Star Party 2022

[Ally8446]

Might i suggest Fforest Fields. I'm 1 mile from it right now.  It's central and not that far from Hereford so relatively close to Lucksall. What I mean is, if Lucksall was central enough for most then Fforest Fields is roughly central too.

It's inky black. After only 1 minute of stepping outside of our lodge you can already see the Milky Way.  Does it have full electric hook ups, club house etc ?.... no idea. Worth a look... so I'll check it out tomorrow and post my findings. 

[cajen2]

On 07/09/2022 at 20:18, animal666 said:

Cwmdu Campsite on the Brecon Beacons is good,  It’s not huge, but it has great dark skies.

I think astrocamp still use that one, normally in September

https://www.campingbreconbeacons.com/

Yep, coming up just this weekend. 

[tomato]

Yes, just packed the RASA ready for astro camp this weekend and dare I say it, there might be at least one clear night🤞
I’m planning to image the Dark Shark, a good test of a dark site and an interesting comparison with my Bortle 5/6 home location.

[Geoff_L]

On 05/05/2022 at 14:25, Geoff_L said:

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.

FWIW, I've just spent the weekend at a Bluegrasss picking weekend at the Baskerville Hall Hotel in the motorhome. Didn't take a 'scope because the weather forecast was pants and the weekend was about music rather than astronomy. Too busy playing on the Friday and Saturday to look up, but we had the campsite to ourselves on Sunday and the Cloud Lady was kind. Because of the number of visible stars, the "W" of Cassiopeia and the square of Pegasus didn't stand right out but once identified I also was able to see M31 with the naked eye. There are trees to the South and West of the camping field that has EHUs, but clear horizon above about 25° to the East, South and West. This field has about twenty EHUs, but they are 'low power' (probably about 5A). There is a much larger field with fewer obstructions -- but no hookups AFAICT. HTH

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=15.95&lat=52.0773&lon=-3.1552&layers=0BFFFFFFFTFFFFFFFFFFF

[reddoss]

Are there any plans in the pipe line to hold SGL star parties in the future? 

Just asking as they used to be such an important event in my Astronomy year, and miss seeing so many people from all over the UK who used to attend these events in the past decade and a half!

Cheers,

           Justyn

[Xsubmariner]

On 20/11/2022 at 02:39, reddoss said:

Are there any plans in the pipe line to hold SGL star parties in the future? 

Just asking as they used to be such an important event in my Astronomy year, and miss seeing so many people from all over the UK who used to attend these events in the past decade and a half!

Cheers,

           Justyn

Valid question. A review of this thread suggests not, given there has been over 50 member responses and only 2 administrator inputs (last one in May). I was hoping to attend my first SGL star party, now looks unlikely.

[wookie1965]

I have been to one booked for another but was flooded out got my money back I was really looking forward to another I believe at the beginning they where just looking for a suitable site obviously that's not happening now which is a real shame. 

[SteveWolves]

The problem is finding a suitable venue and its not just the problem of the star party admin folk we are all part of the same group here so its up to us all to try and help.

I have been trying for years to find good locations to observe from and they are like hens teeth LOL

[tomato]

Yes, total respect for the folks who organise these, just attending one is a bit of a logistical nightmare, so I can only guess what they have to sort out.

[Tomatobro]

I wondered what the imagers at some of the more remote star parties do for power. Do they run generators during the night or use batteries and recharge during the day?

[Freff]

2 hours ago, Tomatobro said:

I wondered what the imagers at some of the more remote star parties do for power. Do they run generators during the night or use batteries and recharge during the day?

I would say that 99% of camp sites don't allow generators. 

I have been on a few rallies off grid where generators were used and the noise was horrendous.

Unless you use a £500,000 nuclear powered quieter than the grave generator or a 1 ton battery pack, you will be limited to 1 night at best from conventional packs. Then these need to be recharged daily usually by a football pitch size solar panel and a day of Sahara sunshine. 

That's why remote off grid star parties rarely exist.

[Tomatobro]

I was thinking about Kelling Heath and Kielder star parties for example

 

 

 

 

 

[apaulo]

i dont know about kielder but ive been to kelling heath. an amazing complex, all pitches have electric hookups  and the electric is included in the price. so no worries along that line. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

On 04/01/2023 at 17:41, apaulo said:

i dont know about kielder but ive been to kelling heath. an amazing complex, all pitches have electric hookups  and the electric is included in the price. so no worries along that line. 

Kielder is smaller and a bit more back to nature than Kelling. However the location really is remote and the sky is breathtaking on a clear night. Also from the north west half the travel time compared to Kelling. Hopefully I'll get back to Kielder this year for the annual midge apocalypse!

Edited January 20, 2023 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Speeling

[DSviewer]

Sorry to ask but any plans for 2023 UK

[JOC]

Sorry if a bit late to the party, but when walking in the Isle of wight last year I tripped over this lovely camp site https://www.pitchup.com/campsites/England/South_East/Isle_Of_Wight/Freshwater/heathfield-farm-camping/  Although not central the Isle of Wight seems very dark.

Or I wonder if a private arrangment could be made with somewhere like this https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/campsites/uk/essex/southminster/markfarm/#Facilities they advertise electrical pitches

Also here https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/campsites/uk/essex/chelmsford/birslodge/

and here http://www.silverroadcaravanpark.co.uk/

The Dengie Hundred must fall into the darker than a lot of places criteria

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by JOC