Mel Bartels

Amateur telescope making

BBAstroDesigns, Inc

Top Bar Hives

About Mel Bartels...

For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
--- Vincent van Gogh

I work on thin meniscus mirrors for very fast high etendue Richest Field Telescopes, using them to visually discover galactic cirrus (Integrated Flux Nebulae).

Interests in deep sky observing and cold camera astrophotography with homebuilt equatorials turned to large thin mirror grinding when I met John Dobson in 1981 and was given a night on John's 24 inch at Crater Lake. I have ground dozens of mirrors up to 30 inch in size and led mirror making classes. My interest in innovative mounting designs led to popularizing ultralights with single upper rings in 1994, inventing the TriDob in 2003, the ZipDob in 2009 and the thee-axis double flex rocker in 2018.

I developed an hardware and software open sourced telescope control system featuring software architecture innovations in the early 1990's that became popular worldwide. My github is available here....

I ran the ATM list for six years. I speak at astronomical conferences and my telescope walkabouts are a popular highlight at the Oregon Star Party. I currently participate in the Oregon Scope Werks and Altaz Initiative groups.

I was President of the Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory and member of the year.

The I.A.U. named asteroid 17823 Bartels in recognition for my contributions to amateur astronomy. Go here for more on the asteroid...

Speaking engagements...

ALCON Aug '07, Portland, Oregon

Altaz Initiative, Meter-Class Astronomy Conference, Jan '12, Waimea, Hawaii

Altaz Initiative, PDX Workshops, July '06, Aug every year since '11, Portland Oregon

Atlanta Astronomy Expo, May '01, Atlanta, Georgia

AstroImage 97, Orange County, California

Battle Point Astronomical Society May '99, Nov '04, Bainbridge Island, Washington

Black Forest Star Party, Sept '19, Potter County, Pennsylvania

Boise Astronomical Society, June '00, April '03, Boise, Idaho

Dallas Astronomical Society, June '98, Dallas, Texas

Delmarva Mirror Making Seminar, Mar '17, Georgetown, Delaware

Golden State Star Party, July '12, Adin, California

Idaho Star Party, Sept '04, Boise, Idaho

Image The Sky, Nov '99, June '04, July '05, Salem/Portland, Oregon

International Mars Society meeting star party presentation, Aug '03, Eugene, Oregon

Laurel Highlands Star Cruise, June '04, Morgantown, West Virginia

Mt Bachelor Star Party, Sept '02, Aug '03, Aug '08, Bend, Oregon

NEAF (Northeast Astro Forum), Apr '05, New York, New York

NightSky 45, July '15, Aug '19, Salem, OR

Oregon Star Party, 'scope walkabout' held every year, Prineville, Oregon

Okie-Tex Star Party, Oct '99, Black Mesa, Oklahoma

Rose City Astronomers, April '99, Sept '06, Mar, '21, Portland, Oregon

Roseburg Astronomical Society, Nov '01, May '02, June '03, Aug '04, Roseburg, Oregon

RASC, June '07, Vancouver, British Columbia

RETA (REunion de Telescopios de Aficionado), August '10, Aras de los Olmos, Spain

Spokane Astronomical Society, April '07, Nov '15, Spokane, Washington

Starfest Aug '07, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Stockton Astronomical Society, Aug '22, Stockton, CA

Table Mountain Star Party, Aug '05, Ellensburg, Washington

Telescope Optics Workshop, Mar '99, April '00, April '01, Bellingham, Washington

The Wilderness Center Astronomy Club, Nov '99, Wilmot, Ohio

Winter Star Party, Feb '02, West Summerland Key, Florida

Books, articles, photos...

Contributing author to Lightweight Alt-Az Research Telescope Developments, publisher Collins Press

Contributing author, Amateur Telescope Making, publisher Springer

Contributing author, Best of Amateur Telescope Making Journal I and II, publisher Willman-Bell

Contributing author, Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics, publisher Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Publishers

Sky and Telescope articles appearing in April '79, Nov '99, April '00, Aug '04, Jan '12, Sept '14, April '17, Feb '19, April '19, Dec '19, Dec '22

Amateur Astronomy magazine issues #57, 69, 82, 86, 112

Cover story for Amateur Telescope Making Journal, #12 '98

Observatory Techniques #12, '94

Mentioned in Astronomia (Italy), pg 49, April, '97

Circuit Cellar article appearing in May, '00

Featured in The Oregonian, Sept 3, '97, C8

Featured in Air and Space, Dec/Jan, '98 pg 38

Photo in Windows Tech Journal, Dec '92, pg 58

AstroRapport (Norway) article, nr.4, '95

Northwest Astrophotography Show, '96, 2nd place

Inspiration...

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
 Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
 Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
 You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
 High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
 I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
 My eager craft through footless halls of air.
 Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
 I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
 Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
 And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
 The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
 Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, 1940, often quoted after the 1986 Challenger accident

'If we die, we want people to accept it. We hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.' Gus Grissom

Flying...

Piloting over the Cascades
Flying over the rim of Mt St Helens

Images

Bear
Honey
An ice spike in a bird bath following a cold snap December 2014
Sun rainbows
Sun pillar

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