It was an adventure getting it done and climbing up on a safety ladder to do some rare maintenance isn't fun but overall it worked out. Attached are a few pics.
My Home Observatory Story
- umasscrew39
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My Home Observatory Story
It was an adventure getting it done and climbing up on a safety ladder to do some rare maintenance isn't fun but overall it worked out. Attached are a few pics.
Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate........Sophocles, c. 420 BCE
StarzantiSkies Observatory
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
- umasscrew39
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Well- I cheated on the roof. I had it custom made by Pier Tech. It arrived on a flat bed truck but in a hundred parts. We carried it up to the roof piece by piece to assemble it. It weights over 700 lbs and we also put hurricane straps on it by law in Florida since we do get hurricane season, which is right now. Interesting you mentioned HOA. This was part of the project. When we decided to move to the Orlando area, we specifically looked for a neighborhood that did not have a HOA- which is not easy here. Believe me- I use to be a HOA president many years ago where I was born and raised in Philadelphia. So I knew to avoid that headache. However, some HOAs may accept the slide off roof vs. a dome. Besides, slide off roofs have much less maintenance issues than domes.
Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate........Sophocles, c. 420 BCE
StarzantiSkies Observatory
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- Unitron48
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Dave
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
Reflectors/Catadioptrics: Meade 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newtonian, Galileo 120mm f/8.3 Newtonian, Meade 2045D 4" f/10 SCT, Meade ETX-90EC f/13.8 & Sarblue 60mm f/12.5 Maksutov-Cassegrains.
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro & Meade LXD55 Equatorial mounts, ES Twilight II and Meade 2102 ALT/AZ mounts, a modified 10" SkyQuest Dobsonian mount, various 60mm EQ mounts.
Misc: Celestron 20x80mm binoculars, Revolution II Imager/accessories, & lots of optical accessories/eyepieces.
Projects: 8" f/2.9 and 65mm f/10 reflectors, Dobson-style binocular mirror mount.
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Looks like retirement is going to be ok!
Regards
Graeme
Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Telescope newbie.
Skywacther 8"
Up is down and down is up. I never have inverted controls on in games, damn you telescope.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/188431606@N04/
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
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Observing: DSOs: 3122 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2196, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
I am considering such a plan, but I hesitate to lose parking.
Main telescope used is Obsession 18UC
Cut my teeth on Orion 10" Dob
AR152 and Orion ST80 sit mostly unused
Lots of binoculars
SeeStar S50
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
A very nice setup,
JT
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
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∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°
Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
It is really good to see an awesome project like this. Super job!
Thanks for sharing this!
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), ZWO OAG, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
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- Sky
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
I built mine almost 20 years and and it houses a 12" LX200 scope on top of a 13" chimney block pier. It's been a real imaging workhorse all those years. I'm a retired commercial/residential building contractor so I was able to draw up my own plans/designs. I live in a semi-rural area so working with the building department ... actually one part-time guy as the sole building inspector ... was a piece of cake!
Great job on your observatory ... I'm sure you'll get many years of imaging enjoyment with your setup ... Good Luck!
OrbiJet Observatory:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27684115@ ... 177074161/
- umasscrew39
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
No parking space lost at all. Just a chunk of the roof removed and a second floor added. The total usable space is around 240 sq. feet.Kingofthehill wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:24 am Did you lose parking for one car? Or, is the garage large enough that you made the stairway without sacrificing car space?
I am considering such a plan, but I hesitate to lose parking.
Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate........Sophocles, c. 420 BCE
StarzantiSkies Observatory
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- umasscrew39
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Your observatory is beautiful!!!!Sky wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:57 am WOW ! ... I'm having a case of Deja vu. When I first looked at your beautiful observatory, I thought it was my garage-top ROR observatory.
I built mine almost 20 years and and it houses a 12" LX200 scope on top of a 13" chimney block pier. It's been a real imaging workhorse all those years. I'm a retired commercial/residential building contractor so I was able to draw up my own plans/designs. I live in a semi-rural area so working with the building department ... actually one part-time guy as the sole building inspector ... was a piece of cake!
Great job on your observatory ... I'm sure you'll get many years of imaging enjoyment with your setup ... Good Luck!
OrbiJet Observatory:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27684115@ ... 177074161/
I wish I had your skill and knowledge. My biggest mistake was not being able to have it wider to build a walking platform around it. That way, I would not need the safety ladder to adjust things. I had to use a portable scaffolding setup to put the C11" scope on. Fortunately, I am strong enough to have done that but a walking platform would make things so much easier. I can probably do that but only partially around.
Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate........Sophocles, c. 420 BCE
StarzantiSkies Observatory
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- helicon
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
- umasscrew39
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Re: My Home Observatory Story
Thanks, Michael. That is where I lived for 8 years before moving to Florida. Too expensive for retirement. I also had issues with trees and having to use my scope on a deck which would vibrate upon any movement and messing up my images.helicon wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:06 pm Great obsy Bruce. I am in the SF Bay Area and also starting to look for a second home under dark skies somewhere in the West. I have been toying with building some kind of obsy but the problem at home is the tree cover, meaning I have to move my scopes around the various decks and lawn that surrounds my house as the earth's rotation causes the stars and constellations to wheel in and out of view. Probably will wait until I purchase the second home.
Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate........Sophocles, c. 420 BCE
StarzantiSkies Observatory
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