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.

First Homemade Telescope Certificate

New for 2013, in order to further encourage and recognize telescope building, we are offering a certificate of recognition for first time telescope makers. You do not have to enter the competition if you do not what to, but you must bring your first homemade telescope to Breezy Hill and display it. Please register ahead of time online with the form below, and check in at the judging tent. You will be awarded a certificate recognizing your efforts in building and displaying your first homemade telescope at Stellafane, and your name will be shown on the screen at the Saturday night program.

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 Registration Tent northwest of 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 Registration Tent 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 RegistrationTent northwest of the Pink Clubhouse and inform the registrar of the location of your scope. If the position of your scope changes it is your responsibility to report its new location to the registrar in the tent. 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 tent near the Pink Clubhouse from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. People are often surpised about how late optical judging can go - plan to stay up with your telescope until 2:00 or 3:00 am.

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 registrar 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.

2013 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 tent near 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 tent near 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 a workable and functional instrument).

2013 Mechanical Judging Chairman: Chris Houghton

2012 Winners

The 2012 winners of the Optical and Mechanical competition are listed our 2012 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 tent 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

FIRST HOMEMADE TELESCOPE CERTIFICATE

I am registering for a First Homemade Telescope Certificate

I certify the telescope is the first one I have ever made, that I made it substantially myself, and that it is set up on Breezy Hill (While we encourage you to make your own optics, that is not a requirement for this certificate).

Even if you are not entering the telescope competition, please fill in the telescope items at the bottom of the Telescope Competition section, so we know what kind of telescope you made.

TELESCOPE COMPETITION

I am entering: Not Entering, Mechanical Only, Optical Only, Both Mechanical & Optical

Are you entering: Telescope   Other Type of Astronomical Instrument

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

Is this an Antique Restoration?  Yes   No

If you are NOT entering a telescope, it should be entered in the mechanical competition. Please provide a description of your non-telescope entry. For antique restorations, provide some history such as maker and year of manufacture:

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).

Please list the materials used in your instrument:

Please list any special components used in your instrument:

Please list any other comments:

IF YOUR ENTRY IS A TELESCOPE OR
YOU HAVE REGISTERED FOR A FIRST HOMEMADE TELESCOPE CERTIFICATE
 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 Not a Telescope

Telescope's mounting type:   -Select Mounting Type- Dobsonian Alt/Az German Equatorial Fork Horseshoe/Split Ring Poncet Sphere/Ball Other No Mounting

Aperture of primary objective: inches,   Focal ratio:

   

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