Practical Astronomy Show - See what you missed!

[paulastro]

Not back long from the show.  In terms of the number of vendors and equipment on show, this has to be the best asto show for many years.  Good to meet fellow SGLers and old friends.

The pics  are just a flavour, and they don't show all the stands and equipment.  For refractor buffs it was heaven, and for Takis, well see for yourself.

Very enjoyable day.  Thanks to Mike (mikeDnight) for doing the driving

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

[djpaul]

Beat me to it.

Just about to put pics up myself.

Here's one.

[Star101]

Just got back an hour or so myself. Had a great time looking around the stalls and managed to get the FREE tickets to Damian Peach talk on High Def Imaging where he talked about imaging the planets. Very interesting and some great tips too.

I arrived too late for the CMOS camera talk, all the tickets had gone!

The equipment on show was so impressive as one can see above.

Talking to one of the stall holders whom I have dealt with a few times over the years as they are only 15 mins from my abode. He was happy with the day and suggested it was a great success. It looks like PAS may be a regular thing.

A good day.

[paulastro]

Two pics added.

[heliumstar]

Thanks for the pics guys. Looking at the photo of 102ed f11 it hit me with realisation that the scope is huuuuge! Just look at 72ed beside it.

Looks like great event and a lot of eyecandy

[KP82]

I was there this afternoon. Got excited when I saw the encoder kit for the Altair saber in its final production form. It's made by someone in Australia. Asked Ian and he said it would be released in about a month time.

[garryblueboy]

Great Show nice to see you guys there and fellow members couple pics added 

[Stu]

Looks a very good show, might have to pop along next year. Love the Tak Tower!

[Chris]

Thanks for posting but I really shouldn't have clicked on this thread. SCOPE ENVY!

[astronomer2002]

Thankyou for posting so  many pics - was the show well attended as it didn't look as busy as Astrofest? That's good for browsing but perhaps not as good for vendors. Maybe it's just the size of the venue that makes it look like there's more scopes than visitors!

Looks like it was mainly visual astronomy oriented from the displays, don't see any cameras on the stands.

 

 

 

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Looks a very good show, might have to pop along next year. Love the Tak Tower!

Tak Stack sounds better. Although it might not sound so good if next year you and I play a game of Jenga with it! 

[mikeDnight]

42 minutes ago, astronomer2002 said:

Thankyou for posting so  many pics - was the show well attended as it didn't look as busy as Astrofest? That's good for browsing but perhaps not as good for vendors. Maybe it's just the size of the venue that makes it look like there's more scopes than visitors!

Looks like it was mainly visual astronomy oriented from the displays, don't see any cameras on the stands.

 

 

 

It was a pretty sizeable venue and as the day went on, the numbers increased substantially. Having said that, when my friends and I arrived at 9am, the Que was extending right out of the main doors and onto the car park. It's a few years since I've attended astro fest, but I think that yesterday's show was significantly better, with excellent displays where you could really get to grips with the telescopes. There were plenty of cameras and imaging equipment on show too!

Not so good on the offers, as I saw none on anything I had an interest in, and the pastry on my steak and ale pie was like concrete. Other than that, and having to drive for six hours, it was a great day! ?

[mikeDnight]

15 hours ago, paulastro said:

Two pics added.

It's nice to see there are no incriminating pic's, revealing financial transactions that could result in any of us being grounded! 

[Chris]

Can I see a removable tube section for bino viewing on that Starwave ED F11? 

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

It's nice to see there are no incriminating pic's, revealing financial transactions that could result in any of us being grounded! 

Your secret(s) are safe with me, Mike ?

 

[Fozzie]

43 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Can I see a removable tube section for bino viewing on that Starwave ED F11? 

Yep.... a few of the altair scopes have this feature.. I like it! Saves people suggesting 100mm to be cut off the tube.. 

There's a CN thread on the scope but not too much info.. I'm tempted but there's a few things I'm not overly convinced about, compared to the achro version..

If the tax man left me alone, is be carrying out a side by side right now.. pesky tax man..

[Chris]

30 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Yep.... a few of the altair scopes have this feature.. I like it! Saves people suggesting 100mm to be cut off the tube.. 

There's a CN thread on the scope but not too much info.. I'm tempted but there's a few things I'm not overly convinced about, compared to the achro version..

If the tax man left me alone, is be carrying out a side by side right now.. pesky tax man..

Ah excellent, what a great feature! Not that I'm in the market (the reverse in fact), but I'll have a good read just out of interest. I'm wondering if the achro version also has this feature?

