Post by bsimon615 on Sept 28, 2023 11:57:45 GMT -6
Well we are now 5 weeks and 5 days away from the official star of the 41st Annual Deep South Star Gaze. Good thing we start this year on November 7th as this has been a very hot year. Even now in early fall it feels like mid summer on many days. We have reasonable hope that early November will give us pleasant temperatures and hopefully clear skies.
So what about our door prize drawings?
Schedule - 3 pm every day beginning on Tuesday. Early days will be one prize each day with the winning door prize ticket back in the plastic pumpkin for subsequent days.
Beginning on Friday we will draw more than one ticket and on Saturday remaining tickets will be drawn.
Tickets - a bit of a change this year - to incentivize longer attendance, registrants who are staying for 4 nights or 5 nights will get two door prize tickets per registration. If a couple registers separately (each pays $35 for registration rather than the $55.00 family registration and each individual is there for 4 or 5 nights, each gets two
tickets so they have 4 chances). A family registrations gets one ticket if their stay is 3 nights or shorter and two tickets if there for 4 or 5 nights.
Winners need to be present at all drawings to collect a prize. Individuals have to be aware of time. Being on site but away from the drawing taking a nap does not count if your name is called.
Prizes - as many know from conversations, vendor donations are just not what they used to be. In days gone by I would send out 15 to 20 letters requesting donations and I would get stuff from 10 to 12 vendors. Last year it was just down to one vendor - Televue. Accordingly we have to dip into our registration receipts to buy prizes and we have to also rely on new condition donations. So what do we have for this year?
As usual we will have some nice eyepieces purchased for the DSSG. We will also have some nice books plus a few other unusual surprises, but we will have a main prize which should interest a lot of you, it is:
A Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i, the pro pack version with the optional accessories. (See attached photos)
This is basically a small equatorial battery driven mount (4 AA batteries) that you mount on a tripod to track the night sky either to take photos with your camera or to mount a small telescope to have an ultra-portable rig. By following the motion of the sky you can shoot for longer without trailing. Looking at the picture of the box top you will see what looks like a rotary dial from a telephone (ET - phone home!). This is a rate selector plus a few other options. The mount also comes with a built in polar scope so that you can better get a good alignment. Another picture shows the optional accessories which are all included with the Pro-Pack version.
I got mine after talking to Len Philpot who got one. He has his all neatly packed in an Apache 3800 case. I got mine also for trips where it is impractical to bring big stuff. I also got mine because it was on sale at Woodland Hills for a good price. (Normally $520.00 but on sale for $399.99). The upcoming solar eclipse was my incentive, plus other trips down the road. As it was still on sale last week I thought it would be a good idea to get another one as the main prize at the DSSG this year.
Any lucky winner will have to supply their 4 AA batteries plus provide their own tripod to mount it up. This prize will be the first one awarded on Saturday, November 11th at 3 pm, either on the field if the weather is nice or in the main building if it is raining.
See the photo of mine with a fast 60 mm apo refractor (f/5.5) as well as photos of the box illustrations on the box of the one that just came in Tuesday for our grand prize.
Barry
So what about our door prize drawings?
Schedule - 3 pm every day beginning on Tuesday. Early days will be one prize each day with the winning door prize ticket back in the plastic pumpkin for subsequent days.
Beginning on Friday we will draw more than one ticket and on Saturday remaining tickets will be drawn.
Tickets - a bit of a change this year - to incentivize longer attendance, registrants who are staying for 4 nights or 5 nights will get two door prize tickets per registration. If a couple registers separately (each pays $35 for registration rather than the $55.00 family registration and each individual is there for 4 or 5 nights, each gets two
tickets so they have 4 chances). A family registrations gets one ticket if their stay is 3 nights or shorter and two tickets if there for 4 or 5 nights.
Winners need to be present at all drawings to collect a prize. Individuals have to be aware of time. Being on site but away from the drawing taking a nap does not count if your name is called.
Prizes - as many know from conversations, vendor donations are just not what they used to be. In days gone by I would send out 15 to 20 letters requesting donations and I would get stuff from 10 to 12 vendors. Last year it was just down to one vendor - Televue. Accordingly we have to dip into our registration receipts to buy prizes and we have to also rely on new condition donations. So what do we have for this year?
As usual we will have some nice eyepieces purchased for the DSSG. We will also have some nice books plus a few other unusual surprises, but we will have a main prize which should interest a lot of you, it is:
A Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i, the pro pack version with the optional accessories. (See attached photos)
This is basically a small equatorial battery driven mount (4 AA batteries) that you mount on a tripod to track the night sky either to take photos with your camera or to mount a small telescope to have an ultra-portable rig. By following the motion of the sky you can shoot for longer without trailing. Looking at the picture of the box top you will see what looks like a rotary dial from a telephone (ET - phone home!). This is a rate selector plus a few other options. The mount also comes with a built in polar scope so that you can better get a good alignment. Another picture shows the optional accessories which are all included with the Pro-Pack version.
I got mine after talking to Len Philpot who got one. He has his all neatly packed in an Apache 3800 case. I got mine also for trips where it is impractical to bring big stuff. I also got mine because it was on sale at Woodland Hills for a good price. (Normally $520.00 but on sale for $399.99). The upcoming solar eclipse was my incentive, plus other trips down the road. As it was still on sale last week I thought it would be a good idea to get another one as the main prize at the DSSG this year.
Any lucky winner will have to supply their 4 AA batteries plus provide their own tripod to mount it up. This prize will be the first one awarded on Saturday, November 11th at 3 pm, either on the field if the weather is nice or in the main building if it is raining.
See the photo of mine with a fast 60 mm apo refractor (f/5.5) as well as photos of the box illustrations on the box of the one that just came in Tuesday for our grand prize.
Barry
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