[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Gang

I have been reading through the trials and tribulations of building an Observatory to house a telescope.

A permanent mount is a real asset to spending more time at the eyepiece and it is a simple matter if you put your mind to it.

Don't have grandious ideas about it a simple 2.4 x 2.4 x 180cm (purpose built) "garden shed" size is quite ample for a pedestal mounted 14" SCT and it gets around planning restrictions in all but the worst localities.

When I moved to my new house in Kellyville and being lazy by nature I decided that I needed somewhere permanent for my 10" LX200 to save setting it up every time I wanted to use it. I also wanted protection from the local environment of weather and lighting.

I settled on a shed of the dimensions described and drew up some plans for a suitable shed to mount a (portable ?) Sirius Dome on.

I started by making a formwork of the required size in a corner of the back yard and got my neighbour who was a concretor to lay as slab for the princely sum of $180. This was all done on the first weekend.

During the next week I went to the timber store and ordered the timber and got a good discount when he said he could cut all the pieces to size with heavier scrap than if I had bought what I originally intended. At the same time I ordered enough colourbond sheeting to do the sides also cut to size. I also ordered the Dome from the agents.

Two weeks later I reasoned that the floor had cured enough so I went and collected the timber and sheeting and made up the framework for the shed. The four sides are bolted together at the corners and fastened to the concrete with dyna bolts. This makes for easy removal when the time comes. I fastened the side sheeting and prepared the top to take the dome. I won't go into details because the full description is on my web site.

During the next week I picked up the dome and with the help of my son, assembled it and the two of us had no bother lifting it onto the prepared area. I applied some paint and cleaned up the job and the basic observatory was complete. The whole job was about three weekends work.

I intended to make a good solid pier out of 10" steel pipe filed with sand but so far I have not done this. Instead I pressed into service a tripod I made previously, as a temporary measure that has proved adequate for my use.

The last job was to make a jib crane in one corner that stores along the inside of the shed when not in use. It plumbs the telescope nicely and I can easily lift my now 12" SCT on and off the wedge when required. I can even do this with one hand, an experiment I did when a one armed man wanted to know how to set up a large telescope.