Date: May 28-30, 1993
Attendance: 1,557
Attendance 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
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Jim Stevens, "Backpacking with a Ten-Inch Telescope" |
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Joel Harris, "Go South, Young Man! Two Occasions Occurring Offering Objects Occultations to Occupy Observer's Optics" |
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Terrence Dickinson & Alan Dyer, "The Galaxy From Las Companas, Chile" |
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Rick Shaffer, "The Spirit of the RTMC Awards" |
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Bob Ashford, "Update on the 72-Inch Large Amateur Telescope (LAT) Project" |
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Rick Blakley, "Resurrect The Herschel Doublet" |
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Bob Buchheim, "A Low-Tech, Cheap Equatorial Platform" |
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Chris Butler, "What's Up at RTMC '93" |
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John Dobson |
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Douglas George, "CCD Image Processing" |
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Phil Harrington, "Harrington on Binoculars" |
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Tom Johnson, "Evaluating Telescope Optics" |
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Gil Clark, "The Telescopes In Education (TIE) and Amateur Astronomy Program" |
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Dr. Robert Jastrow, "Mt. Wilson - America's Observatory" |
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Wayne Johnson, "Supernova SN1993J in M81 and the SunSearch Supernova Program" |
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Steven Overholt, "Giant, Lightweight Telescopes - Why They Work" |
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Perry Hacking, "Telescope Making at El Camino College" |
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David Levy, "Especially For Kids" |
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Dean Ketelson, "Large Optics at the University of Arizona Mirror Laboratory" |
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Peter Ceravolo, "Interference Testing of Telescope Optics" |
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Panel Discussion, "Telescope Making - The Past 25 Years, The Next 25 Years", Moderated by Steve Edberg |
Merit Awards
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Steve Swayze, Simple Yet Elegant Large Aperture Telescope |
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Bill Russell, Well-Implemented "One Person" 14" Telescope |
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Valley of the Moon Astronomical Society, Outstanding Team Effort - 40" f/3.2 Dobsonian |
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John Lightholder, Excellent Craftsmanship with Minimum Tooling |
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Loren Bjerke, Outstanding User-Friendly Telescope |
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Keith Lawson, Outstanding Design & Craftsmanship in Optical Mounting |
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Gerry Logan, Excellent Execution of a Challenging Optical Design |
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Jim Hannum, Outstanding Design and Craftsmanship |
Honorable Mentions
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Rick Yessayian, Embodiment of the True Spirit of Telescope Making |
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Jerry Van Hofwegen, Innovative Pier & Trailer Combination |
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Doug Ostroski, Innovative Clutch Modification |
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Mike Spooner, Innovative Use of Materials |
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Dave Wile, Simplified Cheshire |
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Paul Johnson, Metal Craftsmanship |
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Bruce Kelley, Skillful Integration of Innovative Ideas |
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Las Vegas Astronomical Society, Group Effort on a Large Telescope Project |
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El Camino College Telescope Making Class, Advancing the Cause of Telescope Making |
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Randy Steiner, First Telescope Project - 8" f/4.5 designed for handicapped use |
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Randy Johnson, Low Cost Construction |
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John Sanford |
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Scott Crosby |
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Del Woods |
