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Nate B.
sage
Reged: 03/08/07
Posts: 217
Loc: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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How many of you have an observatory site without an observatory? Most everyone's remote observatory started this way but how many people keep them this way? I ask because I have a remote site, 2.25 acres, that I get away to on weekends to image and we just finished some excavation there for a level imaging field on the top of the hill. Observing Site
I don't have plans yet for an observatory but it may just stay as an observing site. So how many others have observing sites but no actual observatory / or equipment stored on site?
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Pentax SDUF-II 100mm f/4 APO
Meade LXD55 SN10 OTA
Orion 80ED 80mm f/7.5 APO
Celestron C6 XLT
Meade DSI Pro autoguider
QHY8 CCD
Canon 30D DSLR HAP Modded
Orion Atlas EQ-G Mount with EQMOD
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BluewaterObserva
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/04
Posts: 4763
Loc: Zuni Mtns, NM
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The no setup / tear down, ever.. Open the dome and start observing gets most of us eventually. 
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Nate B.
sage
Reged: 03/08/07
Posts: 217
Loc: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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I know what you mean. However, with gas prices the way they are and a remote site being, well, remote, and the ability to image in narrow band I find myself imaging from home pretty often instead of making the 60 mile trip out of the city. I'd like a dual setup to keep one at home and one at an observatory but the added expense just doesn't make sense to duplicate things. I suppose this is where I consider remote imaging at my site?
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Pentax SDUF-II 100mm f/4 APO
Meade LXD55 SN10 OTA
Orion 80ED 80mm f/7.5 APO
Celestron C6 XLT
Meade DSI Pro autoguider
QHY8 CCD
Canon 30D DSLR HAP Modded
Orion Atlas EQ-G Mount with EQMOD
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BluewaterObserva
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/04
Posts: 4763
Loc: Zuni Mtns, NM
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Sure.. Remote imaging is not for the finacially faint at heart though.
No chance of DSO imaging at my city location... Well, I am sure somebody could pull it off, not me.
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dmdouglass
member
Reged: 12/23/07
Posts: 89
Loc: Tempe, AZ
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Nate....
That is a good looking site you have there. I envy your ability to just go to such a nice location, and know that it is there waiting for you.
Some day though, you will want to build something there.... like maybe a house, and maybe something else.... (round, with a hole in the roof....).
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David M. Douglass
Tempe, Arizona
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2846
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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I have 3 remote sites that I can go to. #1 is 5 acres about 40 miles NW of San Antonio, TX.
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2846
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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#2 is 7.5 acres about 50 miles NW of San Antonio, Texas.
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2846
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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#3 is 167 acres in Bandera, Texas about 45 minutes NW of town. There is a permanent polar aligned pier at this location.
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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1965healey
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 2846
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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Site #1 is vacant land.
Site #2 has an old homestead on it.
Site #3 is a working ranch.
I have a 10X10 ROR obs above my garage at my home in San Antonio. The obs gets the most use since it's 15 feet from the back door. The ranch is used mostly for birding, horseback riding, hiking and fishing but there is an old 8" orange Celestron SCT out there along with a spotting scope and a 60mm refractor. The homestead has a spotting scope and another 60mm refractor. Grab and Go scopes are an SV80mm NHNG or a Celestron 150XLT Newt on a CG5-GT mount. 
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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Lusty
super member
Reged: 08/24/08
Posts: 193
Loc: Florida USA
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Haven't been to Gonzales in a few years but the sky was nice and dark, even from the middle of town. Seeing was very good as well. I think it is about 75 miles, but lots of land west of there.
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Nate B.
sage
Reged: 03/08/07
Posts: 217
Loc: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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I guess you really hit on my main concern; you get most of your use out of the observatory that is in your backyard vs. remote locations. I'm very reluctant to permantently setup my equipment 60 miles away which wouldn't allow me to image from home. The point of a permanent setup / observatory is to image MORE not less......
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Pentax SDUF-II 100mm f/4 APO
Meade LXD55 SN10 OTA
Orion 80ED 80mm f/7.5 APO
Celestron C6 XLT
Meade DSI Pro autoguider
QHY8 CCD
Canon 30D DSLR HAP Modded
Orion Atlas EQ-G Mount with EQMOD
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John Fitzgerald
In Focus
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 1257
Loc: AR
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I have a remote site 50 miles from my house and 42 miles from town. For three years (2005, 06, and 07) I used it as an open air site to set up and observe. In August 2006, I added a permanent sleeping/cooking cabin, and thus avoided setting up a tent. This past winter/spring, I built my 16 ft x 16 ft roll-off there. I don't keep much loose equipment in there when not at the site other than tables, chairs, stepstool, and a tripod and parallelogram mount (awkward to haul), but it does help to be able to set up, observe for a night, close the roof, and not worry about wind, animals, sudden rain, etc. I have even left for a good part of the day and returned for another night's observing with the scopes inside. It's not like having an observatory in my back yard, but my remote site is quite dark, high, open, and much less dewy than most sites around this area. In comparison, my back yard has light pollution, somewhat restricted horizons, and bad dew. So, the remote site has been worth it to me, even with all the rain this year. I have had to mow out there 16 times so far, 1/2 acre or so of "yard". When I retire hopefully in a couple of years, I hope to move to the site, or at least within a 15 minute drive.
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?
Observing since 1966
Messier Cert #898
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