Date: May 26-28, 2000
Attendance: 1,655
This was a "almost" new Moon year with the Moon rising well after midnight. In addition, the weather cooperated, presenting near-perfect weather for the whole weekend. During the day, it was sunny with a gentle breeze to lower the temperatures, while at night, the seeing was steady and the skies were transparent. The views rivaled the legendary views from 1998.
This year's theme was "Solar Observing." The Dining Hall was packed for such great speakers as Edwin Aguirre, Lee Coombs, and Teresa & Claude Plymate, all speaking about solar observing. Our scheduled Keynote Speaker, Salie Baliunus, had to cancel at the last minute due to illness, so our own Steve Edberg stepped up to the plate. He delivered a Keynote Speech that left nobody disappointed
As usual, the RTMC had concurrent workshop sessions along with its now popular Beginners Corner. These workshops proved to be a rousing success with the tent for the workshops packed to capacity.
Speakers
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Wayne Johnson, "Marishka Emery Memorial" |
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Gene Lucas, "Pierre Schwaar Memorial" |
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Rick Shaffer, "Ben Mayer Memorial" |
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Dennis Young, "Astro-Scenic Photography" |
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Gil Clark, "Telescopes in Education (TIE)" |
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Rick Yessayian, "Space Infrared Telescope Facility" |
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John Hoot, "The Construction of Inexpensive Radio Telescopes" |
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Chris Shur, "Tri Channel Color Astrophotography" |
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John Varsik, "Big Bear Solar Observatory" |
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Bryan Greer, "Hidden Truths: Thermodynamic Effects on Telescope Performance" |
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Stephen Edberg, "Solar Observing—What Can We Learn?" |
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Edwin L. Aguirre, "Solar Eclipses: Science and Adventure" |
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Lee Coombs, "Techniques of Solar Photography" |
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Teresa & Claude Plymate, "The National Solar Observatory at Kitt Peak—Into the 21st Century" |
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Richard Berry, "Efficient Photometry with Cook Book CCD’s" |
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Peter Abrahams, "Blade Lapping: Parabolizing at f/1" |
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Anthony Stillman, "Designing a Super Achromatic Lens" |
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Anthony Galvan III, "Astrophotography Without a Telescope" |
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Rick Rotramel, "Riverside’s Telescopes Past" |
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Alan Adler, "Test Results: Microflexing Spherical Mirrors into High Quality Paraboloids" |
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Alex Mellinger, "Stars, Dust, and Megabytes: A Panoramic Image of the Milky Way" |
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Dean Ketelsen, "Objective Prism Spectroscopy" |
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Dale Mais, "Amateur Astronomical Spectrography" |
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Rick Yessayian, "Space Infrared Telescope Facility" |
Workshops
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CCD Imaging, Tom Bisque, Moderator |
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Beginning Telescope Selection, Allen Hall, Moderator |
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Eyepiece Selection, Alson Wong, Moderator |
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Basic Photometry, Wayne Johnson, Moderator |
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How to Micro-flex a Mirror—The Practical Details, Alan Adler, Moderator |
Merit Awards
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Albert Highe, "Innovative Design of a Lightweight Portable 12-Inch Telescope Based on Systematic Research" |
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Kurt W. Sutton, "Precision Optical Alignment Device" |
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Rod Post, "Outstanding Long Focus Telescope with Innovative Sled Focuser" |
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Jay & Jim Windlinger, "Outstanding Collaborative Effort in Mechanical and Electronic Design for a German Equatorial Mounting" |
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Alex McConahay & Steve Meyering, "Development of a User-friendly Spreadsheet for Foucault Test Data Analysis" |
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Bruce Sayre, "Well-designed Binocular Telescope" |
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Roger Ceragioli, "Outstanding Effort in Reworking a Commercial 8-Inch f/15 Objective" |
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Kevin Medlock & David Barosso, "Mounting System with the Highest Density of Ideas Worth Stealing" |
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Joe Haberman, "Elegant Design and Construction of a 25-Inch Dobsonian" |
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Larry D. Arnold, "Ultra-compact 10-Inch |
Honorable Mentions
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Jim Jerrell, "Telescope System with Digital Setting Circles and Transport Case" |
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John Prior, "Well-Made First Telescope" |
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Robert Fingerle, "Very Compact 13-Inch Dobsonian" |
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Howard Banich, "Simple Polar Alignment Device for Equatorial Platform" |
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Don & Ashley Clark, "Father and Daughter Telescope Project" |
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Tom Cave |
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Richard Andreassen |
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Al Nagler |
