Next stop... Barambah!

Howdy boys and girls,

This will be my last post before Barambah. An entire week socialising with fellow astronomers under dark skies... can't wait! The weather is shaping up to be a glorious Spring week here in SE Queensland.

I'm still not sure how many blankets to bring. It can get quite cold up there but I was camping in the region last weekend and the nights were very pleasant. Better to be safe... blankets are good packing material for the scopes anyway.

Our cunning plan is to post daily wraps from the camp... but that will depend on us getting access to the Internet. So if you're coming up on the weekend or later in the week, keep a watch out for news and announcements.

I'll be seeing most of you on the weekend, and for the rest of you... if you're in the area, drop in. We'll find a spot for you and your scope.

And finally, to answer the important question some have been asking... YES, apparently we can get channel 9 up there and you will be able to watch the NRL finals.

cheers -- randall

On the Home Stretch

Well, not much to do now but wait patiently. Well... ok... I've got a lot of gear to organise and pack... but apart from that...

Anyway, looks like we'll have about 30 people this time around. That's a good number... enough to provide a good social atmosphere without being too crowded. And there's going to be an interesting collection of scopes this time around... including a PST on the weekend to view the sun. A fantastic view if you haven't seen it before.

It's not too late... we still have room but you'd better get your registrations in this week. Mind you, it looks like there will be room for those last minute decision makers, so if you just show up on the day I'm sure we can accommodate you.

And I'd like to take this opportunity to give credit where credit is due... this camp wouldn't be happening without Gargoyle Steve's personal effort... so make sure you say g'day to him when you get up there.

I'm looking forward to meeting each and every one of you. So I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Hi, Steve here again!

Just a quick update on bookings - it's great to see that we have a number of people who are taking advantage of the extended duration and will be staying through until the final day (Wednesday). We have several "new" astro-friends who have booked in too, so from Randall and myself and the rest of the "Regulars" we're looking forward to meeting you all face to face!

Saturday night is going to be our busiest night as expected (don't forget our planned group photo on the Saturday afternoon), and we now have confirmed bookings for 20 people for that night. There are still quite a few others who have given us verbal advice that they're coming, but no formal bookings and/or payments yet.

As of this Friday it is just 3 weeks until the Barambah Dark Sky Camp kicks off again, if you plan on coming it's time to let us know officially by completing the booking form on the website.
www.darkskycamp.org.au ...... of course!!

Also if you're like me and have any planned equipment modifications / repairs / or even new purchases to do before hand then get organised and do it now, so you can kick back and relax during the days, and take maximum advantage of the Dark Skies at night.

Anyway that's it for now, we'll post more news as it comes to hand.

Cheers!

Planning ahead...

I must be having fun, because time is certainly flying. It's only 4 weeks now until Barambah and I'm starting to get excited.

We're about as prepared for the camp as we're going to get. Still a few last minute red-light things to buy, but apart from processing registrations we just have to sit back and wait patiently.

To help pass the time I've been starting to plan my observing sessions for the camp and thought I'd share a few resources with you.

I always start with Skymaps.com, mostly because I like the maps. The September edition should be out soon.

Also, Glen over at Ice In Space produces some very excellent observing lists. Here's a link to one of his threads.

And for you astro-geeks, you can fire up one of the free planetarium software packages on your PC such as Cart Du Ciel and Stellarium to find out what will be in the sky at the end of September.

See you all soon

Group Photo on Saturday

Just a quick note to let you know that we're planning a Barambah group photo for Saturday Afternoon (the 27th).

Each attendee will receive a copy of the photo via email after the camp at no charge. If you prefer to have one or more physical photos posted to you, let us know and we'll work out a minimal fee to cover our costs.

It's only 5 weeks to the camp now and we still have room for more, but I wouldn't leave it too late.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Bookings arriving daily.....

Bookings are coming in steadily, I think we've received bookings for around 13 people at present, with quite a few others who have not yet booked officially but are on the "I said I'm coming" list. We ARE limited to approximately 60 beds, but with different people booking in to stay sometimes on different nights there may be some flexibility overall.

Be assured however, that more people will attend on the Friday and (especially) the Saturday nights, so if you are planning to attend .... and heck, why wouldn't you? :-) ..... go to the website now and complete the booking form:

http://www.darkskycamp.org.au/register.shtml

If you have any questions at all please send 'em in, and we'll do our best to answer you as soon as possible.

See you all soon!

Spring Camp 26 Sep to 1 Oct

For those who missed the news on the website, registrations for the Spring camp are now open (for you northern hemisphere folks, our seasons are reversed :-).

Everything you need to know about the camp and registering should be on the website, but if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us.

There is only room for 60 people and it's first in, best dressed (that goes for committee members too), so you better get your runners on.

What is a Dark Sky Camp?

The Barambah Dark Sky Camp is an amateur astronomy camp held over 5 nights in S.E. Queensland in Australia. It was started by a small association of like-minded individuals keen to socialise and share their enjoyment of Astronomy. You can find out more by visiting our website.

So if we already have a website, why start a blog? Well basically, the web site is too hard to change on a regular basis, so we've opted to use this site to quickly post up-to date information.

In particular, we intend to use this site to post information during the camp itself to keep everyone informed on weather and observing conditions.

So if you're planning on attending the camp or just considering it, bookmark this page for the latest news.