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Star Party 2022


daz

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Here is an image grab off Google Earth of FForest Fields. Sorry about the poor image, there are loads on the web to peruse.

This will give you some idea of the Events field size. I reckon about 5 acres. 

As for the EHU on the field, at a guess about 25-30. I'm sure many could double up. 

That's the only drawback if everyone wants to be on the Event field. FF.thumb.jpg.e2e4807c59aace89e693ea272d7b22c0.jpg

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On 25/04/2022 at 22:49, Freff said:

Pencelli is a great site for small Star parties, The big field unfortunately does not have EHU's.

Fforest Fields is better for it's pristine skies and large events field. Unfortunately, again the events field is limited for EHU's.

Oooh I like the look of this one. Spring time would be perfect!

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What about Erwlon Caravan and Camping Site. They have a field for tents some pitches with electric points. Full facilities. It's just south of Llandovery but walking distance into town. According to Clear outside it's bortle 3.

Llandovery is around 20 miles west of Brecon along the A40.

1995873436_Erwlonmap.thumb.png.7668866cf09bc75c8f689d06a881504c.png

 

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6 hours ago, Steve said:

Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. We really appreciate them. We are confident we will together find a suitable site for future SGL star parties 🙂

Can I suggest something? Once you have a shortlist, could you list them and put them to a vote?

1 caveat could be that you cannot vote for a site that's within say 50 miles of where you live. I think that this was it would be fair and would encourage people to choose somewhere based on what it offers, rather than how easy it is to get to.

The same would go for the time of year, put it to a vote.

Personally, I would be more than happy to drive 4-500 miles north in mid-January if it meant staying and stargazing at an awesome site with the darkest skies.

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On 26/03/2022 at 19:20, Geoff_L said:

That's not a bad idea. I just did a search over on UK Campsite for a somewhere with a rally field, EHU, that takes tents, caravans and motorhomes, and within a 30 mile radius of (GPS: 50.9, -2.5) and got 80 matches, many of which are in the low light pollution / many clear nights region North of Dorchester. One example (and I stress this is just the first looked at) is Oathill Farm Holiday And Touring Park (clicky link to UK Campsite entry) -- I didn't look too closely, but the photos on UK Campsite suggest that trees are limited and it seems to have reasonably open horizons. However, I have no idea whether they have street lighting within the site...

Here's a clicky link to the entire search results. Hopefully, it'll be of some use to the organisers...

Just did a similar type of search, using the clear nights and low light pollution as a guide, and came up with this in a Bortle 4, SQM 21.65 zone in Whitney, South Wales ;-

https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6092

Look at the list of facilities! They accept groups! There's got to be a catch!?

Regards,

AG

Edited by Live_Steam_Mad
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On 01/05/2022 at 21:07, Jonk said:

Can I suggest something? Once you have a shortlist, could you list them and put them to a vote?

1 caveat could be that you cannot vote for a site that's within say 50 miles of where you live. I think that this was it would be fair and would encourage people to choose somewhere based on what it offers, rather than how easy it is to get to.

Ideally we will find a site close to someone in the SGL admin or mod team. A local with knowledge of the area who can make arrangements if required. 

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16 hours ago, DaveS said:

I would be thinking of a location that was fairly central so nobody has an excruciatingly long journey.

A good point. But by "Central", where were you thinking roughly? We have to remember the SGL members in Scotland also, it's not fair to make them travel enormous distance either. For example, they used to hold the Lombard / RAC Rally at York, one of the  reasons that they wanted a place that is "central" to the UK.

But for a Starcamp it has to be somewhere where there is a pretty dark sky, with no big orange glows to spoil our viewing. I think Bortle 4 is the minimum to aim for, and consider that even Bortle 4 is horrendously polluted compared to Bortle 1, many people forget that or aren't aware of the impact of Light Pollution.

The problem is basically that any convenient flat ish part of land has already been built on as much as possible, and with people come lights, it's just a sad fact of life. So "Central" i.e. anywhere within reach of Manchester / Birmingham with level ground etc is already Bortle 7 and higher, realistically. So if we want to get away from lights it has to be somewhere near a winding river / forest / hills where the population is much lower, basically.

