<Imagine I quoted everybody> This is a hobby - not a job, so there are can be no hard requirements of anybody. Expecting people to toe the line and do what you want may lead to disappointment. Some folks will not have the patience for binoculars and stopwatch; others will not have the inclination, or money, to build a world class video setup and maintain it. Others may want to see the ISS (like my co-worker) and couldn't care less about unmanned objects. And some are content to run numbers and never step outside. There should be room for all this, after all, there is a stunningly similar spread of level of interest across the entire hobby of astronomy. One quote from Derek was: >ALL OBSERVATIONS ARE WANTED... Well, I hope so, because nothing will turn people off faster than being ignored or criticized too harshly. Newbies to this hobby will be challenged (I know I was!) reading the requirements of reducing and reporting observations, with 3 different reporting standards, 2 object numbering schemes, bewildering naming conventions, somewhat nebulous PPAS goals and the difficulties in predicting positional and optical behavior. I have a friend who is a Master Observer but was totally turned off about satellite reporting from a few gruff responses about her accuracy. Trying to meet the expectations of the 1957 crowd can be intimidating. They invented this hobby, and it is daunting to try to catch up with 51 years of experience. Not sure about the comment that we have enough observers; how can I be gentle: not many are spring chickens. The path forward should include more geographical coverage and mentoring newer observers, and continuing to improve the reporting and prediction software and resources (please do not read as "dumbing down"). John might've meant we seem to have a lot of lurkers (Hi :O) but that's pretty common for mail lists. I've posted maybe twice to Derek's IOTA Group, usually to report I flubbed up another asteroid occultation. I love the convenience of grabbing my 12 x 60s and a chart and running outside, or even pulling over at the side of the road on trips. This hobby gets me out under the stars every clear night, and away from the TV. I sift through what is posted and try to glean what is interesting to me. What I call the "dark side", video or CCD tracking is not for me (yet), and I feel Scott has this geographical area covered. I won't catch up with Mike on visual observing of classified objects, but I can help a bit. Forays into highfly objects great fun for me even if my reports are not scientifically valuable. I try to reach a "middle ground" of accuracy and volume of work on PPAS, classfd.tle objects, and my general astronomy work (mostly DSOs). And I can't resist....Kevin may not be a "real observer" :O) but I thrive on his alerts of flashers and flares. <Jumps Off Soapbox> TULSA 1 COSPAR 8336: +36.128, -95.988, 650ft ASL ACT Observatory COSPAR 8335: +35.8311, -96.1411, 1100ft ASL Adams Ranch COSPAR 8337: +36.937, -96.65, 700ft ASL Kenton, OK COSPAR 8338: +36.8978, -102.9522, 4400ft ASL ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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