It's spring and time for the annual migration of astronomical paraphernalia
from one garage to another! On Sunday, April 13, 2003, an astronomical
auction and swap meet will be conducted at Houge Park in San Jose,
sponsored by the San Jose Astronomical Association. We will have the
auction first followed by a swap, to allow people some additional haggling
time for those items which were optimistically priced by the seller in the
auction, or to sell those odds and ends items which were better off being
in a swap. It's an odd year, so Jay Reynolds Freeman will be our
auctioneer. Those who have observed Jay's performance in previous auctions
have learned to appreciate his skillful evaluation of classical
astronomical items on the spot. Great entertainment for all!
Doors open at 12:00 p.m. (or only slightly before) to register material for
the auction, and view the auction material. The club reserves the right to
accept only appropriate material for the auction so that the auction will
run smoothly. A $1 donation is requested to obtain an auction bidder/seller
number. The auction will begin at 1 p.m., and will run as long as needed.
Seller may specify a minimum bid, which if not met, will return the item
back to the seller with no commission applied. After the auction, buyers
and sellers settle up using one check to (or from) SJAA and claim their
items. Seller pays 10% commission, with a cap of $50 for any one item. We
do not handle charge cards.
After the auction, material for the swap meet will be allowed into the
hall, about 3 p.m. or perhaps earlier. Each buyer pays the seller. Sellers
are to keep track of their sales, and pay a 10% commission, as for the
auction. There are no table fees. All commissions from the auction and the
swap are tax-deductible, as SJAA is a 501(c)(3) educational organization.
Do you have a large item to sell such as a telescope or more than 5 Items?
Please email Jim Van Nuland at auction@No-Spam with a description and a
photo of the item or a link to your own website for some pre-auction
publicity and to avoid a crush at the registration table. You might find
that High End Refractor easier to sell if people can price it beforehand.
We have quite a few great items already registered:
1) A 4" Jaegers Refractor with a home built equatorial mount. A
fantastic scope for the Mars Opposition this summer. This scope will be at
Houge Park tonight for evaluation (weather permitting)
2) A complete Celestron 8" SC set up with wedge, tripod, encoders,
case, and extras
3) Framed Images donated by Sky Image Labs (http://www.skyimagelab.com)
4) ATM items: A 16" Meade Dob Tube and Base, Dob Elevation Bearings,
an Orion XT 6 Base
5) Our friends at Scope City have donated a few items!
(http://www.scopecity.com)
See the Auction website at http://www.sjaa.net/swap.html for more items,
photos and details!
Directions to Houge Park:
>>From Hwy.17, take the Camden Avenue exit. Go east 4/10 mile, and turn
right at the light, onto Bascom Avenue. At the next light, turn left onto
Woodard Road. At the first stop sign, turn right onto Twilight
Drive. Go three blocks, cross Sunrise Drive, then turn left into the park.
>>From Hwy.85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north 0.2 miles, and turn
right at the first traffic light, onto White Oaks Road. Run another 0.2
miles to the first stop sign, then turn left onto Twilight Drive. You will
now be passing the park. Turn right at the first driveway, into the
parking lot.
See Map at
http://www.sjaa.net/img/houge.jpg
See you there!
Mike Koop
President
San Jose Astronomical Association