South Wales allows the major Connurbations (London / Birmingham / Manchester) to access it within a not horrendous amount of driving time (I view 3 1/2 to 4 hours of driving to be pretty close to my physical limit of endurance), and is also one of the only places left with skies with low Bortle numbers. However I would be very willing to drive a little further to reach Bortle 3.

One place that hasn't been mentioned much yet here is the Yorkshire Dales National Park / Nidderdale Area Of OutStanding Natural Beauty), that is fairly "Central" to the UK, and they have recently applied to the International Dark Sky Association to become an IDA International Dark Sky Park, I believe. Quite large areas of Bortle 3 are up there, with no established Star Camps as of yet? ;- https://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/10/YDNPA-Dark-Sky-Reserve-Application-240920.pdf

Skies there look decent, no?!

Regards,

AG

Yorkshire_Dales_IDA_Application.jpg

Edited by Live_Steam_Mad
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On 04/05/2022 at 07:43, Live_Steam_Mad said:

Just did a similar type of search, using the clear nights and low light pollution as a guide, and came up with this in a Bortle 4, SQM 21.65 zone in Whitney, South Wales ;-

https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6092

Look at the list of facilities! They accept groups! There's got to be a catch!?

Regards,

AG

FWIW, that's only a few miles away from Baskerville Hall Hotel and both sites are almost spitting distance from Lucksall. They have camping fields with some EHUs and are used to dealing with groups -- one of the Bluegrass clubs holds a couple of picking weekends there each year (Covid notwithstanding). They also have a restaurant, a bar and rooms that can be booked for meetings, presentations etc.

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21.65 is pretty dark. I have supposedly 21.66 and have seen M33 naked eye, and my eyes are pretty rubbish. My summer milky way is bright and structured down to the horizon (Helps that the nearest town to the south is in France, 350 km away).

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  • 1 month later...
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Just a thought the tourism industry in Wales is in need of help, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62252080 is it worth you asking Visit Wales https://www.visitwales.com to see if they have any sites that they know of? 
 

I know that the camp at Cwmdu is pretty good, and twice a year hosts the Awesome AstroCamp, you might want to use another site, but Visit Wales might know? 
Chris

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is there any scope to have more than one event? As an example you could offer two centralish locations one being more northerly than the other. Obviously open invitation for both. Appreciate more work but there seems a great deal of interest in getting an event organised and no doubt plenty would volunteer to assist in the task. 

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What about looking for somewhere that is actually in a designated dark skies area like Exmoor, granted its not central but I'd rather travel further and get a really dark sky, a quick Google an this popped up https://www.halsefarm.co.uk/index.php

It has electric hookups, free showers, takes dogs, disabled access etc and is very reasonably priced at around £24/night

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 20/03/2022 at 00:29, Geoff_L said:

It's a tricky one indeed since many campsites are surrounded by trees and value the shelter from winds they provide and campsites with dark skies and open horizons seem almost as rare as hen's teeth!

Are hookups essential? I ask because if not perhaps Kemble Airfield might be a possibility. Like Lucksall, it's Bortle 4, has open horizons and they're used to hosting large groups in a mix of caravans, motorhomes and tents. For example, they're hosting the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival first weekend in September. AFAICT, the organisation to contact about booking the site would be the Ogri Motorcycle Club (https://www.ogrimcc.org/).

FWIW, I'm currently at Kemble Airfield for the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival and so have had a chance to sound out the Ogri Motorcycle Club. They are amenable to hosting a star party. However, I didn't mention money as that's not my place. They can run extensions from their club house if only a few want EHU or bring in generator if required. The club house can be available for talks, drinks, food, etc. The Ogri club have been superb hosts this weekend. They can be contacted initially using info on their website (https://www.ogrimcc.org/) or via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ogriclubhouse) HTH

Edited to add: Unfortunately, one of the hangars had all the lights on Sunday night. This was to the North of where events are held, but it makes the airfield less suitable :( Sorry if I've wasted anyone's time...

Edited by Geoff_L
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