Minutes of the 408th meeting and 40th AGM
The 40th Annual General Meeting and the 408th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 2nd September 2005 at 8pm
Those present were:
Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia
Norman Thurstan Kevin Thurstan Geoff Flood
Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Mark Crossley
Chris Suddick Richard Bullock Geoffrey Walton
Nick Odom Colin Bowler Nick Dixon
Ged Birbeck J Coldon? (Total 17)
The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and suggesting since the sky was clear that we mount an expedition to Gradbach immediately after the conclusion of the meeting. Because this is the AGM, business would be taken first.
The Treasurer reported that we ran a deficit last year of £471 due entirely to the payment of back rent for the Observatory. On hearing this the Chairman promptly offered his unpaid subscription for last year, and Tony Aremia said that he had paid in £20 to the bank for the Timperley Fair refund. Thus the deficit was reduced to £431. Mark pointed out that members’ subscriptions just covered the Observatory and room hiring costs. Electricity cost £166, mainly in standing charges. Low user rates without standing charges are available only to residential customers. It was recommended and agreed that subscriptions should remain at £20 pa. We have yet to receive the Gift Aid tax refund on last year’s subscriptions which should be around £100. The Chairman thanked Mark for his work on maintaining the accounts, and Tony Aremia for his assistance.
In the absence of the Observatory Director the Chairman said that the state of the Observatory was of some concern and that we would need to consider what should be done in the coming year.
Mark Crossley, the web page master, said that it is still running and that there are pages where members can add news items etc. The Secretary acknowledged his laxity in updating the minutes on the pages.
The Chairman commented that it had been a patchy year for observing with only a few successful expeditions. He then called for the election of officers. The Secretary said that he wished to stand down, and the Treasurer said that he wished to stand down next year. The following were elected unopposed
Chairman Paul Clark
Secretary Kevin Thurstan
Treasurer & Web Master Mark Crossley
Events and Obs Director Ged Birbeck
The Chairman thanked the outgoing secretary for his efforts in the past.
The final item of business was to have a round-up of who has what ADAS equipment
Large Binoculars Paul Clark
LX90 Nick Dixon
3 Eyepieces Kevin Thurstan
STV imager Mark Crossley
Critchley-Meade &
Small Binoculars Ged Birbeck
17mm LV Eyepiece &
30mm 2” Superview Don Utton
The meeting then adjourned for a coffee break.
Following the break Paul Clark gave a presentation on refracting telescopes – pros, cons and characteristics. For the same sized aperture they are much more expensive than reflecting telescopes, but to offset this the image quality can be superior. 80mm short focal length telescopes are popular because they are relatively less expensive and they have a wide field of view (FOV). They are prone to chromatic abberation –the focal length varies with light wavelength. Achromat lenses reduce this but the more complex and expensive apochromat lenses are required to effectively eliminate this effect. Reflecters maintain a better quality of image away from the centre of the FOV than refractors where stellar images are no longer pin points at the edge of the FOV. The effects of chromatic abberation can be reduced by going to longer focal ratios, as was done historically in the past. This has the drawback of reducing the FOV. Paul made a final point that smaller refractors cool down more quickly than large reflectors – he thinks that his 18” Dobsonian reflector never cools down completely on a one night expedition.
Following the applause for his presentation Paul suggested that all those interested adjourn to Gradbach and said that he had maps for anyone who needed them. He then closed the meeting.
Those present were:
Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia
Norman Thurstan Kevin Thurstan Geoff Flood
Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Mark Crossley
Chris Suddick Richard Bullock Geoffrey Walton
Nick Odom Colin Bowler Nick Dixon
Ged Birbeck J Coldon? (Total 17)
The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and suggesting since the sky was clear that we mount an expedition to Gradbach immediately after the conclusion of the meeting. Because this is the AGM, business would be taken first.
The Treasurer reported that we ran a deficit last year of £471 due entirely to the payment of back rent for the Observatory. On hearing this the Chairman promptly offered his unpaid subscription for last year, and Tony Aremia said that he had paid in £20 to the bank for the Timperley Fair refund. Thus the deficit was reduced to £431. Mark pointed out that members’ subscriptions just covered the Observatory and room hiring costs. Electricity cost £166, mainly in standing charges. Low user rates without standing charges are available only to residential customers. It was recommended and agreed that subscriptions should remain at £20 pa. We have yet to receive the Gift Aid tax refund on last year’s subscriptions which should be around £100. The Chairman thanked Mark for his work on maintaining the accounts, and Tony Aremia for his assistance.
In the absence of the Observatory Director the Chairman said that the state of the Observatory was of some concern and that we would need to consider what should be done in the coming year.
Mark Crossley, the web page master, said that it is still running and that there are pages where members can add news items etc. The Secretary acknowledged his laxity in updating the minutes on the pages.
The Chairman commented that it had been a patchy year for observing with only a few successful expeditions. He then called for the election of officers. The Secretary said that he wished to stand down, and the Treasurer said that he wished to stand down next year. The following were elected unopposed
Chairman Paul Clark
Secretary Kevin Thurstan
Treasurer & Web Master Mark Crossley
Events and Obs Director Ged Birbeck
The Chairman thanked the outgoing secretary for his efforts in the past.
The final item of business was to have a round-up of who has what ADAS equipment
Large Binoculars Paul Clark
LX90 Nick Dixon
3 Eyepieces Kevin Thurstan
STV imager Mark Crossley
Critchley-Meade &
Small Binoculars Ged Birbeck
17mm LV Eyepiece &
30mm 2” Superview Don Utton
The meeting then adjourned for a coffee break.
Following the break Paul Clark gave a presentation on refracting telescopes – pros, cons and characteristics. For the same sized aperture they are much more expensive than reflecting telescopes, but to offset this the image quality can be superior. 80mm short focal length telescopes are popular because they are relatively less expensive and they have a wide field of view (FOV). They are prone to chromatic abberation –the focal length varies with light wavelength. Achromat lenses reduce this but the more complex and expensive apochromat lenses are required to effectively eliminate this effect. Reflecters maintain a better quality of image away from the centre of the FOV than refractors where stellar images are no longer pin points at the edge of the FOV. The effects of chromatic abberation can be reduced by going to longer focal ratios, as was done historically in the past. This has the drawback of reducing the FOV. Paul made a final point that smaller refractors cool down more quickly than large reflectors – he thinks that his 18” Dobsonian reflector never cools down completely on a one night expedition.
Following the applause for his presentation Paul suggested that all those interested adjourn to Gradbach and said that he had maps for anyone who needed them. He then closed the meeting.
posted by Kevin at 6:38 PM
