RTMC Astronomy Expo 2004
May 28-30, 2004, Big Bear, California - YMCA Camp Oakes
36th
Annual RTMC Astronomy Expo
The AVAC had an incredible time at RTMC this year. I can say that I owe
the positive experience entirely to top-notch people like Matt and Suzanne Leone
and Terry, Deborah and Katy Pedroza, who not only set up a 'club base' of
operations where we handed out club informantion, but also where we had a
spontaneous group lunch on Friday and a great homemade (by Debora) spaghetti
dinner on Saturday evening.
We - got lots of the latest toys and gadgets that we've wanted to pick up all
year. Matt Leone got a fantastic deal on an older 13mm Nagler for just
$100!
Lots of deals were to be had and both Terry and Matt both scored the new
Thousand Oaks Hydrogen alpha filters for the sun. Other popular items were
eyepieces, binoculars, and parallelogram mounts. Personally, I found some
hard to find eyepiece caps and a red dot sight for my 12 x 80 binoculars.
We supported our Club's sponsor Woodland
Hills Camera with (literally) thousands of dollars
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| 2004 RTMC Swap Meet - Anything for sale of interest to
Amateur Astronomers |
Terry Pedroza negotiating for a H-Alpha solar filter |
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| The AVAC had two winners of the RTMC Door
Prizes! Katy won a Messier Card and a Planisphere, and Steve Trotta
won an 11 mm Nagler eyepiece!! |
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Terry Pedroza studying the new C20 $39,900 scope. The
low quality of the sky was a shame. We wanted some nice dry, steady
skies, but didn't find them over the viewing nights, Dew ruled the
night after 10:30 pm on Friday, but was marginally better on Saturday
evening. |
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This scope got my award for the most innovative low $$$
scope! The man said he had $30 invested in this 4" scope and he
had paid $20 of that for the optics. The bottom bucket is filled
with water for stability. |
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A great idea to keep your secondary mirror clean. |
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RTMC AWARD WINNER : BILL REED
Bill Reed of Pasadena offered this Maksutov Cassegrain and mount for
the telescope makers competition. This scope was truly an
innovative, functional work of art. Bill's work in aluminum was an
inspiration to everyone who got the opportunity to see this gem. He
said he had learned much from AVAC founder Keith Lawson. Haven't we
all!? |
Features include a perfectly smooth "Spider
Bearing" for the azimuth, a quick-release for the entire scope to
come off of the tripod, a really cool snap-on attachment tp put a Telrad
on the scope, perfectly aligned in 2 seconds, a scope balancing adjustment
so you could use any eyepiece with confidence. |
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| Awaiting the presentation of the Door Prizes. |
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