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| Kokerei Zeche Zolverein Essen - Located behind ATT parking spot |
It was my first time ever that I did visit the ATT Essen. It's the biggest European fair for amateur astronomers with both commercial trade and second hand material.
I arrived around 9h45 with plenty of parking space. Arriving at 10am the Gymnasium am Stoppenberg, the entry was blocked with a long waiting row. But 15 minutes later and paying 6 euro entree fee, I could enter the astro arena.
On my way in I did meet with collegues from Astroclub Urania from Hove (Antwerp).
A lot of variation of astro stuff, second hand material and also new equipment - a total of more then 80 participants. During the day it was also possible to attend some seminars. I attended a lecture on "what an astro beginner need to start with" provided by the local astro club.
Personally I was interested in color filters, red dot finders, wide field oculars and a small apo OTA. At the end I bought one baader "yellow" color filter (as they did not had the color filter series available) and the SkySurfer 3 red dot finder.
I left the fair around 4am and took the time to visit the old mine site located behing the parking spot. This area is UN World Heritage Site and the site was once a very productive and modern mining site.
Some pictures taken during my visit of the site.
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| Steel frame of cooling towers |
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| Washing of the cokes |
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| Storage tank |
