Date: May 28-30, 1993
Attendance: 1,557Attendance was down a little
with the first quarter Moon, but the Telescope Field was still bristling with activity. A
new size record was set by the Valley of the Moon Astronomical Society (VMAS) with their
40" f/3.2 Dobsonian. The primary mirror, which is just 3/4-inch thick at the center,
was ground by Harold Moore. It rests on a 114-point flotation system and weighs just 110
pounds.
A mechanical marvel was the 24" f/4 made by Jim
Hannum. It has a wonderfully machined equatorial mount and a foam core fiberglass tube. It
weighs 660 pounds and requires three people to assemble.
Gerry Logan checked in with a 12" f/15 Maksutov which
gave wonderful images. He incorporated a new thermal equilibrium system that steadied the
image within 30 minutes.
John Dobson provided an impressive telescope making
demonstration. Along with a group of volunteers, he created a 10" telescope from a
pre-curved mirror blank an a pile of wood. The uncoated mirror provided good views of the
Moon before the evening program.
Finally, this was the 25th RTMC. A celebration honoring
Cliff and Jackie Holmes and the RTMC, complete with cake, was held Saturday night.
Clifford W. Holmes passed away three months later.
Speakers
 |
Jim Stevens, "Backpacking with a Ten-Inch
Telescope" |
|
Joel Harris, "Go South, Young Man! Two
Occasions Occurring Offering Objects Occultations to Occupy Observer's Optics" |
|
Terrence Dickinson & Alan Dyer, "The
Galaxy From Las Companas, Chile" |
|
Rick Shaffer, "The Spirit of the RTMC
Awards" |
|
Bob Ashford, "Update on the 72-Inch Large
Amateur Telescope (LAT) Project" |
|
Rick Blakley, "Resurrect The Herschel
Doublet" |
|
Bob Buchheim, "A Low-Tech, Cheap Equatorial
Platform" |
|
Chris Butler, "What's Up at RTMC '93" |
|
John Dobson |
|
Douglas George, "CCD Image Processing" |
|
Phil Harrington, "Harrington on
Binoculars" |
|
Tom Johnson, "Evaluating Telescope
Optics" |
|
Gil Clark, "The Telescopes In Education (TIE)
and Amateur Astronomy Program" |
|
Dr. Robert Jastrow, "Mt. Wilson - America's
Observatory" |
|
Wayne Johnson, "Supernova SN1993J in M81 and
the SunSearch Supernova Program" |
|
Steven Overholt, "Giant, Lightweight
Telescopes - Why They Work" |
|
Perry Hacking, "Telescope Making at El Camino
College" |
|
David Levy, "Especially For Kids" |
|
Dean Ketelson, "Large Optics at the University
of Arizona Mirror Laboratory" |
|
Peter Ceravolo, "Interference Testing of
Telescope Optics" |
|
Panel Discussion, "Telescope Making - The Past
25 Years, The Next 25 Years", Moderated by Steve Edberg |
Merit Awards
|
Steve Swayze, Simple Yet Elegant Large Aperture
Telescope |
|
Bill Russell, Well-Implemented "One
Person" 14" Telescope |
|
Valley of the Moon Astronomical Society,
Outstanding Team Effort - 40" f/3.2 Dobsonian |
|
John Lightholder, Excellent Craftsmanship with
Minimum Tooling |
|
Loren Bjerke, Outstanding User-Friendly Telescope |
|
Keith Lawson, Outstanding Design &
Craftsmanship in Optical Mounting |
|
Gerry Logan, Excellent Execution of a Challenging
Optical Design |
|
Jim Hannum, Outstanding Design and Craftsmanship |
Honorable Mentions
|
Rick Yessayian, Embodiment of the True Spirit of
Telescope Making |
|
Jerry Van Hofwegen, Innovative Pier & Trailer
Combination |
|
Doug Ostroski, Innovative Clutch Modification |
|
Mike Spooner, Innovative Use of Materials |
|
Dave Wile, Simplified Cheshire |
|
Paul Johnson, Metal Craftsmanship |
|
Bruce Kelley, Skillful Integration of Innovative
Ideas |
|
Las Vegas Astronomical Society, Group Effort on a
Large Telescope Project |
|
El Camino College Telescope Making Class, Advancing
the Cause of Telescope Making |
|
Randy Steiner, First Telescope Project - 8"
f/4.5 designed for handicapped use |
|
Randy Johnson, Low Cost Construction |
Clifford W. Holmes Award
|
John Sanford |
Warren Estes Award
|
Scott Crosby |
Clyde Tombaugh Award
|
Del Woods |
|
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