Date: May 22-24, 1992
Attendance: 1,589
This was the year of the binocular telescopes. One was Jim Carlisle's 10" binocular telescope. Using two 10" f/5.6 mirrors, he create a true Herschel design which does not require tertiary mirrors and their associated problems. Another binocular telescope was Richard Livitsky's 20", a scaled up version of a model shown at previous RTMC's.
This was also the year that Clifford Holmes officially retired from the Board of the RTMC. His health was preventing him from being as active as he would like, and his new-found career as Planetarium Director at Riverside Community College was taking up all his available time. Stephen Edberg was appointed as the new Executive Director of the RTMC.
In one of the truly classic moments, we tricked Ashley McDermott into announcing his own name as the recipient of the Clifford W. Holmes Award.
Speakers
| Jim Carlisle, "Two Newtonians in a Box" | |
| David Pearson, "Star Align Your Telescope with an Inexpensive Telescope Computer" | |
| Ralph J. Merletti, "Astronomical Uses for an Earth Globe" | |
| Wayne Johnson, "Restructuring of Sunsearch" | |
| William E. Kelley, "Spherical Telescope Mirrors" | |
| Dann McCreary, "The 20-Inch, 30-Pound Backpacking Telescope" | |
| Rod Wheeler, "Goto - This Doesn't Look Like Kansas, or, How I Built a Mountain Top Observatory" | |
| James Sumstine, "A Memorial to Grant Alma Sessions" | |
| Chris Schur, "Adventures in Automated Guiding of Kodak 2415 with the SBIG ST-4" |
Merit Awards
| Richard Livitsky, Portable, very large aperture binocular system with modular mirror cells - 20" binocular telescope | |
| Don Clark Jr., Large portable design with quick setup time | |
| Jerry McMurry, Unique Single Mast Stable Alt-Azimuth Design | |
| Dave Radosevich, Successful Merger of Wood Craftsmanship and High Technology - 12.5" Dobsonian | |
| Chuck Edmonds, Excellent Metal Craftsmanship for an Equatorial Head | |
| Bob Pfaff, Physical Realization of a Large Aperture Schmidt Camera | |
| Astronomical Society of Nevada, Group Project, Large Aperture - 24" f/5 | |
| Philip Alotis, Superb Wood Craftsmanship on a Dual-Use Mount - 12.5" f/7 | |
| Jim Carlisle, Outstanding Adaptation of Herschelian Binocular Design - 10" f/5.6 binocular telescope | |
| Fred B. Phillips, Clever Innovations in an Excellent First Telescope - 12.5" split-ring Newtonian |
Honorable Mentions
| Tony Patta, Refurbishment of a 1950's Vintage Refractor | |
| Grant Klassen, Heads Up Finder and Other Observing Accessories | |
| Bruce D. Sayre, Well-Executed Portable Alt-Az Design | |
| Fulton Wright, Jr., Use of Inexpensive Materials | |
| Gregory Sherwood, Good Wood Craftsmanship in a First Telescope - 12" Dobsonian | |
| James Stevens, Quick Focusing Mechanism for Normal/Binocular Focusing - 17.5" Newtonian with either binocular or monocular oculars | |
| Ryan Hays, First Effort by a High School Student |
| Professor Ashley Thomas McDermott |
| Chris Schur |