ITV 2009

Intern. Telscopemeeting in Gedern/Vogelsberg 2009

Like every year we went to the largest starparty in Gemany, the ITV. But because we both (me and my friend Thomas) didn't had enough time, we decided to stay only for one night and witghout our own instruments. And that was a good idea, and we've got the one and only clear night and we were able to test some big guns on the place. Especially the 30 Inch Dobson from Raffael is everytime an exciting experience.
On the afternoon before we met some good friends like Walter Kutschera and Jürgen Breitung. And before the night came over we've made some original Thuringian Sausages (the one and only real Bratwurst !) and had a nice dinner with our friends Wolfang and Evi.
It was only one night, but we saw more than in other rainy years before.
And here some pics from the event -> Picture Gallery

Interwhisky 2008

A Wee Dram ! 

I like scottish things. The country, the landscape, interesting people and the inimitable single malt. The Interwhisky Fair in Frankfurt is a chance to taste new , rare or pricy stuff. My favourites are the Islay Malts an the winner this year is the Ardbeg Uigeadail. It is also the whisky of the year. Deserved !

Here is my tasting-list for this year:

1. Scapa 14 

2. Ardbeg Uigeadail

3. Ardbeg Blasda

4. Bunnahabhain 25

5. Tobermory 32

6. Bowmore 25

7. Ardbeg Airigh nam Beist

After that we closed the day at the irish pub in Eisenach with some Guiness and a last drop.

That was real hard work, but I managed it ;-)

Int. Telescopemeeting 2008

The International Telescopemeeting ( ITV) induce a lot Astro-Geeks to travel to the Vogelsberg-Region in Hesse/Germany. The new location at lake "Gederner See" is much better than the old one but has a little problem with air humidity. That's why the most telescope-owners have a hair dryer in their baggage to dry the fogged lenses. The weather was also quite ok, not like in other years where we waiting in the tents for the end of the rain.

It was dry and sometimes we also watched the sky through some holes in the clouds. But there were also a lot of talks, meet and greet and so on. And like every year a competition in best self-made stuff took place. And sometimes I think: Am I in the same way strange like them ? ...

A lot of pics you can find here-> Picture Gallery

Yippie, a 40D is in da house...

Finally. I am a proud owner of a two digits CANON.  

A dream come through !

Yes of course there are better ones, but for my moneybag this is a challenge.
I'm taking photos for a long time, but i switched to digital photography not before 2006 ! And my first cam was an EOS350D wich was not bad. But I wanted more useability, changing faster some parameters. And with such a micky-mouse-button style interface ... terrible. Now I have three controlwheels and a lot more buttons for direct access for important functions (like the big ones , yes) ! And the autofocus is much faster, which is in combination with the 70-300 IS USM a dream.

Erfurter Dom

Erfurter Dom
Originally uploaded by franker69

First attempt to get the "Erfurter Dom" in twighlight. Not so easy , because even in the late hours there are to many tourists. Made with the EOS 350D in one exposure in RAW-Format.

Highland Games Machern

Since I was in Scottland in 1999 this country impressed me. Beautiful landscape, nice people and a great history. From these days on I'm interested in everything that has something to do with the Highlands and the Islands. So I took the chance to visit the German Highland Games in the park of the Castle of Machern (near Leipzig). 

And what should I say, it was fantastic. I had no idea how much people are glowing for this stuff. There was a big competition of the best german piping bands and of course of the strong men and women. 

Here are some pictures I've taken at this event.

Solar Eclipse 2006

Here is my video from the Total Solar Eclipse at 29th March 2006 in Side / Turkey:

Here the path of the central shadow: