This is my Observatory. Construction began on May 1, 1999 with the digging of the postholes, and was completed on July 2, 1999 with the laying of the carpet. Please keep in mind that this was done almost completely at night. The short version of that story is, I have two very young children who take up a lot of our time, so the only time I get to work on this stuff is after 10pm.

The concrete pier was built in September, 1998. The observatory was built on top of a hill above my house in Eastern PA, about 10 miles north of a decent sized city. Because of this, approximately 20-30 degrees of my southern exposure are washed out by light pollution, hence the higher walls in the observatory. This is not a problem, because most of my photography is done overhead anyway.

MANY thanks to Chris Vedeler, whom I "borrowed" most of my design plans from. He was very helpful when I had questions.

Click on any image to see an enlarged version.

Completed...


Roof closed, roof open.

Inside...


1) Looking in from on the roof. Looking back, I should've gotten dark formica for the desktop. White reflects too much light, but hasn't been much of a problem. The white lightbulb is only for setup and teardown. The black rectangle to the left of the light is a red light on a dimmer, which is mounted on the pier.

2) Notice how the roof rests on 6 wheels, this is how the roof rolls back. Also, notice on the top-right corner is how the roof is locked down when not in use. There's another one of these on the opposite corner. They're standard lock buckles. Twist and the hinge drops down.

3) Notice that the roof is by no means airtight. I did this so the temperature doesn't fluxuate much, and the cooldown is minimal. So far, this design has survived many snowstorms, rainstorms, etc., and nothing has gotten wet or damaged, including the clock radio, stereo and intercom which are all electric and are on the desk. The white thing on the wall above the right speaker (near the business end of the Optical Tube Assembly) is an infrared motion detector, part of the security system, which is wired back to my house. And, if you're wondering, the 2x4 the outlet is attached to is crooked, not the pier. :)

4) 8/31/01 - Updated - This photo shows my new 10" LX-200 on a superwedge. I'm REALLY glad I made the roof as high as I did. Had it been 6" lower, and I would have had to do some sort of rebuilding. That would not have been fun!

Details...




1) The truss was used for construction, to make sure the roof was square. It's no longer necessary, however I have not removed it.

2) My power plant. Deep cycle marine battery, a small contraption that has a 3-way cigarette adapter for the dew zapper, scope and autoguider with a 15-volt meter to monitor the voltage level. Not shown is the battery charger.

3) A closeup (too close, I guess) of how the roof sits on the framework. The 6 wheels it rests on are for movement, and the four on the sides facing inward are to keep the roof guided. Since the roof weighs roughly 600 lbs, I have no fear of it falling off, although I do lock it down when it's not in use. My only problem is, opening and closing the roof is a pain. I may install a garage opener ala Chris Vedeller.

4 & 5) This is how I lock the roof down. They're just basic barndoor turnbuckles. I have two, each on opposite corners. I've never had a problem, even in the worst weather. I guess it doesn't take much, since the roof weighs ~600lbs.

Construction...


1) You'll probably notice on the first photo that some of the posts are inside and some are outside. This was not done for any purpose other than the fact that I was dealing with shale. I tried digging the holes by hand with a posthole digger, and a steel ramrod, but after about 6 hours of digging out three holes only about 1.5 feet deep, I realized I needed something a little better. I rented a posthole drill- an 11HP one on wheels with the fixed torque bar, pretty much the biggest, baddest drill they had, and it still took me almost 4 hours to dig out the 12 holes at 3' deep each. I stalled the thing 3 times! So, when you see crooked uprights, that's why. :)

2) Now it's starting to look like something!

3) A view from down below. Notice how beautifully green the grass is on the third photo towards the beginning of the project. Notice how barren and dead everything looks at the completed photos on the top. This year was a horrible drought. Almost 3 months with no rain. In PA, that's almost unheard of.

4) Starting to put the wall panels up. These panels, by the way are incredible construcion. They're about 1/4" thick, and weigh roughly 50 lbs each for a 4' x 6' square. They're bulletproof, and will hold up to anything. I got them from my brother-in-law, who worked at a company called United Panel. They were pre-cut, and the only thing I had to do was cut the door out, and pre-drill the holes for screws. I went through 3 carbide drill bits! Awesome stuff.

Click Here to see the construction of my concrete pier.

Click Here for construction of aluminum pier coupler plates