Scott K
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/13/07
Posts: 1409
Loc: Dallas, TX & Eufaula, OK
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That is too cool leewk - what a great idea!
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Here's my roof-mounted observatory. I live in a Victorian home with a large flat roof. The roof joists and hatch cover support structure give me 22 inches of space between the hatch cover above the scope and the ceiling below the scope. I have a door that slides in place under the scope when not in use or when I'm operating it remotely (which is necessary to keep heat from the attic from affecting the views).
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 6558
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Very nice Tim, any photos of inside?
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M110 Doublet ED, AT 102Achro, ZS80FD 10th Anniv, ZS66SD, PST
CG5-AGT, EZ-Touch, Voyager
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Yep, sorry! They're kinda old now, though. I used to have doors underneath that swung down (like in this picture):
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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ctd...
And the ladder you see there, for accessing the eyepiece (scary). But I used to bump into the doors all the time when they were hanging down, so I've put them in tracks routed into a pair of 2x4's screwed up to the ceiling (with the doors rotated 90 degrees to how you see them here, so they slide out of the way to the left in the picture).
This works much better now, and I'm also using a folding rollaway scaffold platform to get to the eyepiece, which is a lot safer and doesn't interfere with the doors at all (I used to have to either move the ladder to open the doors, or put it right in the middle so they'd miss it).
We're planning to insulate the attic roof and finish it off to use as a theater room with a big projection screen for movies, so when we do I'll make a new, single door on drawer rollers so it'll move more easily in the tracks.o
Because there's only 22 inches of space in the roof, I have to fold the scope horizontal for stowing. But with the weights I've put on the south end of my makeshift wedge, it's pretty easy to polar align and get to imaging.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Oh, and here's my old rolltop desk ($200 at the local swap meet), all cluttered up and ready to go!
I use a Mac Powerbook G4, and an intel Mac Mini for imaging with two Point Grey "flea" machine vision firewire cameras (one of these is visible on the C 9.25" in the picture above), and Astro IIDC for video capture and image processing.
The HP laptop in the background is used mostly for operating the robofocus on the 9.25" (though Equinox Image and a few other mac applications can now do this). I also use it when I point the scope with TheSky6. On the Macs, I use Voyager 4 and EquinoX, both of which work nicely with the Nexstar.
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Oops. Pic didn't attach!
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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csa/montana
Wild Spirit
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40248
Loc: montana
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Tim, Really nice! Looks like you have a lot of clear sky to view!
Thanks for sharing your photos with us!
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 6558
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Well done Tim
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M110 Doublet ED, AT 102Achro, ZS80FD 10th Anniv, ZS66SD, PST
CG5-AGT, EZ-Touch, Voyager
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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Scott K
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/13/07
Posts: 1409
Loc: Dallas, TX & Eufaula, OK
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Very neat setup Tim - the rolltop desk is a nice touch!
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budgetastronomer
journeyman
Reged: 07/07/05
Posts: 5
Loc: Toronto Ontario
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Here are some pictures of my SkyShed POD:
http://www.budgetastronomer.ca/index.php?page=my-observatory
And here's a video:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4LNuiaND5Q
Enjoy!
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Ed Hitchcock
the budget astronomer
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LBurg
member
Reged: 02/29/08
Posts: 15
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This is my Red Barn
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1965healey
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 3135
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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Quote:
This is my Red Barn
Is it me or is your roof crooked? Does it spin? 
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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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LBurg
member
Reged: 02/29/08
Posts: 15
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Closed up
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LBurg
member
Reged: 02/29/08
Posts: 15
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The roof rotates, got the idea from here
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csa/montana
Wild Spirit
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40248
Loc: montana
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Nice idea for your Observatory! Thanks for posting your pictures.
Also Welcome to Cloudy Nights! Glad to have you here with us.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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1965healey
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 3135
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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Quote:
The roof rotates, got the idea from here
COOL! Welcome to CN!
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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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Tom Clark
sage
Reged: 11/14/07
Posts: 248
Loc: Chiefland, Florida
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I've posted my observatory in other threads, so here are a couple of different photos than those used before:
The dome is a 24' home-made affair, my first ever construction project. Believe me, if I can do it, so can you.
For a 5 minute slide show on the dome and scope construction, click here: http://tinyurl.com/2ozsvc
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Tom Clark
sage
Reged: 11/14/07
Posts: 248
Loc: Chiefland, Florida
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The scope is a 1600 pound 42" go-to Dob. I've always been a visual observer, but the way trends are going with the new video astronomy, the scope may have a video camera replace the eyepieces one of these days. That's one way of having your own images similar to a 200".
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 6558
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Love the Alien 
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M110 Doublet ED, AT 102Achro, ZS80FD 10th Anniv, ZS66SD, PST
CG5-AGT, EZ-Touch, Voyager
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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