OBSERVATORY

In 2019 I decided to quit messing around with a very tiresome nightly setup/breakdown of all the equipment for observations and imaging sessions and built a permanent setup. This turned out to be a much bigger project than I initially bargained for...

CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL

BUILDING: 8'x14'x4', 2"x4" frame, Hardieplank siding

FOUNDATION: concrete pier, concrete slab

ROOF: 8' NexDome, 5' Retrax roll-off, fiberglass shell

POWER: 600w Solar Panels, 300ah battery bank

AUTOMATION: NexDome rotator kit, NanoStation AC PtP link network

IMAGING EQUIPMENT

MOUNT: Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2

TELESCOPE: Stellarvue SVQ86 f5.4 - 464mm - 86mm/3.39" Quad Astrograph

GUIDE SCOPE: Mini Borg 50 Achromat f5.0 - 250mm - 50mm

IMAGING CAMERA: QHY163M 4/3" 16mpx

GUIDE CAMERA: ZWO ASI290MM Mini

POLAR ALIGNMENT: QHY PoleMaster

FILTER WHEEL: QHYCFW3S-US (thin) 15.5mm 7 Position 1.25inch

FILTERS: Chroma 31mm unmounted, LRGB 3nm, Ha 3nm, OIII 3nm, SII 3nm

FOCUSER: Optec FocusLynx DirectSync Kit

COMPUTER: PrimaLuceLab Eagle2 dedicated astronomy computer

SOFTWARE: SGP3, PHD2, Cartes du Ciel

OBSERVATION EQUIPMENT

MOUNTS: Losmandy AZ8 manual Alt/Az, Celestron Nexstar Evo Alt/Az

TELESCOPES: Celestron 9.25" Schmidt-Cassegrain, Takahashi FC-100DF Refractor

EYEPIECES: TeleVue Delos 12mm, 10mm, 8mm, 6mm, Nagler Planetary Zoom 6-3mm

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