Optical & Mechanical Telescope Competition

Home-made telescopes can be entered in our competitions to be judged on optical quality and/or several mechanical categories. Certificates are awarded at the Saturday evening program for the best instruments entered.

Optical Judging

POLICIES REGARDING OPTICAL JUDGING ENTRIES: REGISTRATION for the optical competition will take place on Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Pink Clubhouse. In addition, you are encouraged to register your telescope online below. Keep in mind that if you register your instrument via the web, you must still check in at the Pink Clubhouse Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. or your telescope will not be judged! Set up your scope on Breezy Hill before you check in at the Pink Clubhouse and inform the judges of the location of your scope. If the position of your scope changes it is your responsibility to report its new location to the judges in the Pink Clubhouse. Failure to do so will result in your scope not being judged!

All telescopes in the competition must be fitted with an eyepiece with a focal length, in millimeters, approximately equal to the focal ratio of the instrument. Your instrument must be properly collimated before judging begins at 10 p.m. Also, be prepared to point your scope at the star Altair when the judges arrive. Please note that the judges may inspect your telescope more than once. Therefore, you should remain on the field with your instrument until the preliminary results are announced via loudspeaker.

If the weather permits the completion of the judging on Friday night, the optical judging will be closed for the duration of the convention and optical awards will be presented during the Saturday evening program. If the optical judging cannot be completed Friday night, it will be continued on Saturday night, weather permitting. Additional optical entries may be accepted on Saturday, at the discretion of the judges. To inquire about this possibility, please ask a judging representative in the Pink Clubhouse from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. or from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.

In the event that the competition will have to be continued Saturday, some telescopes that were judged on Friday might need to be judged again. Please inquire with the judges if your scope will need to be available again on Saturday. If the optical judging cannot be completed by the end of Saturday night, a partial field of optical excellence awards may be given, at the discretion of the judges.

Please note that it is the intention of the Stellafane judging committee to have the optical competition completed Friday night, weather permitting. Therefore, to ensure that your instrument is judged you must be registered for the Friday night judging.

Clarification on "small" vs. "large" Newtonians: The small category includes any mirror of 12 inches optical diameter or less; the "large" category is for mirrors that are greater than 12 inches in diameter.

2012 Optical Judging Chairman: Rick Hunter

Telescope Mechanical Competition
The Heart and Soul of Stellafane!

If you have built a telescope, special gadget or restored a historical instrument, we strongly encourage you to bring it and enter it in the competition. We welcome all home-made telescopes in the display area. They do not have to be entered in the competition!

REGISTRATION: Registration for the mechanical competition will be between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning in the Pink Clubhouse. In addition, you are encouraged to register your telescope online below. Keep in mind that if you register your instrument via the web, you must still check in at the Pink Clubhouse Saturday morning or your telescope will not be judged. You can drive up to the Pink Clubhouse area Friday or Saturday to drop off and pick up your telescope but there is no parking as space is very limited. The telescope judging for mechanical excellence will begin at 10 a.m. so please register your telescope as early as possible.

COMPETITION: Only telescopes that are operative both mechanically and optically will be accepted in the mechanical competition. Telescopes do not have to be entered in both categories. The judges will visit the telescopes in several small groups. You must attend your telescope until the end of the competition is announced via the loudspeaker. Be prepared to describe any special construction techniques and components to the judges. Awards for mechanical design, craftsmanship, special gadgets, restoration of historical instruments and junior telescopes, made by persons less than 16 years of age, will be awarded at the Saturday evening talks.

Mechanical Design vs. Craftsmanship: To clarify, the mechanical award is for the design of the instrument, how unique it is compared with prior art, and its effectiveness in providing a useful instrument, while the craftsmanship award is for execution (how well the design was translated into and workable and functional instrument).

2012 Mechanical Judging Chairman: Chris Houghton

2011 Winners

The 2011 winners of the Optical and Mechanical competition are listed our 2011 Convention Pages here.

Online Telescope Registration

We encourage you to register your scope right here; this will save time for you and us during convention as we can prepare some of the paperwork ahead of time. Thank you. (You must still check in at the judging table before the competition begins so we can mark the location of your instrument on a map for the judges)

Telescope Registration Form

REGISTRANT INFORMATION:

First Name:	Middle Initial:   Last Name:
Address:
City:	State/Provence:   Postal Code:
Country:	Phone:
Email:	(You MUST include your email so we can contact you!)

Have you ever been to a Stellafane convention?	Yes   No
Have you ever entered an instrument at Stellafane before?	Yes   No
Is this your first home made telescope/instrument?	Yes   No

EVERYONE SHOULD ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Are you entering:   Telescope   Other Type of Astronomical Instrument

Is this an Antique Restoration?  Yes   No

If you are NOT entering a telescope, please provide a description of your instrument. For antique restorations, provide some history such as maker and year of manufacture:

I am entering these categories: Mechanical Only, Optical Only, Both Mechanical and Optical

Your telescope must be optically functional even if you are registering only for the mechanical competition! No exceptions (Rule does not apply for items that are not intended to form an optical image entered in the mechanical competition under the 'Other Instrument' category).

The instrument's optics must be home made to enter the optical competition (does not include diagonal mirrors).

EVERYONE ENTERING THE OPTICAL COMPETITION MUST READ AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

The optical judging during the Stellafane convention has been re-scheduled for the Friday night of the convention at 10pm! There will be no optical judging Saturday night unless Friday is completely clouded out or early clouds force a suspension of judging that has already started! This change has been made because it provides an additional night for optical judging. We will have a better chance of holding the optical judging if there are two nights instead of just one.

I have read and understand the above note regarding the schedule of the
optical competitionduring the Stellafane convention:   Yes   No

IF YOUR ENTRY IS A TELESCOPE PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Did you make the primary mirror yourself?   Yes   No

Telescope's optical system:   -Select Optical System- Newtonian Cassegrain Refractor Dall-Kirkham Maksutov Schiefspeigler Other

Telescope's mounting type:   -Select Mounting Type- Dobsonian German Equatorial Fork Poncet Other

Aperture of primary objective: inches,   Focal ratio:

EVERYONE SHOULD ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

Entered in the JUNIOR category (under 16 years of age):   Yes   No

Please list the materials used in your instrument:

Please list any special components used in your instrument:

Please list any other comments:

   

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