2005 Stellafane Convention

The 70th Convention of Amateur Telescope Makers on Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont, the 2005 Stellafane convention, was held Friday, August 5th and Saturday, August 6th, 2005. Hosted by the Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. Here you find Reports, Photos and Videos of the 2005 Convention.

Thanks to All!

The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank all those who attended the 2005 Stellafane convention. Despite some clouds Friday night, the weather cleared and provided excellent observing Saturday night. We would like to offer a special thanks to those who donated to the Flanders Pavilion Fund! As those who attended the convention noticed, work is progressing on the preparation of the grounds for the pavilion. The primary obstacle to the completion of this project, thus far, has been obtaining the necessary permits. Now that that process is complete, the building will be erected during the remainder of the summer of 2005 and should be completed in plenty of time for the 2006 convention. The next major task is to raise the funds to pay off the loan that the Springfield Telescope Makers had to take out to purchase the building. Thanks to your generous donations, we are continuing to approach that goal.

Sincerely, your friends, the Springfield Telescope Makers.

Program

The 2005 Stellafane convention program is available in PDF formatted files:

• 2005 Convention Bulletin
• 2005 Talks

Thanks to Raffle Donors

The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank the following people and/or companies for donating prizes to the raffle at the 2005 Stellafane convention. In no particular order:

Tony Costanza, John Hutzell, Tom Buesmeyer, Inspiration Toolworks, Kris Larsen, Howie Glatter, Roger Greenwood, Dan Ward, FAR Laboratories, Wilmann-Bell & TeleView.

The money raised from the raffle goes right back into preparing for the next year's convention and to make capital improvements to the convention site.

Photo Gallery / Smile Gallery

Here is the 2005 Convention Photo gallery, with candid images taken by the Springfield Telescope Makers and many attendees who send us photos they have taken, including three nice panoramas taken by attendees. This year we also have a special section of Smiles at Convention, suggested by conventioneer Dan Ward.

Videos

Reports

Convention reports from our attendees are posted here, giving you another view of the events and observations that various attendees had.

Telescope Competition

Often considered the heart of the Stellafane Convention, the Optical & Mechanical Competition gives Amateur Telescope Makers a chance to show and share with others what they have done, and our expert judges pick the best in several categories to for recognition with awards. This page shows all the telescopes entered in the competition, and the awards that many have won.

Help Support the Flanders Pavilion!

Following the tradition set down by our founder, Russell W. Porter, the Springfield Telescope Makers continually work to improve the Stellafane convention to give amateur telescope makers an opportunity to gather, show off their creations and teach each other telescope making and mirror grinding techniques. The current project to continue that tradition is the construction of the “Flanders Pavilion”. This 6000 square foot meeting hall will provide a dry and comfortable environment for lectures and demonstrations on telescope and mirror making both during the Stellafane convention and for public classes at other times of the year. It is hoped that this facility will be completed by the 2005 Stellafane convention. To accomplish this goal the Springfield Telescope Makers need your help to raise the funds necessary for the completion of this ambitious project that will greatly improve the quality of the convention.

Please click here to learn more about the Flanders Pavilion fund. This link will also provide you with information about how to donate. All contributions will be gratefully accepted and no donation is too small. The Springfield Telescope Makers is a tax exempt organization under section 501(c)3 of IRS regulations. All donations are tax deductible. Thanks!