fun members meeting

The Members Night meeting at the DDO was really fun.

On arriving in the parking lot, Peter met with the member returning the orange C8. I helped lug the tripod (the cheap part) to the truck.

On arriving the lobby of the admin building, we met a crowd. They were looking at Mélanie and Emma's science fair poster on exoplanets and congratulating them on their gold medal win! Fantastic.

To a packed house, Stu started off the evening programme outlining the tips-and-tricks theme.

He shared Manuel's Jupiter image.

Paul M. acknowledged the girls again. Well done.

He showed off the new telescope loan programme collapsible 5-inch Dobsonian. New ready for use! Excellent.

Then he handed over the reins to Richard Blackman. I enjoyed his DIY themed presentation. I liked how he emphasised that is it not just about saving money. I also like how he framed projects, at levels. "Can you build a robot?"

Stu then asked me to show-and-tell my recently completed barn door tracker. I also showed the new lithium car booster battery.

Steve showed his adjustable telescope chair. He and another member are going to coordinate a group-buy-and-build project.

Chris talked about the Sky-Fi product and offered to demonstrate it. He also showed the clever smartphone adjustable camera bracket with eyepiece. Great for public events.

A member shared that they had found a red light app for their smartphone, in lieu of having a red flashlight.

Another member shared they have found very inexpensive LED dimmer controls on eBay that would operate as dew heater controllers.

Allard briefly showed his custom smartphone app that would show position information, i.e. what it was aiming at.

George's proudly showed us his heated sweater, an alternative to a battery-powered coat.

Took notes on the new tablet directly in Evernote. Joy.