Practical Astronomy Show, Stoneleigh 2024, March 23rd

[Saganite]

Thanks Mike.

My concerns about it not being stark white but creamy , something I have not seen before on a Vixen, do not matter because there will be none of the original accessories on it.

[wookie1965]

5 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Thanks Mike.

My concerns about it not being stark white but creamy , something I have not seen before on a Vixen, do not matter because there will be none of the original accessories on it.

What a scope I can only dream of something like that.

[Saganite]

5 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

What a scope I can only dream of something like that.

Thanks Paul I appreciate your comment and it was a great shame you couldn't make it, but one of these days.

It is a lovely scope and I count myself fortunate to have got it , but the reality is that I almost certainly see no more than you do with your scopes.

Take care

Edited March 23 by Saganite

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, Space Hopper said:

Stuck at work so had to pass this year.

But in 25 weeks time, i'll definitely be at the IAS show (September 14) at its new venue near Coventry.

The mortgage will be payed off by then too, so i may even have some money to buy something......

Not another one at Coventry! I don't think I have another drive to Coventry left in me for this year, or possibly ever.😩

[Highburymark]

50 minutes ago, Saganite said:

This has been used only briefly as a demonstrator, but looks and feels as new as a...... well ,new one, and at 25% discount I am very happy.  It came in its original box with all the accessories which I don't want so will be selling in due course. It has certainly lifted what was a disappointing show.  Meeting up again with Mike , Alan, and Ed made it worthwhile, as did  the Rowan boys Derek and Dave. 

The Feathertouch of course was on my ED103 and swapping focusers was the first thing I did once home.

Stunning Steve - the first 115 I’ve seen with a Feathertouch focuser. Congratulations.

[wookie1965]

33 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Thanks Paul I appreciate your comment and it was a great shame you couldn't make it, but one of these days.

It is a lovely scope and I count myself fortunate to have got it , but the reality is that I almost certainly see no more than you do with your scopes.

Take care

Thanks Steve I was really looking forward to it, not done any astro since the first week in December, when I found out about this it gave me a nudge to try and sort myself out and stop feeling so bad, I had motivation. 

My son looked at car last night and said best get a mechanic I rang a friend and sent him a video so cambelt change now £400 what could I have bought with that money. 

Gutted beyond belief been feeling terrible all day. Arr well there is always next year if I am here. 

[Gfamily]

It did strike us that some of the space near the cafe area could have had a small stage where people could give talks. 

Would need chairs etc setting out, but I gather that the absence of speakers was a disincentive for some previous patrons of the PAS. 

[Phil Fargaze]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

and I also bought a couple of second hand books that caught my eye

Chasing Venus is a gripping read, fully recommended. Should be made into a film.

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Not another one at Coventry! I don't think I have another drive to Coventry left in me for this year, or possibly ever.😩

OY, Mr Night!!

I'll have you know that's my home town you're dissing!😜🤪🤣..

I suppose the venue could have been in a far worse place? Like "Burnleh", perhaps??😁😁

Dave

PS I couldn't get to PAS today as I was en route home from a city break to Porto..now that would make an excellent venue..even MikeDGRINCH would approve!!

[Spile]

I was there until 11 o’clock and met some members of Bromsgrove ARS and accidentally @michaelmorris

[paulastro]

7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Underwhelming is being kind. I have to say I found the venue and the number of vendors somewhat disappointing. Even the food on offer wasn't what we've been used to, with dry bread with either fatty bacon or the healthier sausage option. I had sausage on a dry bap with what I think was coffee.  That aside, I had chance to meet up with saganite (Steve), who may not be heard from again once his dearly beloved finds out what he's bought. And Alan W and paulastro was there too, making up a small group of SGLers.

I did manage to buy a couple of eyepieces I've been after for a while. Now I have the full range! And also joined the Society for the History of Astronomy, and received a nice welcome pack, a hand full of free magazines and I also bought a couple of second hand books that caught my eye.

Well grumps, I enjoyed travelling  down with yourself and Keith 😊.  Thanks for doing the driving.

I met a couple of  friends from  London and Northampton I have known for at least thirty years and a friend from The Astronomy Centre I haven't seen for a while as I was incapacitated before a couple of medical procedures in December and January. 

I bought three books and some free mags from The Sciety for the History of Astronomy  and renewed my subs, and bought the 2024 Handbook from the BAA stand.

Also I had recently advertised on SGL and astrobuysell for a used copy of the 4th volume of the Kepple Guides to the Night Sky, 'The Glories of the Milky Way.' Its out of print and used copies are advertised for up to £160.  I didn't get any responses to my ads.

Speaking to Owen Brazil on the Webb Society stand I asked him if he had actually ever seen a copy - I hadn't.  Owen turned round, picked up a new copy of it off the sales table and said 'do you mean this?'   What luck!!!  it was a lone copy that had been bundled in with an order from the publishers in the USA.  What joy.  This alone made my whole trip worthwhile.

Also looked at lots of goodies and got my hands on the Askar 185mm triplet apo! (I have the 103 version)

I had a wonderful day 😊

 

 

[icpn]

I think the number of vendors there was about normal. It was just a very big hall so it may have looked smaller. There were obvioulsy some vendors that were not there that would appear at IAS such as Rother Valley and FLO but then they have not been there in previous years either.

