need help planning observ. setup

[peter brown]

I have a meade lx200gps 10" and am hoping to get a school model sirius obsevatory. I also have a skywatcher ED100 refractor on a EQ5pro mount.
I am interesed in beginning some astrophotography. Which telescope should I mount in the observatory and what height and position should I plan to position it?
Does anyone know if I need council permit to erect the observatory?
I am a very beginner and would appreciate any and all advice.
Thanks in anticipation.

[Luke]

Id go the lx200 as its bigger apature will gather lots more light, and its a bit more user friendly than the heq5 in the begining. Its also better for closer shots of most galaxies. You will need to get a wedge if you want to do exposures over 30 seconds though.
The ed 100 is perfect for wide field photgraphy and i think im right in saying that it could go ontop of the lx200 to be used for guiding [good for extra long exposure shots. Im not sure on that though.
Thart observatory sounds great! As for council, im sure if a structure is under a certain size it can just go up, like one of those tin sheds you put together [my council hasnt said anything yet} but give em a call.

ps what kind of camera you thinking of?

[peter brown]

Thanks Luke, I'll start planning to build an inground pier support in the right position and hopefully the right height for a pier to support my 10" SCT. I have a Nikon D80 DSLR but will probably get a CCD camera if the technology isn't to far over my head. I,m 55 yrs young and I think the computer revolution is leaving me behind. Thanks again.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by peter brown

I have a meade lx200gps 10" and am hoping to get a school model sirius obsevatory. I also have a skywatcher ED100 refractor on a EQ5pro mount.
I am interesed in beginning some astrophotography. Which telescope should I mount in the observatory and what height and position should I plan to position it?
Does anyone know if I need council permit to erect the observatory?
I am a very beginner and would appreciate any and all advice.
Thanks in anticipation.

As far as what telescope to mount in your observatory, I would mount the 10" LX200 on a pier with an equatorial mount and then piggyback the ED100 on the larger scope. Or keep the ED100 as your "grab'n'go" scope and get a short tube refractor (like an ED80) for the guidescope. The pier should be at a height that you're comfortable working with. I'd set the height somewhere around 35"-45", but that's my preference. Make sure that the pier is isolated from the floor and structure of the building, this is to stop any vibrations passing into the pier and shaking the scope. Also, put some conduit in the pier to take the cables and such to and from your telescope. It'll keep them out of the way. The observatory itself mightn't need council approval (find out, though), but it will have to come upto building standards. For lighting in the observatory, make sure you have a normal light and a red light. The red light you can leave on whilst observing as it helps to preserve dark adaptation of your eyes, plus it'll illuminate everything so you won't fall over cables etc.

As far as positioning goes, just survey your yard and see how much sky you can actually see. Pick the spot where you're going to get the best views from, without having too much light get into your observatory.

The thing you should do is have fun setting your observatory up. Enjoy building it and enjoy using it