Roland Culberson
The Chiefland Spring (was dry) Thing.
I returned from the Chiefland Spring Star Party on Sunday after having
arrived there on Wednesday afternoon. WAY too short, I think about a week
or two would be just right! I guess the only drawback was the fact that the
well had been dry for over a month, and there was no running water on the
observing field! That fact kept most of us going to WalMart for jugs of
water to use for both drinking and for that other necessity: bathing! The
"showers" were brief, and since I was doing that first thing in the AM, the
jugs of water had plenty of night to become quite chilly. Guaranteed to keep
you moving, if nothing else. Better to be seen first...
On arrival, I met Ken Schmidt (Ohio), Dave Gracie and company (Fla. west
coast), Jerry Tartar (Atlanta), and several other StarMaster owners with
whom I spent the weekend. Last count was somewhere over 20 StarMasters in
Tom Clark's front yard. (Tom is the Techtron guy...It's a shame he was not
home to enjoy this with us! Tom is really a great guy, and this is not
intended as anything other than a jest). Interestingly enough, I was
severely outnumbered as a "manual" StarMaster owner. There was a whole lot
of singing (scopes) going on! I heard that little tune at the end of GOTO
constantly. Oh, well...
Vic Menard was present and did "Collimation 101" on about everything on the
field with a mirror in it! Vic also provided his "List" of neat stuff to
look at, which I got into to some degree, hunting those luscious little
carbon stars. The list is in our possession now also, and Vic said it could
be freely distributed, sooooo... (It is a great resource of neat objects
that you just have to see!)
Ken Schmidt kept a list of names of the StarMaster owners present, and he
stayed behind Sunday to spend a few more nights in that little piece of
heaven. In a recent post, he states that he was unable to find a place to
buy on the other coast, so we can expect a possible return to our area next
winter. I did not get the overall attendance figures, but there was little
to no room left on the field by Friday mid-day. We had good nights on
Wednesday (hazy/smoky/humid), Thursday (humid/dewish), and to a degree on
Saturday (partly cloudy), but the standout was Friday night. Excellent
seeing with superb transparency! I could go on here for hours about all the
things we saw and did, but will cut it with the fact that it was an
exceptional event. A great time was had by all, even though there was NO
WATER at the site! Welcome to Florida's drought.
ASPB members present were Jim Kimball, Ken Schmidt, Fred Lehman, Hal
Bernardy and myself. We were spread out in different areas of the field,
but our presence was noted! Hal became ill and left early, but says he'll
be going back. Looking around the field during the day revealed some of the
neatest stuff. I saw two different, absolutely beautiful alt-az tripod
mounts for two very nice pieces of equipment. A Megrez 80 on a gorgeous oak
mount, and a TMB 105 f/6 (I think) on a beautifully made mount that
appeared to be maple. This TMB scope is a major wow when looking through
it. One seriously nice scope! Also saw a 16" dob, built to break down and
fit into a suitcase, and the workmanship on it was exquisite as well. On
Friday and Saturday, Chuck Pisa of Wolf Camera and Video in Sarasota set
up a booth and had a lot of astro goodies for those tempted to part with
a dollar or ten (or several hundred!). On a personal note, unfortunately
I succumbed to this. I had received the Megrez 80 back from Anacortes
Telescope after sending it for focuser replacement due to short travel,
and once it came back, I started the thought process of "how many small
scopes do I really need?" I decided that the Tak should remain, definitely
wanted the StarMasters, and the Tasco was just way too cool to off, so I
opted to off the Megrez. It got traded in for an ocular that defies your
eyes. The "Holy Hand Grenade" is a heck of a chunk of glass! I also got a
different perspective in that I traded up to the new Visual Paracorr. This
thing is cool, and makes the 35 Pan a real neat view. This model does not
vignette with low power eyepieces, and helps (in my opinion) with all the
other Naglers. The combination of this new paracorr and the 31 Type 5 is
the neatest thing since canned ham. (Those of you who know me understand
the relation to food...)
I had a great time Saturday night looking at things in a different
perspective. M51 was astounding, you could absolutely get lost in Omega
Centauri (went into the core with a 9mm Nagler and the new paracorr....
OOOHHHH!) This was just way more fun than one person should have! The Fall
Star Party is being planned already, and the villagers are going to be
putting in a new, much deeper well, so there will be water at that event!
They are looking to host about 1000 people at that one...
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Astro Photo setup:
John O'Neill's TEC Mak-Cass on a Millennium mount.
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Colli... what!
Ken Schmidt's 14.5" with GOTO to go.
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Dean and TMB 105 with his TMB105 on an Astrophysics tripod. He built the
mount.
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Hal's setup:
Hal with his C8.
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Jim and 14.5 GOTO:
Jim Kimbal with his newly acquired Starmaster Dob - with GOTO.
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John and new TEC Mak.
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Megrez on Oak:
Alan hand made both tripod and mount!
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Nice Head:
Millennium mount up close.
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Real function of chair:
More of Alan's handywork. Nice astronomy chair! The astronomer look a
little "buzzed", tho!
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TMB 105 on mount:
Dean's TMB 105 on mount.
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Starmaster alley:
Vic Menard with his 22" Starmaster.
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