First night out - location frustration!!

[jah79]

First perfect clear skies since I got my scope last night so loaded all my kit in the car and headed out to the countryside to scout for some dark sites. I used the AVEX light pollution map together with Google Maps to get an idea of where to head to. After driving around for 2 hours I decided to head back as I was getting very frustrated (and cold - heater in my car is broken)! I should probably have talked to some farmers beforehand during daylight as I didn't just want to knock on their doors at 8pm asking if I could stand in one of their fields for a couple of hours (although I very nearly did).

I saw so much more with my bino's on holiday in South Africa for 2 weeks (clear skies 80% of the time) than I have with my 6" Newtonian that I've had for more than a month now! But I realised that it was probably just bad planning from my side, after all I didn't even pack a torch last night! I think I might join an Astronomical Society even though the nearest one is twice as far as the nearest dark field. They should know some sweet spots, right?

[russ]

Planning is key. Rob i tried what you did a few years ago. Headed for the New Forest thinking there would literally hundreds of places we could observe. How wrong we were! Every public car park had a barrier blocking entry. In the end i remembered i spot i took the kids to see radio controlled planes fly. It was perfect and became our darksky site for a couple of years. But we wasted hours driving aimlessly that night.

However we need to find a new site now. The rangers now close off our old site at night. We were going to contact some farmers and see what comes up. But we haven't used a dark site for 3 years now.

[SlipperySquid]

Keep smiling matey..... It really is about preparation! my first night was an utter disaster and though it didnt put me off Astronomy it really kicked me in the teeth as it where!

I spent about 7 hours in my garden last night observing (finally packed up about 2am

) and really enjoyed it! See my knew post to get some well needed moral !

[vegas]

Your best bet is to do the scouting about in the day time for potential spots, or if you have a pair of bins then head out in the evening and do a rekkie without the hassle of setting up your scope to check sky quality and suitable sites. Though I've found a potential dark site I'm a bit lazy and prefer the convenience of the garden at the mo.

[brantuk]

Model Aero Clubs with their own fields are a great idea, also try the certified sites in the two main camping/caravanning clubs - they're usually reasonably dark, in the middle of nowhere and empty over winter.