On Friday afternoon, in the shelter of the Meeting Hall where the fires were providing some warmth, we heard a very interesting talk by Trent McDougall. The volunteers on the gate took shelter in their vehicles as it became more unpleasant out in the open. By this time, it was also clear that a number who'd booked would probably not bother coming. Some participants struggled to put up tents in the wind and decided to leave. The SkyWatcher display was moved into the corner of the Pavilion as the Scouts were beginning to serve lunches. The wind built up during the day and the SkyWatcher gazebo was beginning to look like a really bad idea. I was pretty excited and felt like a kid, just watching in awe.
But, later, after walking up to the amenities, I also managed to capture the scene on video.
Not knowing how long it would last, I hastily snapped some photos. But then, as I was eating breakfast outside my tent, the snow became more regular, occasionally wafting around on bursts of wind, and sometimes just falling quietly. At first, there were just a few large icy flakes that smashed when they landed. Something happened on Friday morning (11th May) that I had never experienced before - gently falling snow. All I know is that it was cold enough to tuck the sleeping bag inside the rest of the bedding for extra warmth when I retired that night. I'm not sure how the keen observers and astroimagers fared that night. Sunset Thursday had a sky half-cloudy, but I did manage to see Venus. It was late Thursday afternoon that the cloud moved in and the temperature really started to dive. Thursday morning (10th May) started out fine and sunny for the set-up of the power, tables, desks, signs and the 101 other little jobs that were needed to prepare the site. That night was cold, but only about regular Wiruna cold for that time of year. The evening was clear and the earlybird astroimagers managed to get a bit of a head-start. This was promptly brought in the next morning.
Skychart lx90 generator#
It wasn't until the team from JD Events was getting ready to leave that we realised that a small generator had been forgotten. The set-up of the Pavilion, Check-In Tent and Image Processing Pit (new for 2018) was completed by around 5.30pm in basking sunshine. This year's weather had many tricks up the sleeve, however, and condensation was minimal. This strategy was trialled following on from experiences in previous years when the interior accumulated a LOT of condensation and we ended up with "rain" on the tables every morning. I arrived in time to see the installation of the floor for the pavilion.
I arrived on Wednesday afternoon (9th May) to start getting organised, unload boxes of badges, lists and volunteer instructions, as well as refreshing my campsite. Overnight temperatures falling to between zero and 6 with daytime temperatures reaching between 7 and 13." Winds westerly 25 to 35 km/h increasing to 25 to 40 km/h during the evening. Nevertheless, it was shaping up to be a packed event, although the weather forecast was for: Surprisingly, another 16 cancellations trickled in during the first week of May. With time running out before preparation of badges and lists (to be finalised before 9th May), the waiting list was closed. Between the end of March and the end of April, there were very few cancellations and the tally at the end of April was up to 334 participants (with the sponsors, neighbours and guest speakers). In 2018, the 300 online bookings limit was reached just six weeks after registrations opened in mid-February. At the 25th Annual SPSP in 2017, the final count was 301 participants. This was an event to remember! Preparations began well in advance and, after having some 60 on-site registrations in 2016, it was decided to impose a numbers limit and require advance registrations from 2017.
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