The meeting was held at the new Boxford Community Center at 10 Elm Street in Boxford, as well as via Zoom. There were 22 participants (19 in-person and 3 on Zoom). A quorum of members was present, and the Business Meeting was official.

Guests and new club members were asked to introduce themselves:

Peter, originally from Boxford, who learned about the club from a member
Jenny from Methuen, librarian who has always loved the stars

Officer Reports:

President – Kathi Freeman:

Kathi called for approval of the June Business Meeting Minutes, which were approved by acclamation.

Vice President – Justin Murray:

Justin reported no updates.

Treasurer – Ron Sampson:

Ron was unable to attend.

Secretary – Tolga Yazicioglu:

Tolga reported no updates.

Membership Director – John Gall:

John was unable to attend.

At Large Board Members – Rob Braczyk & Rob Vincent & Matt Bowler:

No updates reported.

Collins Observatory at Salem State – Dennis Gudzevich:

Dennis provided an update on the Collins Observatory, which has a Meade LX200 12” ACF. The observatory is typically open on clear Mondays 7pm-10pm when school is in session.

Back in December 2025, the main gear on the winch for the observatory broke (again!). Dennis reported that the Observatory is still closed, and will remain closed until the repairs can be made.

Still trying to acquire a suitable speed reducer for the dome. Trying to find one that has a smaller footprint to not impede into the space for visitors. Dennis is also trying his best to continue operating Salem State, but might need to step away soon. If someone is interested in the future of operating Salem State, please connect with Dennis!

Star Parties – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster was unable to attend, but provided a report to the BoD that was shared by Justin

Recent Star Parties:

Appleton Farms was July 7. Around 40+ people, thanks to everyone that came out to help. The light up name badges made their debut, Justin has more for anyone coming to help out next week at Donovan. The name badges are illuminated red and have been customized by Brewster to be less bright and suitable for star parties.

Upcoming:

August 12 (cloud date of August 13) Donovan Reservation, in Hamilton. See email for the logistics. Justin will be handling on-the-ground. Still TBD if we'll have WBZ news coverage.

September will be back in Parker River on 9/8. Trails and Sails at Battis Farm on 9/12 and 9/18. Maudslay State Park on 9/15.

Scope Clinic – Bryan Stone & Ron Sampson:

If you have anything on your telescope that you need help with, or if you need help with your telescope, Bryan & Ron can assess your scope, making recommendations, and performing some minor repairs.

Old Business:

Lifetime Honorary Memberships

In February 2026, a Motion was made, seconded, and Approved to provide honorary memberships for anyone who has been an NSAAC member for 30+ years (not required to be continuous). Let Kathi know if you qualify and would like to take advantage of the offer.

Active Committees

Let Kathi, any BoD member, or Member at Large know if you’d like to join any of the current Club Committees:

Telescope Sales Committee
No major updates; one remaining scope that is under repair.
Young Astronomer’s Program
No updates, looking to coordinate another meeting in August
Marketing & Social Media Committee
No updates.

New Business:

August Board of Directors Meeting

Next Board Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday 10 August at 8PM via Zoom. Reach out to Kathi if you’d like to attend.

Business Meeting was Adjourned by President Kathi Freeman at 7:43PM

Following the Business Meeting, we were joined in-person by club member Chris Burkinshaw who presented on Radio Astronomy and the journey he took to get there.

Chris has been fascinated by science and space for as long as he can remember, from early memories of his grandfather talking about Jupiter and the Andromeda Galaxy to watching Comet Hale-Bopp arc across the sky as a kid.

It all changed three years ago when he pointed a Nikon camera at a comet and spotted a faint green dot on the screen. That single image was the beginning of an adventure that has taken him from equatorial mounts and telescopes, to observing the Sun with a spectroheliograph, to building a small radio telescope to detect the arms of the Milky Way.

He now images from two locations, a remote telescope in Texas under some of the darkest skies in the country, and home in Massachusetts, where light pollution makes every good image a small act of persistence.

When clouds kept him from optical work he turned to radio astronomy, teaching himself signal processing, data pipelines, galactic kinematic, and a healthy respect for noise floors along the way. Using a consumer disk, an RTL-SDR, and a custom Python pipeline he built himself, he maps spiral arms of the Milky Way from his backyard. He’s also developing Spinflip, a tool aimed at making hydrogen line radio astronomy more accessible to beginners. During his presentation, he showed us what a $100 dish can actually “see.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tolga Yazicioglu, Secretary

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