Saturday 2nd December 2023 - Star Gazing in the Park.
Report from Paul VK5PH..........
The day started with wall-to-wall cloud cover that didn’t bode well for the night’s activities. I called Kym to get the final word and he was convinced that all would be fine but I must admit as I drove through drizzling rain in Prospect I had some reservations. Loaded to the gunnels with chickens, rolls and salad ingredients I headed back to the QTH for the food prep – there was no going back and the prospect of eating 10 roast chickens by myself loomed in the distance. Upon arrival at the QTH, Suzy (long suffering XYL) moved into top gear and converted these ingredients into sustenance for the nocturnal activities. True to their word Kym and the BOM predictions were spot on. I arrived at the Orphanage Park just after 1800 and was greeted by a vista of blue skies with barely a cloud in sight. There was a flurry of activity in the middle of the oval with Kym, Bob, Ian and Geoff setting up their telescopes. Thanks to Geoff (VK5JB) for assisting with the organisation and managing some of the administration tasks. Not knowing that much about astronomy I left the experts to do their setup while we got the meal preparation underway. Ably assisted by Bia, Carol and Suzy we had the chicken, salads, rolls and condiments laid out ready to feed the masses. Luckily Mick (VK5MCH) kindly offered to pick up the all-important hot chips and the feast commenced. There was ample food for all and most heeded the advice and brought along chairs and card tables to make themselves more comfortable. With the repast complete people were invited to examine the telescopes and ask questions of their owners before sunset. Everyone returned to their seats and Kym gave an informative presentation about some of the objects that it was hoped we could view on the night while explaining the differences between optical and electronic telescopes. Viewers were impressed by visions of Jupiter but the standout for many was the always crowd-pleasing sight of Saturn with the rings clearly visible. A number of star clusters were next on the list allowing participants to make comparisons between the two types of scopes. Kym was also able to demonstrate the operation of his latest acquisition the ZWO Seestar telescope that despite its diminutive size and price $850 AUD produced some excellent views of far-off nebulae. The temperature did drop a little but didn’t detract from the star viewing with the night concluding at 2300 as planned. The arduous task of packing up commenced and special thanks to Mark (VK5AVQ) and others who stayed back to assist. Comments were most favourable with many people making an effort to come over and say how much they enjoyed the event and the meal provided. Orphanage Park proved to be a good star viewing location except for some lights at the rear of the school.
Report from Geoff VK5JB..........
Paul worked very hard to bring AHARS this event and deserves congratulations for his planning and delivery of it. Early in the evening Paul set up the viewing screen, and presented an introductory talk, then handed over to Kym, who laid out the timetable for the night. Paul, assisted by his volunteer team, then served a fine chicken and salad dinner with plenty for all. Kym gave a presentation about the night sky, and electronic astronomy in general, and explained how this emerging branch of astronomy is ideal for amateur astronomy in the backyard. He explained how this technique aids viewing in light polluted city locations, and with the use of digital picture stacking, is taking and producing deep-sky images that in the past could only be taken by enormous government-program telescopes. Along with Kym, Ian and John from the Astronomical Society of SA brought telescopes to demonstrate and give attendees an opportunity to view the sky. Kym brought 2 'scopes, his big reflector and a much smaller electronic telescope called a Seesky, both of which were taking pictures and putting them on-screen through the evening. He exhibited views of space objects on screen, including potentially dangerous close-pass asteroids. Ian's telescope is a large Dobsonian, which he describes as a 'light bucket' John's telescope is a Schmidt-Cassegrain. Geoff from AHARS brought a vintage East-German 'Telemator' refractor, which doesn’t get used much these days because his place is treed-in and lighted-out. All these telescopes were in during the evening. Just after dusk, we concentrated on the obvious brightest object, Jupiter and its moons, and as the sky darkened, moved on to Saturn. Both impressive objects. As the night progressed, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies were observed. As it was a cool night, seeing was good, and we weren't too troubled by mozzies, etc. There were some large bats or F-foxes about early in the evening. Many of the attendees had astro apps on their phones, that helped locate astronomical objects. All in all a very good night out!
Saturday 2nd December 2023 - Balun building.
An OCF Balun building workshop was held by Keith VK5OQ. Nine participants took part in assembling their baluns.
19th November 2023 - AHARS Annual lunch.
Held at the Belair Hotel in the Bistro.
Thursday 16th November 2023 - General meeting.
Electric cars by Graham VK5ZFZ.
Thursday 19th October 2023 - General meeting.
Masa JA7FAS from Japan.
Thursday 21st September 2023 - General meeting.
Project Horus - Mark VK5QI.
Saturday 2nd September 2023.
John VK5RJ delivered a presentation on how he set up his FT8 environment.
Thursday 17th August 2023 - General meeting.
Kym Thalassoudis from the Astronomical Society of South Australia.
Thursday 20th July 2023.
Louis VK5FLY delivered a presentation on WICEN.
15th July 2023 - Buy and Sell.
Held at the Marion RSL.
Saturday 1st July 2023 - Saturday Tech session.
Paul VK5PH delivered a presentation on 'CW Rennaisance - A Practical Approach'. He showed some tips, tricks, techniques and tools for learning and starting to use CW.
Thursday 15th June 2023.
A very successful monthly General Meeting was held, which started with the usual general business and then went into a very interesting presentation on “Antenna Principle” by Mike, VK5ZC, and rounded out with the presentation of Life Membership badges to our hard working and much valued members:
Lloyd Butler VK5BR Hans Smit VK5YX Geoffrey Taylor VK5TY (posthumously) and Christine Taylor VK5CTY Jim Tregellas VK5TR Barry Williams VK5BW
Tech session - 4th June 2023.
General meeting - Thursday 18th May 2023.
Gordon VK5CAA gave a talk on his experiences and involvement in Radio during his time working in Civil Aviation.
Saturday Tech session - 6th May 2023.
This was a practical hands-on workshop on how to use a NanoVNA to analyse the performance of an antenna, and how use the information it displays. A number of units were available for those interested to have a play with, and a number of antennas and other things to test on.
Special/General meeting - 20th April 2023.
Discussion re minor word changes in the Constitution. Accepting and ratifying the minutes of the 2022 AGM. Presentation by Graham VK5ZFZ on electrical safety.
General meeting - 16th March 2023.
Annual members Buy and Sell.
This was a great success with a substantial amount of money raised for the VK5LT Estate.
Paul VK5PH spoke about some of his ideas as to how AHARS may go forward in the coming years.
Annual General meeting - 16th February 2023.
A new Committee was elected.
John VK5RJ - President Tim VK5MBY - Vice President Glenn VK5ZGLM - Secretary Pat Storr - Treasurer Geoff VK5JB - Committee member Paul VK5PH - Committee member Barry VK5BW - Committee member