2006 Stellafane Convention Main Page
The 71st Convention of Amateur Telescope Makers on Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont, the 2006 Stellafane Convention, was held Friday & Saturday July 28 & 29, 2006. Here you will find reports, photos and movies of the 2006 Convention.
Thanks to All!
The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank all those who attended the 2006 Stellafane Convention and made it a success. The Convention is all about sharing ideas and knowledge, renew and making new acquaintances, and enjoying shared observing sessions. You make the Convention what it is, and we thank you for participating!
Convention Summary
The 2006 Stellafane Convention saw the inaugural use of the Flanders Pavilion for the Friday night talks, telescope making demonstrations and Saturday evening program (see photo at left); everyone was impressed with what a huge improvement this was over the tent. The weather was mixed, with some heavy rain late Friday afternoon but that gave way to clear skies for a very good night of observing and the optical competition Friday night.
Saturday was typically warm and humid, unfortunately Saturday night was cloudy with only limited observing possible. The convention was dedicated to Sue Rugelis (of Sue's Field); we were pleased her daughter's family attended and was able to participate in the tribute to her on Saturday night (Letter from Tina Rugelis). Our own Paul Valleli was awarded the NERAL Walter Scott Houston award at the Saturday evening program. Timothy Ferris was present with a film crew shooting footage for an upcoming PBS special based on his book Seeing in the Dark.
The Dino Argentini 10" Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope on a Springfield Mount was installed in the new domed observatory. Overall, a very good convention, everyone seemed to have a good time. We hope to see you all next year!
Program
This page has the convention bulletin and overall convention program, as well as the titles and presenters of the various talks that were given at the 2006 convention.
A Big Thank You to our Raffle Donors!
The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank the following people and/or companies for donating prizes to the raffle at the 2006 Stellafane convention. In no particular order, we thank:
| TeleVue Al Nagler |
Wilmann-Bell Perry Remaklus |
Richard O. Benton Litchfield, CT |
FAR Laboratories Al Rifkin |
| Nancy Tuthill Roger Tuthill Inc. |
Afocal Joel Harris |
John & Paula Hutzell LaPlata, MD |
Mara Rocklift Charlottesville, VA |
| Tony Costanza | Howie Glatter | Phil Harrington | Hands On Optics Gary Hand |
The money raised from the raffle goes to support next year's convention and to make capital improvements to the convention site. We appreciate the generous donations of the above people and companies, and the attendees support by purchasing raffle tickets. Thank you all very much!
Photo Gallery
Here is the 2006 Convention Photo gallery, with candid images taken by the Springfield Telescope Makers and many attendees who send us photos they have taken (See the pink box at right if you have photos to send us for posting on our web page).
Videos
Some of the "Tech Talks" and many segments of the Saturday Evening program are available as downloadable video clips from this area.
Reports
Convention reports from our attendees are posted here, giving you another view of the events and observations that various attendees had. If you have report, please send it to us (see box at upper right).
First Place Awards
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.
Shown at right is a very nice 6" binocular and chair mount that won three first place awards.
Convention Workers
It takes a lot of work to put on the convention, and we would like to thank all the volunteers and members who work so hard before, during and after convention to make it a success. Here's a photo gallery of many of the people who made it happen this year (and the majority who have made it happen for many years). Thank you all very much!