International Astronomy Show 2022

[F15Rules]

I'd have loved to attend the IAS event as well...I went to the first event in Leamington Spa, in June 2014 and thoroughly enjoyed it: I first met Mark Turner from Moonraker there and he went on to rebuild my wonderful D&G USA 5" F15 refractor as a result of our discussions.

Sadly I'm currently on holiday in Kefalonia and will be travelling home tomorrow while the show is on, so can't go this time..

This retirement lark isn't such a bad thing though..😁

Have a great time if you're going to the show 👍😊

Dave

[JeremyS]

23 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

I'd have loved to attend the IAS event as well...I went to the first event in Leamington Spa, in June 2014 and thoroughly enjoyed it: I first met Mark Turner from Moonraker there and he went on to rebuild my wonderful D&G USA 5" F15 refractor as a result of our discussions.

Sadly I'm currently on holiday in Kefalonia and will be travelling home tomorrow while the show is on, so can't go this time..

This retirement lark isn't such a bad thing though..😁

Have a great time if you're going to the show 👍😊

Dave

Bit warmer than Skye, eh Dave!

[Ouroboros]

@F15Rules Not trying to make us jealous or anything are you?  Looked lovely.

Meanwhile … back in the sunny midlands 😀 I went to the show today. Just got back. It was nice to be at the show again and see a few familiar faces. The show venue is a bit smaller than before I think - although it’s split between two/three rooms so difficult to judge. I expect the suppliers might be a tad disappointed at the attendance. Definitely down on previous Fridays that I’ve been before.  Good though from the point of view of attendees for seeing kit and talking to the people on stands.  Good to meet a couple of people from FLO and talk about refractors.  Just of few pics of bits of kit I was interested in….

 

 

[JeremyS]

9 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

Good to meet a couple of people from FLO and talk about refractors.  

…is there any other subject??? 🤔

😊
 

PS thanks for the pics 👍🏻

Edited October 14, 2022 by JeremyS

[Telescope40]

Hello.  Just home following a few hours at the show.  Was also thinking the attendance was a bit low compared to a previous visit I made. Sure will be different tomorrow. Purchased a couple if items and tempted by quite a few more. Good chat with the Rowan team about to motor kit for my AZ100.  Should hopefully be a Christmas present for myself. 

Also got to physically see a TSA 120 in ze flesh.  Very nice it is too. Now looking for a darkened room to have a long lie down in. 🤫   John 

[JeremyS]

Just now, Telescope40 said:

Purchased a couple if items 

We are all ears 🤣

[F15Rules]

12 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello.  Just home following a few hours at the show.  Was also thinking the attendance was a bit low compared to a previous visit I made. Sure will be different tomorrow. Purchased a couple if items and tempted by quite a few more. Good chat with the Rowan team about to motor kit for my AZ100.  Should hopefully be a Christmas present for myself. 

Also got to physically see a TSA 120 in ze flesh.  Very nice it is too. Now looking for a darkened room to have a long lie down in. 🤫   John 

Oops...John's gone down with Takvid 120...I believe it's incurable!😂

Dave

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by F15Rules

[Telescope40]

11 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

We are all ears 🤣

Jeremy.  @F15Rules Just a couple of low cost EP's for my Maxbright binoviewers.  Watching the funds in the off chance of a move for a Tak. Never seen a wrong word written about the 120. I know you have one.  Wrestling match is ongoing in my head and will be for the foreseeable future.  Rowan motor kit is the route to go but even the best laid plans and Sat Nav's mess up.   LOL  

 

John 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Telescope40

[F15Rules]

25 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Bit warmer than Skye, eh Dave!

Well, Jeremy, the Scottish Isles were surprisingly sunny and warm..20-21 degrees most days..

Kefalonia has been a little warmer, 22-24 degrees, but we also had a big storm last night and heavy rain..

To be honest, it's difficult to get a handle on it all..

Dave

[josefk]

A good day out today at IAS. The first lecture on Galaxy groups was a very interesting way to kick off. I even managed to keep up with some of it 😵.

The Webb Deep Sky Society are there so I picked up Kent Wallace's "life's work" more or less; the pretty definitive "Visual Observation of Planetary Nebula". There are over a 1000 PNe catalogued and described in this reference work and a good bunch of them observed in an 8" scope and with notes for magnification and filters etc in Kent's observing notes. That should keep me going. Hah. 

Lots of lovely kit from the usual suspects. i think someone pounced early on a TSA-120 on the RVO stand. One on display at 09:45 and gone by 11:30. Also TOE, TAO and LE EP's on the RVO stand!!! 

Have a good day anyone going tomorrow and be a aware if you need to use it; the Coventry Eastern bypass has roadworks on it - traffic was pretty slow and heavy coming and going on this last little stretch.

Cheers

[JeremyS]

5 minutes ago, josefk said:

 i think someone pounced early on a TSA-120 on the RVO stand. One on display at 09:45 and gone by 11:30. Also TOE, TAO and LE EP's on the RVO stand!!! 

 

OK SGLers: own up!, who was it?

[Telescope40]

35 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

OK SGLers: own up!, who was it?

As you can tell. It wasn’t me !!  I’d had a good look as I arrived at the venue and it was noticeably absent when I returned for a second shufty 🤔🤔🤔

[RobertI]

54 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

OK SGLers: own up!, who was it?

