RTE & the Astronomy voice of Ireland

Hi again,

ok I'll try and end this thread now.

Firstly for my own posts, I think its clear that myself and Dave Grennan have some fairly fundamental differences which we are not going to sort out on this board. Hopefully I can discus these issues with Dave at the Connaught Star Party and we can work out why we find each others comments extraordinary!

I think the issues over the A&S magazine and (mis?)read comments have been cleared up. Thanks to Denton for taking the time to drop in, and I hope that you will stay and post on astronomical topics in future.

As to the initial issue (remember it anyone?!) about David Moore in the media, all that interested parties can do here is to get in touch with their local media and push their own clubs and astronomy news with as much energy as DM does.

I could go on and eulogise about the various other issues, insurance, percieved whinging about AI as opposed to frustration of trying to work with them, getting AI to mention ILPAC, actual whinging about AI, AI dealing with anyone without IFAS membership, John Honan wanting the location of a pub... but its probably best that I don't

If anyone has something that they really must post publicly on this thread then go ahead, though please consider if instead a pm or email would suffice.

Cheers,
~Al (last post on the topic unless provoked!)

When you join AI you get a package which includes A&S Mag

Maybe I'm missing something, but..... what package? Other than the "free" magazine, what else would I get if I joined?

Leo - the money you pay to AI does not pay for the magazine. You get that free:

www.astronomy.ie/sub/index.html says

Join Astronomy Ireland and get a FREE Subscription to Astronomy & Space Magazine

Your forty euro pays for AI to promote amateur astronomy in Ireland and the UK. It entitles you to entry to lectures, the Start Parties and Astro Expo. You pay an entry fee for those.

You are also entitled to attend member only events - not sure when/where as I've never been to one. They may be free.

You also get the information phone line which will tell you where the ISS is, meteor shower info, elcipse data and so on. That costs you the price of a premium phone call.

You will also get onto the AI mailing list if you choose to do so. This will provide you with details of all the club events that are supported by your subscription. And you will need to pay to attend most of them.

Oh, and if you provide your mobile phone number, you may receive more information by text or voicemail on events and the like.

So, when you pay your forty euro, you should factor in at least the same again to actually get to any of the events AI runs.

But you get the magazine posted to you every month - and that's free.

I'll let you decide if this is good value for money.

Dave

Ok I've had enough of all of this. There are lots of people on this board asking astronomy questions. This is where my efforts are gonna go from now on.

Lets face it, we (people who like AI) are wasting our time arguing thiese points anyway. I might as well be expounding the virtues of communism on the website of the New York stock exchange. Your right IFAS and AI are incompatible. Sad but true. There is room for both.

Im off to to talk astronomy.

Regards,

Dave.

Gosh,
I cant wait to see the pub on the saturday night in Galway after the starparty. :twisted:
they'll be pints flying everywhere...

Dave,
I must thank you for making it clear that your 'shameful' comment was not directed at me. But I think you can understand how, given the context in the way the word was used, that it did seem to be aimed at me as author of the items you complained about. As I said, who else would seem to be responsible? The same applied to the 'recycled' comments: who else but I could be taken as being responsible? I am quite happy to accept that it was simply a matter of misunderstanding, and, as I also said, please use the e-mail address at the end of my articles to contact me at any time regarding any topic. I shall not proceed with the complaint to Bart, since you have cleared up what did seem to be an attack on me. I trust that sorts out any existing problems in that regard. I do not wish to start a war by e-mail over it. As I mentioned previously, I, like Gordon, try to provide a quality product, aimed at both the novice and the advanced amateur (not an easy task), and we both constantly strive to keep our personal standards as high as possible, whatever you may think of the magazine in which our efforts are published.

Just on a point of things having been mentioned previously in the magazine: you may notice that some constellations are covered again, having been written about perhaps a few years ago in my 'Spotlight On...' series. This is because new information is constantly coming in, and if you compare an article on any particular constellation now with one on it some years ago, you will find that it is not at all the same. Stellar distances, luminosities and the like are updated from the latest information, plus new objects not covered previously are featured whenever possible, as well as new photographs. Just thought I'd mention that, in case anyone thinks I simply re-write previous articles to avoid having to do any work!

As to A&S being 'free' or not as part of the membership, that can be viewed in more than one way. You could say that for 40 Euro you get membership of the club and it's benifits (telescope nights, using a 21-inch reflector for example, which are 'members only'), plus the magazine at a very reduced price, which David Moore has said himself at meetings. You could say that for 40 Euro you get the membership only, but with the magazine thrown in 'free'. Or you could say that for 40 Euro you just get the reduced cost magazine, witrh club benifits thrown in 'free'. It really doesn't matter. It costs 40 Euro. You get membership. You get the magazine at a lot less than you would pay in the shops. Which part is free or otherwise is not important. You still pay 40 Euro either way. That is good value in my opinion, since you would pay more just for the magazine itself in the shops, and you would not have the right to attend telescope nights or get money off attending lectures (which are very good, by the way). Of course if you don't think the magazine is all that good in itself, which is your right, then I suppose the charm of its value as part of the package does fade somewhat, though the use of a 21-inch telescope isn't something to be ignored. But either way, you still pay money. The 'free' content is up to you to decide. As has been pointed out, neither I nor Gordon produce the magazine, nor decide on it's policies, and if you have any complaints regarding that end of things, direct them to the A.I. office.

Let us now bury this matter, and perhaps everybody involved can just go out, look up at the sky at night, and enjoy it. We are all in the same hobby after all, and that is what is important.


All the best,


DENTON