My name is Steve Bell, and I am from Bradley, Illinois, a small town about sixty miles south of Chicago. My interests in astronomy include digital imaging, telescope making, and deep sky observing. Each of these areas are a part of the hobby, but very much different from each other.

Digital Imaging is my most recent obsession. I purchased a Meade DSI (Deep Sky Imager) Pro, which is much like modern digital cameras, but designed specifically for use with a telescope and the sky. It has been a fun and interesting ride learning to use this new toy, and the images aren't turning out half bad! See my images in the Astrophoto Gallery.

Most comercial telescopes come with mounts that are either not the right design, or are too flimsy for photographic work. Granted, if you spend enough money you can get suitable equipment, but my means are limited, so I am an Amateur Telescope Maker. (ATM) For me, much of the challenge and enjoyment of the hobby is designing, picking out the parts at the local hardware store, and building my own equipment. I grew up in a hardware store, so this just comes naturally. You would be surprised at how many uses you can find for pipe fittings and building materials! Since I've been working with the DSI, I have found that much of my current equipment, including mounts and optics, are not quite 'up-to-snuff' when it comes to imaging. My most recent project is remaking an 8" f/4 newtonian to use with the DSI. See my Amateur Telescope Making pages for this and other projects.

Telescopes and other equipment are fun, and take up a lot of my 'cloudy night' time, but my real reason for all of this is my passion for the night sky. When I was 13, (37 years ago!) my parents bought me a small telescope for Christmas, and with my first look at Saturn, I was hooked for life! To this day, one of my favorite things is to turn someone on to Saturn or Jupiter through a 'scope for the first time. As the years have progressed, my interests have turned to deep sky observing...looking for the 'faint fuzzies'...galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters...that are at the limits of my and my equipment's capabilities.

I am a member of our local astronomy club, the Kankakee Area StarGazers. If you are from the Kankakee area, please visit the web site and attend one of our meetings on the first Saturday of the month at 10:00 am at Strickler Planetarium on Olivet Nazarene University's campus in Bourbonnais. I hope you enjoy my site!

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