Not me either, the best my wallet could stand was a manual filter wheel and a bottle of Baader Wonder Fluid! 😆 Very enjoyable time at the IAS though. I also attended the insightful Galaxy Groups lecture - lots of concentration required! Then some nice conversations with the Rowan brothers and a play with the  AZ75 and AZ100. Chris at FLO gave me a guided tour of their dobs, the superb looking new parallelogram mount and the live observatory images. Had a very informative chat with Simon at Widescreen about binoviewers and got some expert advice. Stopped off at the SVBony stand - very friendly people and some nice kit. A very impressive exhibition by RVO with Patrick Moore’s old Ford Prefect with 3/4 million miles on the clock (seriously). Finally bought a couple of books from the Webb Society which I hope will contain some nice objects for EAA, although I think some of the PNs might be a challenge even for my EAA kit!

[Ouroboros]

Not guilty here either. In fact I’m a bit miffed because I was hoping to see one.

I was not exactly a big spender at the show. A couple or so quid on a cup of coffee and £2.50  (way hey!) on a solar filter on the dark skies stand. 

[josefk]

10 hours ago, RobertI said:

Not me either, the best my wallet could stand was a manual filter wheel and a bottle of Baader Wonder Fluid! 😆 Very enjoyable time at the IAS though. I also attended the insightful Galaxy Groups lecture - lots of concentration required! Then some nice conversations with the Rowan brothers and a play with the  AZ75 and AZ100. Chris at FLO gave me a guided tour of their dobs, the superb looking new parallelogram mount and the live observatory images. Had a very informative chat with Simon at Widescreen about binoviewers and got some expert advice. Stopped off at the SVBony stand - very friendly people and some nice kit. A very impressive exhibition by RVO with Patrick Moore’s old Ford Prefect with 3/4 million miles on the clock (seriously). Finally bought a couple of books from the Webb Society which I hope will contain some nice objects for EAA, although I think some of the PNs might be a challenge even for my EAA kit!

I also got that Abell guide Rob but definitely out of curiosity rather than ambition. 16” recommended and most obs in it using 22”. Good luck!

[RobertI]

2 hours ago, josefk said:

I also got that Abell guide Rob but definitely out of curiosity rather than ambition. 16” recommended and most obs in it using 22”. Good luck!

Agreed! I think my EAA should setup should in theory catch them, but as you say very challenging, so I’ll let you know! 

[Mr Spock]

Just arrived home. This afternoon's talk by Nial Tavir was excellent - very intriguing and informative. Excellent presentation skills too.

Other than that the whole thing was... average. There was a lot less kit on view than a couple of years ago. Didn't see any scopes I was looking for. However, I like the look of the WO FLT 132 - very nice!

[tomato]

Unfortunately I haven’t been 100% so didn’t make it. Can someone please tell me what the new Pulsar Observatory reveal was?

[Space Hopper]

Thanks for everyone involved for putting on a great show over the last two days.

Excellent talks, and loads of astro goodies on display to drool over.

 

[Alan White]

Home after a Saturday visit with @Saganite and a most enjoyable day was had.

Nice to catch up with Rowan and FLO and look at some other bits.

It did indeed feel more spacious and less attended than previous years, folks feeling the present financial caution I expect.

Some super kit, what a time it is for new arrivals into the hobby.

As always glad to the IAS organisers for making it possible.

Was good to meet @Chris formerly Lockie after all these years.

 

[Paz]

I was at the show today and saw the presentations by Michael Morris and Nial Tavir, and both were excellent and well worth attending. I agree the stalls/stands exhibition has got smaller over the years but it's the only astronomy thing I ever get to go to, and I did have a good look at lots of nice kit, my favourite being the Takahashi stand in the RVO room.

I managed not to buy anything this year which is a first, well done me... but then I got home and accidentally found a second hand copy of Charles Wood's (out of print) "The Moon A Personal View" on Ebay and went for it - I blame this lapse on Michael Morris for recommending it in his talk!

[Alan White]

We shared a cafe table with Michael Morris just after he had finished his talk, nice guy.

He was showing us pictures of and talking about his Space Craft model making, really interesting and very skilled.

 

[icpn]

I think as one of the vendors there I can say that the turnout was very poor. Friday was almost dead, certainly the afternoon. Saturday was better but  the number of vendors was down and the turnout from people attending was well down on previous years which was disappointing given the three year break. Whether this is due to the economic situation or the lingering issues with Covid I don't know. Certainly given this I doubt we would attend next year if it occurs. At least compared to PAS which was entirely an imaging event there was a wider range of kit to see.

[F15Rules]

12 hours ago, Paz said:

I was at the show today and saw the presentations by Michael Morris and Nial Tavir, and both were excellent and well worth attending. I agree the stalls/stands exhibition has got smaller over the years but it's the only astronomy thing I ever get to go to, and I did have a good look at lots of nice kit, my favourite being the Takahashi stand in the RVO room.

I managed not to buy anything this year which is a first, well done me... but then I got home and accidentally found a second hand copy of Charles Wood's (out of print) "The Moon A Personal View" on Ebay and went for it - I blame this lapse on Michael Morris for recommending it in his talk!

At least you didn't have far to travel, Chris😊.

And well done on your self restraint!

Dave

[F15Rules]

28 minutes ago, icpn said:

I think as one of the vendors there I can say that the turnout was very poor. Friday was almost dead, certainly the afternoon. Saturday was better but  the number of vendors was down and the turnout from people attending was well down on previous years which was disappointing given the three year break. Whether this is due to the economic situation or the lingering issues with Covid I don't know. Certainly given this I doubt we would attend next year if it occurs. At least compared to PAS which was entirely an imaging event there was a wider range of kit to see.

It's a shame you didn't find the show worthwhile..I couldn't get there this time but I didn't actually know it was on until I saw it mentioned on SGL..surely it could be better advertised?

Also, I think 3 days just seems too long for what is a fairly niche hobby area..better to spread the exhibition and talks over say a day and a half, with some exhibition/talk activity also overlapping into the evening?🤔

And I'm sure the current mess our economy is in (and heading for more of by the looks of it!) didn't help!🥴

Dave