This year I had planned to go up early in the morning and help them setup tables and clean the area. After sleeping in I woke up to grey skies and mediocre weather forecast. I loaded up my pickup with my trusty 10" Dob, table chairs and ice chest filled with hamburger making goods. I arrived at the observatory at around 2pm, the drive was just over 2 hours from North of Chico. Typically one can't get a parking spot on the airstrip tarmac after 2pm. This year, due to the ominous weather only about 20 cars were parked ahead of me. People with telescopes who are staying overnight are given preference, everyone else is asked to park in the cul-de-sac outside the airstrip and walk three blocks in. This prevents coming and goings of people as they leave early and their parking lights.
The afternoon begins with a massive potluck barbecue. I made homemade chili from scratch to share and brought hamburgers for my main entree. I met Boyd Harmon (recent Nov-ite who moved to Sacramento) and new N OVA member Zac Carr there. Several NOVA members ha planned to attend, but I think the clouds scared them off. We began feasting on the huge supplies of salads, pastas, meats, and barbecue. Not to mention the limitless spread of cakes, cookies, pies and brownies, followed with soda chasers (a 40 gallon tub filled with them).
After SVASers stuff themselves silly, they begin to swap stories about observing and equipment. I showed up around 2pm for this reason. I met and talked with no less than five other telescope makers who were more than happy to share their experience and wisdom. Talking before and after the barbecue was a plus. Then the highlight of the evening roared to life. The unusually small crowd of 300 or so began to huddle around the tables setup outside the observatory as the SVAS monthly meeting was called to order. After about twenty minutes of club updates, the mayhem began. The SVAS raffle is legendary in Northern California. Nowhere else but RTMC will you find a more generous spread of astronomical accessories and gadgets for the mere cost of $1 a ticket and the hopes of winning. Prizes ran the gambit from telescopes and eyepieces to tee shirts, web cams, gift certificates, computer software, books, photography equipment, cases, star charts and astronomical works of art. My eyes were fixed on an inconspicuous little blue case that contained a Lumicon UHC filter buried under a pile of Lumicon gift certificates. There were also two nice telescopes for the raffle, a Coulter Odyssey 13.1" and a computer driven Meade 90mm Maksutov. After selling what must have been over a thousand tickets (I don't have an exact count, some years it's several thousand) and half filling the giant hamster cage raffle roller, the raffle began. The way it usually works is the first ticket drawn has his or her pick of prizes. The second chooses next, and so on. With the dozens and dozens of prizes it can easily take an hour or more to conclude the raffle.
I was truly hoping to be in the first ten people or so in order to run up and snag the filter. I usually buy ten tickets each year, once I won a tee-shirt another time I won a painting of a comet. This year for some reason I broke with tradition, cursed at my wallet and spent $15 on tickets (saved $5 for emergency gas on the way home). SVAS president Walt Heiges reached into the cage and pulled the first ticket. The first number matched, the second number matched. Ok, ok I thought, they are all on the same roll, this is normal. The third number matched, then the fourth, the fifth, and could it be? The last number matched! I was almost in shock. No one else stepped forward, all I heard around me were voices "Shoot! Darn! Awe man!" But wait, I had the ticket. "Walt, please read the numbers again." Again, they all matched. By this time Boyd and Zac knew I had won the grand prize and were pushing me to step forward. I handed over the ticket and was asked what prized I wanted. I choose the grand prize, a Coulter 13.1" Dobsonian. After two minutes of excitement they took my picture, I then sat down and looked across the way at my new telescope, not believing it was indeed mine!
Ok, calm down. Wow. The raffle went on. Boyd won twice, claiming a web cam and a framed set of astronomical stamps. I still couldn't believe it. Wouldn't you know? The winning ticket was the last one in my string of 15. If I had stuck with the 10 I normally purchase, I wouldn't have this new Blue Monster to talk about.
Ok, excitement from the raffle fades. Everyone walks away, winners happy as all get out, others saying "next year!" The three of us walk over to my new toy and take a look "oh my, that's an 80mm finder!" I said. Zac helped me move the telescope over next to my Odyssey 10". Some how the 10" now looks somewhat small. People were congratulating me and asking "how are you getting it home?" all evening.
It began to get dark and the clouds began to clear out. It was going to be a good night. I put the crescent moon in the 10" and showed a few people a good view. I then went to talk to several of my new telescope making buddies. When I returned it was dark and Boyd was playing with my new 13" and I found a foreign eyepiece in my new focuser. There was a strange box on my observing table and Boyd was riffling through it pulling odd shapes out. "Boyd, those aren't my eyepieces, mine are over there…" Boyd interrupted me "Oh yes they are." "WHAT!?!" "They came looking for you, these go with the telescope!" I opened the little brown fishing box only to find three TeleVue Plossls (32mm, 21mm, 10.5mm) a TeleVue 2.5x Barlow lens, and a Lumicon UHC filter! Can you believe it! Mixed in were all the original packaging and several screws and cleaning materials. Wow! Not to mention the finder is a Lumicon 80mm f/3.8 Super finder with brackets and helical 1.25" focuser.
I went on a quest to find Walt to inquire about who I should send a thank you letter to, that is who donated this wonderful prize. He pointed me to Bud who was in charge of the raffle. Bud said the telescope was purchased by the SVAS as a raffle prize. The previous owner had purchased the scope in 1984 and hardly ever used it. He walked me over to the scope and handed me a white box filled with documents, all the original sales receipts. He then explained that the mirror must be removed and stored for transport and showed me how to do it. This is an original Coulter Odyssey I telescope with a blue tube and box, the box contains a tail gate apparatus for the primary mirror which swings open, right out of the traditional Dobson method. The rocker base is otherwise similar to other Dobson scopes of similar size. The mirror was gorgeous, not a mark on it.
It had been in storage all this time, wrapped up in protective tissues and padlocked. Boy I am lucky; the mirror on this scope is fabulous and yields excellent diffraction patterns. Collimation is a pain due to the old style mirror cell, but than can be upgraded.
We enjoyed clear skies and High Mountain viewing for the rest of the night. Nice dark conditions and a large sweeping milky way. We took a tour of M17, M13, M51, M81, M82, M…….. you get the idea. I had to get used to the straight through finder scope and inverted image (ouch!).
For me the star-b-q is not so much about observing as staying in touch with old friends in the SVAS. I was able to talk to a few old ones and make some new ones, as is always the case at the Star-B-Q.
We observed until dawn, when Venus rose above the trees. After cleaning up and looking for trash all around the tarmac, we started packing up. The only way I could pack my two telescopes was to place the tubes side by side in my pickup, luckily the 10" rocker box fix (barely) inside the 13" rocker box or I would have had to strap it to the roof of my camper shell. I piled all my tables and chairs on top the scopes with a layer of sleeping bag for protection. The ice chest barely fit and all my accessories had to ride up front with me. I arrived back in Chico around 7am. I put everything away in my house, then woke my parents to show them the new scope. My dad instantly said "where are you doing to sleep?!" looking at all three telescopes surrounding my bed (I have my old 10" Dob, a 16" Newt. I just bought with every spare dollar I had a week before the Star-b-q as a fixer-upper and the new 13"). I guess that is something I will have to figure out; but I'll gladly accept the burden.
Hopefully we will see you at next years Star-B-Q. If you are interested in observing at Blue Canyon or joining the SVAS, visit their website http://www.skywatchers.org