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Tim, As I posted above, I agree that Mr. Ballas might have been an amateur that ground the mirror and had Bill make the rest of the scope. However, the dates don't quite add up... Maybe Mr. Ballas is the gentleman to the left of Bill in the Charlton Flats photo. Anybody recognize him?

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Paul, I didn't start going to Charlton Flats star parties until 1960-1961, so I can't say that I remember Mr. Ballas.
If I knew just a little more about him - like his first name and where he lived - I might be able to identify him from the numerous Ballases that show up on the many California databases on Ancestry.com (for example, voter registration lists, street directories, and birth, marriage and death indexes).

I'm attaching a photo I took at a 1961 star party at Charlton Flats.

-Lew

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I don't get no respect, but my scopes do!
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1961 Swift 60mm model 839 (2); 2003 TV-102/GM-8; 1959 8" f/6 Treckerscope; 1959 8" f/7.4 Murray Scope; 1959 Fecker Celestar-4; 1978 4" Edmund Astroscan; c. 1986 4-inch Celestron-Vixen SP-C102; c. 1950 20X60 Saturn spotting scope; 1963 7X50 Nippon Kogaku binoculars; Unitron #114 alt-az mount (Swifty-tron)

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