[Chaos-l] CHAOS trip in March?

[Robert Nielsen]

Michael Hrivnak wrote:
>
> ...  would the best scope location be obtained by going with 
> individual campsites or a group one?
>
That's the interesting question.   Depending on a couple of factors, we 
might decide to use the main field or a smaller field near the group 
campsite.  The factors (as I see them) are (1) how close do you want to 
be to your scope all the time, and (2) is there any light pollution from 
the bathhouse near the group campsite that will bother us.   There is 
also the question of electricity (needed to recharge batteries ... at 
least in my case), but I can see a way to solve that problem.   And I 
guess there is cost.  So let me explain the pros and cons of each.

Distance From Your Scope

The best field for observing is the large one (the one on the left when 
you turn into the park and drive all the way to the picnic pavilion).  
It has the most open sky, and any sources of light pollution (the 
restrooms and possible campfire) are way down at the end of the field.   
During the summer, depending on when darkness arrives, the people 
leaving after hiking or visiting the pavilion may bother us with their 
headlights, but the park will close at 8PM or 9PM ... so that problem is 
limited.   But it is away from where someone would camp.   During the 
night, when the gate is locked .. probably not a problem.   During the 
day, when the park is open, there could be people who come by.   In my 
particular case, if I put the raincover on the scope, it looks like a 
sculpture and I'm not sure anyone would mess with it.  They might.  They 
would have to work at actually *stealing* it (it weighs, all together, 
244 pounds), but they might vandalize it.   But given the choice of 
tearing it down and setting it back up ... I would probably leave it 
setup for three or four days in the field.   I hope the rangers wouldn't 
mind.

Others might not feel as comfortable.  There are woods between the 
campsites and this large field, which is a blessing in one respect - it 
limits the light pollution from the camping trailers and lanterns and 
fires at the campsites.   But it also means you cannot see the scopes 
from your campsite.   Perhaps we could have someone continually "out on 
the field" with the scopes ... I don't know.

The group campsites are next to a small field that is right next to the 
campsites themselves.   So that field is closer, and may afford some 
security, although it is near other group campsites ... and more 
importantly, the restroom building for the group campsites is right at 
the end of that small field.   If there were security lights on the 
building, they would likely be a problem for observing.  If it was only 
us there, we could turn them off.  But if there are any other groups, I 
can see people wanting the lights on.  Also, this smaller field does 
have less sky visible ... although when I looked it was pretty good.

Light Pollution

Like I said, light pollution on the main field, after the gate has been 
closed, should be minimal.  In fact, the lack of light pollution is what 
causes me to go to Medoc Mountain to observe ... very, very nice.  I 
guess there could be a couple of people who want to go trail hiking at 
night, but we could tell them to keep their flashlights pointed away 
from us.   Restroom or campfire light is not a problem (unless you visit 
either).

Light pollution on the small field near the group campsites might be a 
problem ... either from the restroom building or from other groups with 
their campfires or lanterns.  I don't know yet.   The group campsites 
are closed until March 15th ... and until they are open, I don't know 
what the lighting situation is back there.    Since they don't open 
until the week or so before we get there, one of us might need to take a 
trip over to check out the situation before the mini star party ..

Electricity

There is no electricity on the main field where we've been observing.    
But if we are going to stay there a few days, I'm going to need to have 
some capability of recharging my batteries.   One perfect answer is 
"renting" a  non-group campsite with electricity.   If I was going over 
there, and we didn't use the group campsites, then one or two of us 
could get one of the "electrified" campsites, and everyone could charge 
their batteries there.   There is also no electricity in the group 
campsites.   So if we use the group sites, we still might need to get an 
"electrified" single site for the power.

Another possibility, but I need to ask the rangers about this, is to 
find somewhere (like in the picnic pavilion) where electricity exists, 
and then use that to recharge batteries.  I think as we become more and 
more familiar to the rangers in the park, they might let us do this.

Cost

Depending on how many people go for how many nights, the group campsite 
is cheaper than multiple individual sites.  The group site is $40/day, 
the individual sites are $15 (unless there are some senior citizens who 
would like to go ... they are $10/day for you).   The "electrified" 
sites are $20/day.   So do the math.   There is a maximum of 35 people 
to a group campsite, so if we did have 35 people who would want to go 
(what a glorious thought!) then obviously we would want the group site.  
But with everyone's daily lives causing conflicts, it might be cheaper 
to go individually.

So ... there is an explanation of the situation.   Don't get me wrong 
... I think Medoc Mountain State Park would be great for our mini star 
party.   We just need to work out, to everyone's satisfaction, the best 
arrangements.  And it might take us a couple of times to get it 
"perfect".   Unless you are at a dedicated astronomy site, there are 
always going to be things that need to be worked out.

Robert