[Fozzie]

5 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Ah excellent, what a great feature! Not that I'm in the market (the reverse in fact), but I'll have a good read just out of interest. I'm wondering if the achro version also has this feature?

It doesn't Chris, I've used the WO set with mine, it was fantastic, but it needed a Barlow or opc to reach focus.. with the 20mm supplied EPs and 1.6 nosepiece from a Barlow, plus the added focal.of the binos etc I reckon I was easily over 200x.. so right at the edge of useful mags on most nights.. had some fantastic 3d views of the moon and Jupiter, but also had some real mush due to conditions.. sold then with the intent to revisit binoviewers at some point when I had a scope which would allow native viewing so to speak.. 

 

[Chris]

2 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

It doesn't Chris, I've used the WO set with mine, it was fantastic, but it needed a Barlow or opc to reach focus.. with the 20mm supplied EPs and 1.6 nosepiece from a Barlow, plus the added focal.of the binos etc I reckon I was easily over 200x.. so right at the edge of useful mags on most nights.. had some fantastic 3d views of the moon and Jupiter, but also had some real mush due to conditions.. sold then with the intent to revisit binoviewers at some point when I had a scope which would allow native viewing so to speak.. 

 

I knew it was too good to be true   It kind of points to the ED version being worth it solely for the added BV benefit then.

[Fozzie]

7 minutes ago, Lockie said:

I knew it was too good to be true   It kind of points to the ED version being worth it solely for the added BV benefit then.

It's the biggest point for me over the achro.. I say that I knowledge that the achro is very, very good when conditions allow.. I'm not a big fan of buying things that I'm intentionally kept in the dark over, especially when it's the main selling point.. ie ED glass.. it's like buying a car, without them telling what engine is in it.. id personally like to know a bit more, otherwise I might suspect the ed not a significant jump/better than my achro and semi apo filter combo.. 

 

[Chris]

28 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

It's the biggest point for me over the achro.. I say that I knowledge that the achro is very, very good when conditions allow.. I'm not a big fan of buying things that I'm intentionally kept in the dark over, especially when it's the main selling point.. ie ED glass.. it's like buying a car, without them telling what engine is in it.. id personally like to know a bit more, otherwise I might suspect the ed not a significant jump/better than my achro and semi apo filter combo.. 

 

If I had to guess I'd go for FPL51, the 1.4L naturally aspirated petrol engine of ED glass 

[Fozzie]

7 minutes ago, Lockie said:

If I had to guess I'd go for FPL51, the 1.4L naturally aspirated petrol engine of ED glass 

I'd have gone with HFK61 or fcd1, with a specialist mate lens, lanthium or otherwise, all similar abbe numbers in the low 80s but I guess you don't hear of them in the same "consumer" circles as fpl51.. most manufacturers don't mind saying fpl51.. I've not heard of hfk61 in any of my online shopping i assume for some reason manufacturers feel it may be off putting..

[Chris]

1 minute ago, Fozzie said:

I'd have gone with HFK61 or fcd1, with a specialist mate lens, lanthium or otherwise, all similar abbe numbers in the low 80s but I guess you don't hear of them in the same "consumer" circles as fpl51.. most manufacturers don't mind saying fpl51.. I've not heard of hfk61 in any of my online shopping i assume for some reason manufacturers feel it may be off putting..

I guess all these new codes are around 81 like FPL51, it's a guess, but I'd be surprised if they aren't around this ball park. Lanthanum mating lens sounds good though, Vixen lanthanum EP's are certainly very nice.

At f11 even a semi apo should be pretty apo...in theory. It is crazy why they don't just tell you the Abbe number for ED glass. We should petition for this   

[Mr Spock]

So many scopes to choose from. It's a shame you can't have one of each...

[paulastro]

5 hours ago, astronomer2002 said:

Thankyou for posting so  many pics - was the show well attended as it didn't look as busy as Astrofest? That's good for browsing but perhaps not as good for vendors. Maybe it's just the size of the venue that makes it look like there's more scopes than visitors!

Looks like it was mainly visual astronomy oriented from the displays, don't see any cameras on the stands.

 

 

 

Hello Ian.  Yes, the show was well attended, just plenty of room to spread out, also  most of my pics were taken early on deliberately so that I could get clear views of the gear on display.

I'm afraid the main reason there are no pics of cameras amongst mine is because I'm mainly a visual observer so I haven't much interest in them. In fact there was a room that I never even stepped into as it looked to be full of imaging stuff, cameras and the like .  I did see some imaging gear in the main hall, and promptly walked quickly on, sorry!