I find these comments interesting as I have been pondering joining. I have been a long time lover of the night sky, but only recently invested in a quality scope. My biggest reservation to SLAS has been that it is very focused on Salt Lake Valley area and I wonder how frequently I would find time to participate. I am a middle aged father of four young kids and I am hoping to have astronomy be a bit of a family activity. So far I have found the community very friendly and very welcoming even to younger children. I am planning on going to the star party at the SPOC this Saturday to check it out and I am still deciding who all I will rope into coming with me. To me the greatest thing so far is getting some hands on experience with great equipment. This is equipment I may be interested in owning myself one day but in the near term I know nothing about it and am not ready to make the investment yet. Seeing and using the equipment, especially under the watchful eye of an experienced operator has been very educational. I think for some serious amateurs who own the equipment the clubs would hold less appeal. There is far less for them to learn and they already have access to the equipment. Perhaps they could be attracted in more of a teaching role. At any rate I don't think the cost of membership is bad at all. Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 20, 2015, at 5:58 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Joan, there are more unaffiliated amateur astronomers out there than you might think. SLAS is more of a social club these days, as the club leadership has aged and camping has become a much less common activity. There used to be far more dark-sky overnight star parties back in the "good old days", I'm sure you remember. Many of the loners are more serious with the hobby, following variable stars, searching for comets and supernovae, minor planets, etc. Or they just don't get much from meetings. I work with a fellow who has 80mm, 6", and 10" scopes, has been fairly serious for fifteen years, yet has never been to a meeting, never joined the club, and only been to SPOC perhaps twice in all that time- despite my constant urging. Yet he takes his telescope out regularly 9 months of the year. Even now there are many deep-sky, dark-site, regular observers who seldom, if ever, attend meetings. People like Jay, Mat, etc. These men are very serious and enthusiastic about their hobby, but social club activities rarely fit into their schedule. I can't make meetings regularly, myself, due to my work schedule, though my enthusiasm is as strong as ever, and I've been in this hobby for close to 50 years.
There are many fish in the river, we can't catch them all.
On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 12:54 PM, Joan Carman <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
Mr. Garrett contacted me as President of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society and I am posting his e-mail to this board. Contact him directly if you are interested in anything he has to sell. I checked and Mr. Garrett senior was not a member of SLAS. That is just a point of interest. Its just a little sad/surprising to find someone so well-equipment not affiliated (maybe the Ogden Club??) I also told Lewis about KSL.com, Cloudy Nights and Astromart. If anyone can think of any other options to help him liquidate these assets, let him know.
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