Astrofest 2024

[zcapp96]

Was wondering if anyone has been to astrofest today in Kensington and seen if any retailers are offering any good deals. I was thinking about going tomorrow and was wondering if it would be worth the trip, none of the talks really appeal to me (not for £50!). I might have considered a couple if I could have just paid for them!

[TheMightyKong]

Best bargain I saw at the show:

[DirkSteele]

Was hoping the usual c,10% discounts might be offered but perhaps that does not happen anymore.  My inbox used to fill up with emails around Astrofest from retailers (even those not attending) offering discounts for the weekend.

[TheMightyKong]

It was quieter than the last time I went - quite a few years ago now pre pandemic.  Less retailers too.  Labels I noticed had some sort of small discount on them

[TheMightyKong]

Still I thought that ethos will be an unbelievable bargain for someone 

[astronomer2002]

4 hours ago, DirkSteele said:

Was hoping the usual c,10% discounts might be offered but perhaps that does not happen anymore.  My inbox used to fill up with emails around Astrofest from retailers (even those not attending) offering discounts for the weekend.

Yes - me too. But I get the impression there are no 10% off's any more and the email offers from retailers have stopped too. An expensive day out with little chance of getting any 'bargains' any more, shrinking band of retailers, and the presentations are just too expensive for what they are. I'm afraid the hey day of Astrofest is long past. The Practical Astronomy Show in Stoneleigh next month has been the better option for a few years now.

[nickarp2000]

I'm going tomorrow for the first time in 10 years. Really pulling it in with a day out in London with my wife. Not expecting to spend much but would be nice to see new equipment in the flesh rather than looking at cleverly photographed images online for a change. 

Maybe buy some literature for a change which will occupy me during the "unusual" cloudy period here in the UK! 

 

[Gfamily]

We're in London, but won't have time to go to Astrofest.

We're down to see The Moonwalkers at Kings Cross Lightroom, it's Andy Saunders' re-processed Apollo images and protected onto 4 walls and the floor of a large room. Narrated by Tom Hanks apparently. 

[badhex]

I'm going today for a bit. Any other London folks there? Matthew @DirkSteele are you going? What about @markse68?

Shame we don't have any SGL merch to wear so we can identify fellow SGLers! 

I'll be wearing a bright green hoody and moon trainers, if anyone wants to say hello!  

Edited February 3 by badhex

[DirkSteele]

2 hours ago, badhex said:

I'm going today for a bit. Any other London folks there? Matthew @DirkSteele are you going? What about @markse68?

Shame we don't have any SGL merch to wear so we can identify fellow SGLers! 

I'll be wearing a bright green hoody and moon trainers, if anyone wants to say hello!  

I will keep an eye out for the bright green hoody. Should make you easy to spot 

[DirkSteele]

I might have splashed some cash this morning. Was about a 5% discount on the Televue eyepieces I purchased from the widescreen centre.

 

[zcapp96]

I decided to pop along anyway, picked up a load of zwo stuff at 10% off from 365 astronomy. I was shocked at how few stalls there were now. This was the first time I had been in years and there were only 2 pure astro shops, 365 and the wide-screen centre. I remember it being much better before, surely cannot last much longer like this.

[nickarp2000]

Well I went. Thank heavens for free parking at Brent Cross. 

£30 in tube fairs for me and the missus. £16 to get in. What a waste of time in all honesty. Few vendors of any note. 365 and Wide-screen (who basically dominated the main showroom). Nothing like it used to be and to be perfectly honest it really shouldn't be charging just to see a handful of vendors with £8 each prebooked or £10 on the door. 

This exhibition has run its course. Even FLO decided it wasn't worth it! 

Came away with 2 brochures and a star map from the popastro stand for my grandson. 

They really need to consider their viability as a an alleged premier Astronomy exhibition now. It's lost its shine. 

Rant over, glad to be home. 

 

[zcapp96]

I have to say that Flo really disappointed me, they were clearly listed on the vendors list on the website but their presence just seemed to be a handful of leaflets with their website address. They could have mentioned here that they were going to be there in name only.

[lunator]

It was good to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a long time. The exhibition side and the retail side does need addressing. I didn't go to the talks as I baulked at £50 where I was only interested in 1 or 2 of them. 

I think FLO were there in conjunction with Pulsar, rather than I their own right. One thing that caught my attention was the OO scope on the FLO/Pulsar stand. 