[mikeDnight]

15 hours ago, F15Rules said:

OY, Mr Night!!

I'll have you know that's my home town you're dissing!😜🤪🤣..

I suppose the venue could have been in a far worse place? Like "Burnleh", perhaps??😁😁

Dave

PS I couldn't get to PAS today as I was en route home from a city break to Porto..now that would make an excellent venue..even MikeDGRINCH would approve!!

 It isn't Coventry I have a problem with Dave, it's just that peddling up hill all the way home again to Pendle Witch Country which is a nightmare. It really is an arduous drive with the only nice bit being the Toll road. May be next time I should fly down, with my wife's permission of course. I'd hate to find my scope had suddenly been turned into one of those Schmidt thingies! 😲

Edited March 24 by mikeDnight

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 It isn't Coventry I have a problem with Dave, it's just that peddling up hill all the way home again to Pendle Witch Country which is a nightmare. It really is an arduous drive with the only nice bit being the Toll road. May be next time I should fly down, with my wife's permission of course. I'd hate to find my scope had suddenly been turned into one of those Schmidt thingies! 😲

Hi Mike,

I remember when I lived in the Midlands and was working, I used to drive 30-40k miles a year on business, and the Toll Road was quite new then..it was definitely my route of choice to go north and bypassed all of the M6 "carpark" and Spaghetti Junction, with all it's concrete 'humps' every 20 metres or so!

And best of all, I could reclaim the Toll costs as a legitimate business expense!👍😁.

My son lives in the Hinckley area and my wife and I still hate going back from the quietness of rural Lincolnshire to the traffic mayhem of Leicestershire!

Dave

Edited March 24 by F15Rules
Typo

[mikeDnight]

  I think it's telling that no-one has bothered to post any pic's as yet. Usually they are among the first things to appear, but may be the event didn't warrant the effort of being photographed? I usually take a pic or two, but the effort of taking my phone out of my pocket was too much. Anyway, it was an experience, and perhaps next year it will be back at Kettering which was more easily accessible and certainly a more pleasing venue.

 There were some very nice scopes on show, and although I'd walked around the stalls and bought all I wanted within the first half hour, I did enjoy twiddling with some very nicely engineered focusers and licked a few lenses. JeremyS would have been in his element!

[Alan White]

The event has a very different feel to previously, more Market Hall than Exhibition centre.

Vendors were much as before, but looked lost with the space left around and the principal of the show
had a scope display that felt very cramped that you risked life and limb accessing.

I came away empty handed this time,  it went only to look and twiddle really, so purpose served.

 

[whooshbang]

I thought it was well worth the journey up. The stands were a plenty and the cafe was better than the one at astrofest, albeit a little pricey. I picked up a Zwo AEF and a t-shirt.

The highlight was getting a glimpse of the sun through a Shelyak Lhires III Spectrograph and looking at fat absorption lines in Ha. Lovely bit of kit and kind gentleman for letting us take a look!

 

[NGC 1502]

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

……no purpose served

Excuse me….no purpose served?   What about the VERY IMPORTANT PASSENGER you had with you😁

Edited March 24 by NGC 1502

[Alan White]

4 minutes ago, NGC 1502 said:

Excuse me….no purpose served?   What about the VERY IMPORTANT PASSENGER you had with you😁

Ahem, so purpose served, and what a pleasant day out and company I had too.

 

[Alan White]

8 minutes ago, whooshbang said:

I thought it was well worth the journey up. The stands were a plenty and the cafe was better than the one at astrofest, albeit a little pricey. I picked up a Zwo AEF and a t-shirt.

The highlight was getting a glimpse of the sun through a Shelyak Lhires III Spectrograph and looking at fat absorption lines in Ha. Lovely bit of kit and kind gentleman for letting us take a look!

 

The kind gentleman with the spectrograph is Jack, one of the many members of my club Castle Point Astronomy Club that attended the event. Jack does lots of real science with his spectrograph and is assisting a number of professional Astronomy teams so I believe.

[whooshbang]

22 minutes ago, Alan White said:

The kind gentleman with the spectrograph is Jack, one of the many members of my club Castle Point Astronomy Club that attended the event. Jack does lots of real science with his spectrograph and is assisting a number of professional Astronomy teams so I believe.

Awesome!

 

[Ouroboros]

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I think it's telling that no-one has bothered to post any pic's as yet.

I didn’t post any because I didn’t take any ‘wide field’  pics of the whole show .. only a couple of specific items that interested me. As here …

Something I noticed very starkly, although I realised this already, how refractors now dominate the telescope scene - albeit probably made by the same few manufacturers. All Chinese of course. Kit from companies like Skywatcher barely get a look in amongst all the red. Their stuff is also looking somewhat dated too. 

[whooshbang]

This chap has posted several videos up

 

https://youtu.be/voSBeVIUHK8

 

[NGC 1502]

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Ahem, so purpose served, and what a pleasant day out and company I had too.

 

Oops…..sorry Alan…..misread your post!!    Just in from the garden for a coffee, looks like it will stay clear, out again soon in spite of bright moon…..

Ed.

[Gfamily]

Oh well, if you insist...

The view from the coffee benches 

and (as it happens) most of the scopes visible in the image would have been Skywatcher branded.

Yes, though it has to be said, there's a lot of new glass, either 'big' or 'interesting' so would catch attention.