Saturday , May 24th 2008 was my first visit to RTMC and it was the most disappointing waste of a $25.00 entrance fee I have ever seen. As a lot of you may know , the weather wasn't the most favorable at all for an event like this and viewing was totally out of the question , so the entire idea of even going rested on the vendors being there and the opportunity to check out all that the industry had to offer . Well , that didn't happen either . We arrived at about 3pm to find that half the vendors had packed up their booths . Meade , who had the largest booth was nothing but an empty tent . For $25.00 this is the only thing that was left to offer and the event failed in that department . O.P.T. has more on display in their showroom in Oceanside than what was available at RTMC ! The only positive out of the entire trip was talking to Al Nagler & Howie Glatter for a few minutes & Barbara from O.C.A. Also I must commend Exploradome for holding out and keeping their booth open with the chance to see the product up close & personal . I am very disappointed and feel that this organization should be ashamed of itself in charging this entrance fee without maintaining any kind of event at all . At LEAST the vendors should have been there for us since everything else was a wash . I'm very disappointed in Meade and their lack of interest to the loyal customers that may not be so loyal in the future .  Shame! Shame! Shame!.....The worst $25.00 I've ever spent!....................................................Dave

Hi Dave,

I am sorry to hear that the RTMC was a washout on all levels.  I feared that this sort of thing might happen considering the weather was more in tune with tornadoes than telescopes.

$25 for a whole lot of disappoinment can kill off the interest of a lot of fledgling amatuer astronomers and that is just really sad to hear.

L

 As in all amateur astronomy star parties, the weather has a large influence on turnout and participation. While I was not at the 2008 RTMC, nor the 2007 RTMC, I regularly attended from 1998 to 2006. Those years were enjoyable and I am certain that future RTMCs will be just as much fun, as long as the weather cooperates. I am certain that the bad weather this year put a damper on both vendors and participants.

 I have travelled cross country to Stellafane twice. Both times it was rainy. I have never been able to do any nighttime observing at Stellafane. But I always enjoyed myself talking with the people there.

 Give astronomy star parties and expos another try....when the weather is better.