Cheers

Ian

[Gfamily]

16 hours ago, nickarp2000 said:

£30 in tube fairs for me and the missus. 

That seems a lot. Normally we just tap in using a bank card at the start and end of each journey and TfL give us the cheapest total at the end of the day.

Yesterday for example, we did a bus to Richmond, tube to Euston in and tube from KingsX to Vauxhall and overground to Kingston on the way out, and it came to less than £12. 

I'd expect Brent Cross to Kensington and back to be well under £10

[nickarp2000]

To be honest the TFL website quoted the cost for zones 1-3 all day travelcard at £9.60 for the route of Brent Cross to kensington High Street which I thought was reasonable. As is the case these days the stations aren't manned and the machines only gave the options of zones 1-6 at £15.80 per ticket. I didnt understand this at all, but when the computer says "No" what can you do?

[Gfamily]

Yes, it's the lack of information that's the problem. 

For the future though it's worth knowing that if you have a contactless bank card you can just tap it on the pad at the gate and again when you get off at the other end and TfL will keep track of all your day's travels and charge you the best price overnight. So if you made just 2 journeys it would be less than a 1 day zone card, but if you made lots of trips it would max out at the £9.60 or whatever.

For two people you'll each need your own card, and (obviously) if you have multiple cards, make sure you use the same one each time you tap in and out. 

It really works, and does so across bus, tube, rail and tram. For buses, you just tap on, and it's a flat rate for the trip - not sure how it works if you have to change route, but I think it counts a second tap within an hour as part of the same trip.

Edited February 6 by Gfamily

[W0nderste]

Glad I didn't go then if the vendor exhibition was so poor .  I was interested in the talks but not at £50.  Unfortunately PAS doesn't have any talks this year.

[rl]

Some interesting comments by several contributors.

I went to the first Astrofest in 1992 when I was an impecunious postgrad student. At the time I was more interested in seeing the trade stands and ogling the dreamland Pentax and Tak scopes! I've been to most of then since and have always enjoyed the trip. In fact, the first weekend in February is a date now held sacrosanct in our household where I can do my own thing with the rest of the anoraks!

Over time I've learnt to take more interest in the talks. Of the 16 talks over two days I generally enjoy most of them. There are always a few that are pitched too simple but you have to include something for the newbies and the intrigued walk-ins. It can be an effort to hear sometimes; the PA system is less effective in some parts of the auditorium and, for many speakers, english is not their first language. I always come away having learnt something and with a revived astro-mojo.

I would agree that this year, the trade stands were a bit substandard. This is probably a bit shortsighted on their part...looking around me now a lot of my more expensive kit has been bought or ordered at Astrofest. In 2015 I bought a CT8 off OO. Normally there is no way I would have dropped something north of £1k on an 8" Newtonian, but the chance to see it in the flesh, blag a mirror upgrade to 1/12 wavelength, and get a discount swung the deal.  On the train home I was starting to have buyer's remorse but I still have that scope and it will probably go in the coffin with me. That humble 8" actually ticks the most boxes for me of any scope I've ever owned, but I had to see it to appreciate that fact before purchase (no remorse now!). I've done more varied astronomy with that instrument than anything else...AP, visual, spectroscopy, portable. Same story with my CCDSPEC spectroscope, and many eyepieces. I'm contemplating a Pulsar dome..the chance to see it and talk to the makers does inspire confidence. Currently the only holdup is negotiating a discreet space in the garden, and it will have to be green...Last year there was a guy doing some brilliant run-off sheds..where was he now I'm looking?!

On the upper deck there was a sad empty space that used to be filled by Jodrell Bank. In 2002 I signed up at Astrofest for their distance learning certificate on radio astronomy, which I completed and really enjoyed. There was a field weekend at the end where you actually got to use one of the smaller dishes to look at the neutral hydrogen emission from M33. Would I have done that without the first contact at Astrofest? Probably not. 

Every year I'm tempted by the University of Lancaster BSc course. Coming up to retirement I might just do it...just hope I get to actually finish it before I croak!

So yes, maybe this year some aspects fell a bit short. But looking back I've had many brilliant weekends spent at Kensington town hall. I really hope it continues, along with the other events in the year.

And a massive, massive thanks to Profs Lucie Green and Stewart Clark for organizing it.

RL