I was a member of the Northwest Suburban Astronomers (NSA). It is a long drive to out to the suburbs from here in the city. But hey, I have a fun car to get there in at least. The members are great which makes the meetings a whole lot of fun. Most agree that the high point of the night is pizza afterwards where everything relating to and not relating to astronomy is discussed. There is even some observing done from the heavily light polluted skies in the parking lot outside the pizza place and across from the car dealership. Fun, fun, fun.
The club was a great sounding board for all sorts of things. There's always someone there who's had experience with a potential supplier of parts. I owe too many of the members to mention a word of thanks for their help in the design of the scope. Probably the most helpful were Darrin, Gary Poliquin, Mitch and Dan Joyce.
I also volunteered at Adler Planetarium. When there, I was usually found helping visitors look through a telescope. It is there that my long held fascination with Dobs blossomed into full-blown love. It was here too that I gained experience with using digital setting circles and learned how helpful they can be under light polluted skies.
I was also a member of the Chicago Astronomical Society (CAS). The CAS was the sponsor of Astrofest, which was the high point of my year. My determination to have the scope ready in time for Astrofest 2002 provided the push to get things DONE. The CAS has also had some really interesting lectures as well. They're the kind of talks that make me want to quit my day job and become a professional astrophysicist.
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Last updated 11/15/23