Observatory II

As noted several other times, having an observatory makes the difference between whether I use my LX-200 or not. I guess I am just lazy, but the thought of dragging out the tripod, setting up the super wedge, mounting the scope, doing alignments - and then having to tear it all back down and put it away for a couple of hours of observing/imaging leads me not to use my telescope often. Last summer I built a fence around our backyard and leveled it out at the same time. This summer the major project we have started calling the Taj Mahal. It is a workshop/storage building combination. Originally I had a roll off roof observatory as part of this building - but our back yard was not large enough to accommodate the 30' long structure (according to the yard boss). So it was time to rethink the design. Rather than a roll off roof observatory, I decided on a roll off observatory. The building is going to be about four feet on a side and mounted on 4 wheels. This will give me a small observatory, but still provide protection for the LX-200 sitting on a permanent base.

Here are two views (click for a larger version) of the observatory. The first shows a 3-D rendition and the second a side view. Looking at the side view, a large block of concrete (almost 2 yards worth) makes up the foundation for the telescope base. The hatched part is located below the ground surface. Wheels are visible on both sides. On the top of the base are a couple of 4x4's with 2x6 decking. The 4x4's are secured to the base with anchor bolts embedded in the concrete base. The 2x6 decking is attached to the 4x4's by 4" decking screws. The 2x6's hang out 2" over the 4x4's, acting as a capture lip. The base of the roll off observatory has a 2x8 that runs under the lip. This will protect the roll off observatory from being blown over in high winds. If the images do not look clear when you click on them, with Internet Explorer if you hold the cursor over the image it will give you an icon in the lower right that when clicked on will enlarge the image - this will show all the details.

As of August 11, 2006 I have poured the base which contains a rebar structure previously designed by my Father (a civil engineer), poured the vertical column of concrete to bring the telescope to a convenient height. Please click on "Images" to see the work. As previously noted, the Taj Mahal is taking precedence over the observatory - but I expect to be done with the Taj Mahal by the end of August.

January 28, 2007 - It was not until November of 2006 before the Taj Mahal was finished. Some parallel work was performed on the new observatory. In early January I put down the pavers that the observatory would roll off onto. The latest panorama view shows the work being done that day on the pavers. I need to trim the treaded wood on the outside of the pavers to allow unobstructed rolling of the observatory. Next up will be the electric closing mechanism for the door on the observatory.

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