Quote:
Originally Posted by Quark
Ran into Don, Micheal and Mike at the SPSP many years ago. They are all very experienced observers, use the gear they sell and offer pertinent advice on astro gear.
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Hi Trevor,
Thanks for the post.
With regards Don Whiteman in particular, I would personally regard him as one of the
most experienced observers that you are likely to find anywhere on the planet
and is a highly accomplished telescope maker and master telescope technician.
Many of us know Don, but for those online who have not had the opportunity
to meet him personally or aware of his background, the following may
be of interest.
Don is totally "keyed-into" the world of amateur astronomy and has a dizzying
long-list of friends and colleagues in that community both here in Australia and
elsewhere in the world.
Talented in his own right, Don also received formal training and worked at the
Meade and Celestron plants in Los Angeles. It is always interesting to talk
to Don about his occasional sojourns to New Calendonia where just about the
whole astronomical community there turn out to have their scopes serviced by him,
many requiring it owing to the high humidity and mildew.
Don is also a former President of the Astronomical Society of New South
Wales and the current Society Editor. He is one of those grass roots
movers-and-shakers that occur in clubs where you find nearly all of the
hard work is actually done by just a small handful of people, thus making events
like star parties possible.
Mai and I have a lot of time for Don and fondly regard him as a friend.
Best Regards
Gary Kopff
