Date: May 26-28, 1989
Attendance: 1,762
The 31" Telescope of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society again dominated the center of the field of the 1989 Riverside Telescope Makers Conference. This fabulous instrument provided superb views of deep sky objects.
Unique telescopes graced the Telescope Field and Telescope Alley. These included a beautiful 8" f/17 Clark refractor brought by Patrick Wiggins; a wonderfully constructed 4" refractor made from brass, stainless steel, and titanium; and a spar mounted 12.5" field corrected Newtonian by Bob Schalck.
Debbie Byrd, the originator and producer of "StarDate," gave the Keynote Address.
Speakers
|
Chris Schur, "Sky Shooting Comets - A Challenge for Astrophotographers" |
|
Alan B. Gorski, "A $17 Concrete Foundation for a Portable Telescope" |
|
David Levy, "The Magic of Variable Stars" |
|
Dan Gordon, "How to Eliminate Out of Focus Astrophotos" |
|
Barry Simon, "Some Comments on Refractors" |
|
Douglas George and Robert Morris, "A Computer Driven Astronomical Telescope Guidance and Control System with Superimposed Star Field and Celestial Coordinate Graphics Display" |
|
Michael Chibnik, "A Simple Way to Take Good Pictures with a Video Camera and Telescope" |
|
Dr. David Crawford et al, "International Dark Sky Association Material" |
|
Dr. Douglas S. Hall, "How Do I Choose a Photoelectric Observing Project?" |
|
John Sanford, "Visiting the Great Observatories of Chile" |
Merit Awards
|
Paul Mahony, Excellent Construction Using Simple Tools - 18" split-ring mount |
|
Jose M. Sasian, New Concept in Unobstructed Telescope Design - 6" unobstructed optical path using a tilted primary |
|
Peter Hirtle, Outstanding Design and Craftsmanship - 5.4" f/4.5 Maksutov camera, stepper drive, Crayford focuser |
|
Bob Schalck, Well Corrected All Spherical Newtonian Optics - 12.5" all-spherical optics using two corrector lenses |
|
Vince Mele, Excellent Craftsmanship in a First Telescope - 10" f/6 equatorial with homemade fiberglass tube |
|
Bob Drew/R.A.S.C., Outstanding Design and Craftsmanship in a Group Project - 17.5" transportable Newtonian |
|
James Stevens, Innovative Design For a Flip-up Secondary - Easily convertible Newtonian-Cassegrain |
|
Don Adkins, Excellent Wood Craftsmanship - 8" Dobsonian Newtonian with rosewood mount |
Honorable Mentions
|
Randy John, Telescope Control Software - Laptop computer controlled 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain |
|
Tom Mathew, Novel Solar Finder |
|
Jeff Barden, Good Craftsmanship and Fiberglass Tube Construction - 13.1" f/4.5 Dobsonian with homemade tube |
|
Richard Beaver, Perseverance in Construction of Classical Cassegrain Optics - 20-Year Evolution of his 12.5" Newtonian-Cassegrain |
|
Steve Collett, Well Designed Guidescope Mount - A simple 3-point tangent assembly made with simple tools |
|
Gary Grue, Innovative Use of Materials in Tube Construction - 24" hand-formed fiberglass wrapping light tube |
|
David Levy |
|
Carter Roberts - Adjustable height 6" f/4 |
