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2019 Stellafane Convention

The 84th Convention of Amateur Telescope Makers on Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont, the 2019 Stellafane Convention, was  held Thursday through Sunday, August 1-4, 2019.

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We are very interested in feedback, comments or suggestions on any aspect of convention, we are always working to make improvements every year.

Breezy Hill at Dusk
The sun has set, and telescopes, including the Porter Turret Telescope, get ready for a night of observing. Photo by Jim Hendrickson
Breezy Hill at dusk

Thanks to All!

The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank all those who attended the 2019 Stellafane Convention and made it a success, especially all volunteers and club members who help with setup, program and operations and  cleanup, and all the excellent speakers who make their expertise and experience available through their talks and workshops. To those of you who brought homemade telescopes to display on breezy hill, a special thank you for sharing your accomplishments and inspiring the next generation of telescope makers - we had a large number of interesting and innovative scopes this year.

Convention Summary

Optical competition was completed on Friday; all three days had good observing for. The weather has high 70's/low 80's during the day and humidity was not excessive for August.

The Porter Turret Telescope has been undergoing some maintenance and a few upgrades, and has never worked better. The Schupmann had some hydraulic failures a few weeks before convention after 25 years of operation, but was repaired and operated well during convention. The McGregor Observatory is still being refurbished now that it is 30 years old, and we hope to have it completed by the 2020 convention. The Cook Spectrohelioscope has had major improvements made to it in the last year and the images are now much sharper and steadier.

There was a large field of telescopes in both the optical and mechanical competitions, and it was a treat to see all the various designs and innovations. No scopes over 12½ inches were entered in the optical competition this year.

Keynote speaker Alan Stern delivered an excellent keynote talk on the New Horizons Project, with new data from both the Pluto and Ultima-Thule being presented.

Program & Schedule

A great selection of speakers, workshops, demonstrations and events for every level: children, teens, beginners, intermediate and advanced amateur astronomers. Click on the link above to see everything going on during convention.

Hartness House Workshop

This year's theme is Advanced Telescope Making. Richard Berry, author of multiple astronomy and telescope making books and former editor of "Astronomy Magazine", will give the keynote/banquet presentation. Bill Zmek has agreed to speak about advanced optics testing and Clif Ashcraft has agreed to speak on Schupmann telescope design. Many additional speakers are on the program, click on the link to see the full list.

Join us at Springfield’s historic Hartness House, home of the Hartness Turret Telescope and the Hartness-Porter Museum of Amateur Telescope Making. Meals are included. (Separate Registration from convention Required) Workshop attendees who have also purchased a camping or RV permit for convention may set up at Stellafane on Wednesday from 12pm to 6pm without additional charge.

Donors

The Springfield Telescope Makers would like to thank the following people and/or companies for donating prizes to the raffle at the 2019 Stellafane convention or goods and services that are sold or used for the convention. We thank:

Tele Vue Logo

Special thanks to Tele Vue and Al & David Nagler for donating
sets of their Premium Eyepieces for many, many years.
This year, four sets were raffled off with a total value over $6,000

Willman-Bell Logo

Special thanks to Willmann-Bell and Perry & Patricia Remaklus for donating sets of their excellent Astronomy and Telescope Making Books for many, many years.

This year's book prizes were five sets of the Annals of the Deep Sky.

Gary Hand Student Transportation of America

White River Jct., VT

Kim & Dennis Cassia Astonomy Shoppe

Tony Costanzo - Plaistow, NH

Kris Larsen PTH Design

Paul Hendrickson - Chester, VT

Jim & Martie Erickson Steve & Terry Simoni
Simply Fun Stephen & Diana Forbes
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company

Call for 2019 Convention
Photos, Videos & Reports

We would like to add your photos or convention report to our web pages, and link to your hosted videos on YouTube or other services. Your experiences gives a much more comprehensive view of the convention than we can do ourselves. Please send them via email

Photo Gallery

A collection of photos from the 2019 Convention, some from the club and many more from conventioneers.

Reports by Conventioneers

Reports on the experiences and observations of conventioneers by conventioneers.

Presentations

The page contains presentations made at the 2019 Stellafane Convention, or additional information about them, when the presenters make them available to us for publication.

Joe Dechene 4-inch f7 Refractor
Joe Dechene and his 4" f/7 Refractor won in the Master Class first place Mechanical Design, second place Craftsmanship and an Innovative Component award.
Joe Dechene and his 4" f/7 Refractor
which won 3 awards this year

Telescope Competition

Details and photos of all the telescopes and other items entered and all the winners are here.

Observing Olympics

A challenge to observe at least 15 deep sky objects, accessible in small to large amateur telescopes, has been developed for us by Larry Mitchell, who is in charge of the Texas Star Party Advanced Observing Program. Try your observing skills and earn a pin for your efforts. A Binocular Observing List has also been developed by Phil Harrington again this year.

This year's Observing Olympics has fun new lists of objects to search for and learn about.

Teen Program

A hands-on class working in teams to construct a piece of robotic technology that will be demonstrated at the Convention. Attendance will be first-come first-served. If you are 100% sure your Teen (age 12-17) will attend the convention and will want to attend this event, then you’ll need to get them on the list.

Mirror Coating

Alan Ward will set up his portable coating machine in the grassed 'valley' just west of the Stellafane Clubhouse and will coat attendees' bare mirrors with a reflective aluminum coating on Friday and Saturday - you can watch your mirror get coated, and learn more about the process if you don't know how this works.

At convention, please visit the coating machine and sign up on the clipboard for a coating time slot. The cost is almost free - you need to bring two bags of ice to keep the diffusion pump cool (available at the food tent). The maximum mirror diameter the machine can handle is 10-inches. Mirrors having existing coatings need to be stripped by Alan Ward ahead of time. Coating machine operation is from 9 to 5 each day. Additional details are available in this news item

Sun, Moon & Twilight Data

When is Astronomical Twilight during convention? When does the sun set and the moon rise? Click to find out.

(Close)

U.S. Naval Observatory Data in Eastern Daylight Time

Day & Sun Sun Moon Moon Astro.Twilite
    Date      Rise   Set   Rise   Set  Begin  End 
Thu Aug 105:4020:1206:0020:5703:4122:11
Fri  Aug 205:4120:1107:1721:3503:4222:09
Sat Aug 305:4220:1008:3522:0903:4422:07
Sun Aug 405:4320:0809:5122:3903:4622:05
McGregor Observatory at night
The Mcgregor Observatory at night.
Photo by Mike Hayes
15mm rectilinear fisheye, 20 sec, f2.8, ISO 4000, full frame Nikon
McGregor Observatory at night

General Information

This page contains information about the convention that does not fit in elsewhere. Check this page for answers to any questions you may have.

Convention Policies

This page contains convention policies which we have established to insure the safety, comfort and enjoyment of convention by all who attend. In particular, please read the new Stellafane Convention Code of Conduct. Please familiarize yourself with these policies, so that you too will have a safe and enjoyable convention.

Lodging & Campgrounds

 

If you are not camping at Stellafane, you will need some place to stay. Here is a listing of Motels, Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, and Campgrounds in the area.

Directions & Maps

Need to know how to get to Stellafane? Here are written directions and a map for after you get off the Interstate. We also have a site map of the convention area. See also Local Airport Information.

Food Services

 Please see details on the Food Services page, which has the menus available for your information.


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