe or Victorian astronomer in sight.  Talks took place in a separate room with reasonably comfortable chairs rather than a purpose-built lecture theatre.  The only criticism was that the front was perhaps a little over lit and the presentations were projected on to a large white wall, rather than a special projector screen. The morning sessions were about visual astronomy and the afternoon’s offerings concentrated on imaging.  I went to the three afternoon talks delivered by Gary Palmer, Robin Glover and Damian Peach, all were excellent, with the latter two being packed with really useful techniques and tips.   

This very well attended event appeared to have been pretty well-organised although the layout could perhaps have been a little better thought out regarding the positioning of where you picked up tickets for talks.  So what was my overall impression?  Really good. ???

It was a well-organised, well thought out event in a highly suitable venue with a great range of speakers and exhibitors.    How does it compare with its competitors?  Very well indeed.  In fact, I would be tempted to say it is the best event of its type I have been to for quite a while.
Sure it doesn’t have the prestigious international astronomers giving talks one gets at Astrofest ,but this is an event about observing and imaging, not about theoretical physics or space flight.  The talks I attended were all very good and I learned a lot.  The exhibition space is very good and certainly knock the spots off the multi floor, cramped pitches at Astrofest.
Now the real show stopper – it was all free!  No parking charge, no entry fee, no charge for talks – amazing.   For a first show, it all seemed to go remarkably smoothly.   I’ve talked to one of the organisers and they are hoping to make this a regular show.  They hope to address the lighting and screen issues for the next event.

Overall - Five stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

[mikeDnight]

45 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

 

Biggest revelation was that @mikeDnight looks younger in real like than his pics on SGL. I knew it was him as he was like a moth attracted to the lights shown below:

 

Thankyou Jeremy. It's the formaldehyde you know!

[JeremyS]

14 minutes ago, michaelmorris said:

I got home a couple of hours ago after a full day at the Practical Astronomy Show and thought it might useful to relate my impressions of the event.

Great write-up Michael - spot on observations.

It was good to see you there

[paulastro]

Nice of you to supply a self portrait so other SGLers will recognise you Mike .