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[RobbW]

Well, I don't know yet if this should truly be posted under astro-camping, but there is potential! I am currently in the planning stages for a trip out to New Mexico in October for the annual Enchanted Skies Star Party. I am desperate for some truly dark skies. My wife, who is truly spectacular and very supportive, has suggested that I look into attending this star party. I think she is just trying to get rid of me, but I'll take it!

The star party runs from October 10-13. I have an airline voucher and some rewards miles that I need to use before they expire. So I will be flying out there on the cheap! I will rent a car in Albuquerque and drive down to Socorro, which is about 1 hour south of Albuquerque. I have not yet decided if I will be camping out for the duration of this star party or getting a room at a local hotel/motel, hence the reason this is currently posted under astro-camping. If I decide to camp, this will be the appropriate forum.

I also have not yet decided if I am going to head out for the entire star party dates (Oct. 10-13, Wed-Sun) or just the Friday-Sunday. Either way, I will have to fly back home on Monday as that is the only flight back that my rewards miles are available to use. I'm thinking I may just go ahead and fly out on Wednesday and stay for the whole thing. They have several tours that I would be interested in, and I'd miss most of them if I didn't fly out until Friday. Tours include the Expanded Very Large Array radio telescope facility and the U.S. Air Force Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System (GEODSS) station at the White Sands Missile range.

Just on the off chance, there wouldn't be an CAers who can get the time off and would like to join me, are there?

[erikruud]

I just saw in the Saint Charles Park District catalog that there is a star party at Hickory Knolls on October 13th.

[RobbW]

There is? Uh oh. I may have to pull a Rich Wagner and abandon y'all!

[erikruud]

Jul 31, 2012 17:55:00 GMT -6 RobbW said:

There is? Uh oh. I may have to pull a Rich Wagner and abandon y'all!

Assuming that the catalog is actually correct. It lists the times as 7-10.

[RobbW]

Unfortunately, I did not know that an actual date had been set for an October HK star party before I started booking my trip to the Enchanted Skies Star Party (ESSP). I will need to leave the hosting of said star party in yours and Rich's capable hands!

My wife is currently in the process of finalizing my airline tickets for the trip. It's taking a bit of finagling because I am using a flight voucher I got on a past flight that I was bumped from. I'm also using some reward miles that are expiring soon. I will be flying out on one airline and back home on a different one. It's just a tad bit inconvenient, but worth it to keep costs to a minimum.

Speaking of keeping costs to a minimum, I have decided that I WILL indeed be camping on-site for this entire trip. So, this thread IS in the correct forum! I've decided to camp for a couple different reasons. First, it's way cheaper than staying in a hotel. Second, it allows me to stay onsite where all the action is the entire time I'm out there for the ESSP. it's not like I'm going to be sleeping at night anyway. I plan to be up at night soaking in the dark skies! Of course, I'll have to catch my zzz's during the day, but it's fine by me.

I just need to figure out everything I'll need to spend four nights out in the wilderness in a tent. I haven't camped (for real) since I was a teenager. And this is going to be a truly primitive experience, by necessity. Everything I will need for camping will have to fit in my checked luggage. So, I will be forced to keep everything small and gear to a minimum. I have a 4-person tent that rolls up real small and fits in its own bag that should fit in my luggage. I have my wife's yoga mat that I can use for a sleeping pad. I'll need to pick up a warm but light-weight sleeping bag. I haven't decided yet if I will get one beforehand and try to pack it in my luggage, or wait until I get out there and buy one at REI or something. If I buy it out there, I may just donate it after the trip is done so that I don't have to fly it back. Average temps in Socorro, NM in October range from lows of 40°F to highs in the mid-70°F. So, I shouldn't need to spend big bucks on a super-warm bag.

I'll have to pick up supplies and provisions once I get out to NM and get my rental car. Shouldn't require too much as there are some cool restaurants I'd like to hit up while I'm out there. Provisions will only be necessary during the nighttime observing hours. Water, peanut butter, and beef jerky should suffice!!!

Other than camping gear, the only other gear I plan to pack for the trip is for observing. I only plan to bring binoculars and my DSLR camera. There's no way I'm going to try and fly a telescope out for this. It would be too expensive and too much of a hassle. Besides, there will be plenty of other astro folks out there with scopes that I can look through if I so desire. If my trip out to Cathedral Gorge in Nevada in 2010 is anything to go by, I will be perfectly happy simply staring at the whole sky all night.

I will be taking my DSLR for wide-field astrophotography. Unfortunately, I will be limited to short exposure wide-field shots as I do not have any sort of portable EQ tracking mount for my camera. I tried searching for such equipment online, but everything is quite expensive. So, I will stick strictly to wide-field shots. At the most, I might look into renting a fish-eye lens with premium glass for the time that I will be out there.

I think that's a sufficient update for now. I will continue to document my planning and preparations here as I lead up to this trip. It's definitely going to be a strange trip for me as I head out of state by my lonesome and spend several days with complete strangers. But it should be loads of fun!

[atomant]

OPT carries a music box camera tracking mount for around 2 ben franks.
Vixen just had a sale on their new Polarie camera tracking mount for a little over 3 ben franks.
Finally, there is the AstroTrac, OPT has a few open box.

By the way, what ever happened to your report on the cruise ship?

[patrickm]

**¡¡Cruise ship!!!**

[RobbW]

Click here and quit your whining!

[patrickm]

Whining? Cajoling.

[Paulie pchris00]

Aug 3, 2012 14:18:57 GMT -6 atomant said:

By the way, what ever happened to your report on the cruise ship?

I was going to defend Robb on this, but I see he has his story posted.

I can sympathize with not having enough time to get things posted in a timely manner. If I hadn't been on vacation at the time, you would all still be waiting for my ToV report.

Speaking of ToV, Bill, I haven't seen your ToV pictures posted here. What's the problem?