Stellafane 2002-03 Mirror Class
Announcements
This class is over. To sign up for a Mirror Class, see the pink box on the Mirror Class Main Page.
Schedule & Class Pictures
| Schedule Including brief notes about the session |
Class Pictures Click Image for Photo Album |
|---|---|
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1: Saturday, October 5, 2002:
We had a great turnout, and the nice fall |
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2: Saturday, November 9, 2002:
Another good turnout, all mirrors making |
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3: Saturday, December 7, 2002:
We made 3 pitch laps (and rescued a 4th) |
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4: Sunday, January 4, 2003:
Session #7 added as a makeup. |
CANCELED Due to Snow Storm |
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5: Saturday, February 2, 2003
Deep snow made site access a challenge, but |
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6: Saturday, March 1, 2003:
Very high turnout, we got a lot accomplished in |
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7: Saturday, April 5, 2003 at the
Session added to make up for canceled Session #4; |
CANCELED Due to Snow Storm |
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8: Sunday, May 4, 2003:
A nice spring day with some people working outside. |
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Mirror Status
Here is a report on what our participants are making, and at what stage they are at:
| Mirror Maker *Club Member |
Mirror Size |
Focal Ratio |
Mirror Status |
Status Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Bayerle | 6" | 8.0 | Done | 2003-May-8 |
| Glenn Becker | 10" | 5.0 | Polish | 2003-May-4 |
| Gary Cislak* | 7" | 8.0 | Done | 2002-Jul |
| Carl Herschel | 8" | 8.0 | #220 Grit | 2003-May-4 |
| Aleks Hunter | 8" | 6.0 | #80 Grit | 2003-Feb-2 |
| Kuniko Hunter | 6" | 8.0 | #80 Grit | 2003-Feb-2 |
| "Doc" Keleman* | 6" | 5.0 | #120 Grit | 2003-Mar-1 |
| Kris Larsen* | 8" | 6.0 | Done | 2003-May-30 |
| Brian Lecau* | 8" | 7.0 | Done | 2003-Dec |
| Bruce MacLachlan | 8" | 4.5 | Done | 2003-Apr-27 |
| Sher Malik* | 8" | 7.0 | 25 Micron | 2003-May-4 |
| Joel Neidbala* | 8" | 9.0 | Polish | 2003-May-4 |
| Mellisa Neidbala | 6" | 4.5 | Polish | 2003-May-4 |
| Al Rifkin* | 10" | 6.0 | Polish | 2003-Jun-8 |
| John Stetson | 8" | 7.0 | Figure | 2003-May-4 |
| Jim Zebrowski | 8" | 5.0 | #220 | 2002-Nov-9 |
| Elizabeth LePan | 8" | ? | #60 | 2002-Nov-9 |
| 17 Mirror Makers | 17 Mirrors | 5 Done | ||
Instructors
Thanks to our large group of volunteer instructors, we can hold these mirror class and give everyone the individualized attention they require. Several of our instructors work professionally in the optics industry, and many have competed dozens or mirrors and more complicated optics as amateurs.
 President Explaining a Polishing Stroke |
 Associate Member Grinding a Mirror |
 Full Member Making Mirror Kits |
 Full Member Using the Foucault Tester |
 Full Member Demonstrates Polishing Techniques |
 Full Member Making Pitch Laps at the 2001 Convention |
 Full Member and Mirror Course Co-Leader Explaining Foucault Testing |
 President and Mirror Course Co-Leader Explaining Telescope Construction |
Final Report
Schedule & Attendance: A tough winter caused two class cancellations and with makeup sessions we extended into May. Despite the weather turnout and enthusiasm was good:
| Item | Students | Instructors | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered | 18 | 8 | 26 |
| Peak Attendance | 14 | 7 | 19 |
| Average Attendance | 11.2 | 5.7 | 16.8 |
| Lowest Attendance | 10 | 5 | 14 |
| Perfect Attendance | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| No-Shows | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| First Timers | 9 | N/A | 8 |
| Retuning from Last Year | 5 | 7 | 12 |
Of special note is that this year's class had three father-daughter teams.
Completions & Mirror Status: You can check the status table on this page and see only two mirrors were completed by the end of class. I believe at least 3 more will be finished up outside of class in the next two months. While we have year to year variations in completion rates, weather, space, equipment and instructor time all contributed this year to lower than usual rates. See issues, below.
Issues: Work space continues to be our most significant problem. We are at or slightly beyond the workable limits of the space in the bunkhouse and McGregor observatory for classes this size. Proposals are being made to do minor renovations tot he space to make it more useful to the next class.
We also have a bottleneck at the main Foucault tester; again a proposal is being prepared to build a "production" tester for the class to help alleviate this problem.
Two weather cancellations late in the year caused a loss of momentum for some students. Not much we can do about the weather -- after all, we do live in New England.
Lastly, we had some issues with having enough instructors assigned to the polishing and figuring area towards the end of the course, and this slowed up some of our students. We will try to make sure we assign enough help here next year.
Summary: A good course with plenty of enthusiastic students and great support from our cadre of instructors. We need to improve some of our equipment and space on the off season to make the next class more effective and efficient.