“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known".  Sharon Begley
Copyright © 2024 by Dennis Roscoe, Ph.D.         Last Update was February 15, 2024                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Observatory

Observatory Building-YouTube Video

The Observatory building is a SkyShed POD on a 9 x 9 foot concrete slab with an isolated 16 inch pier.

Telescope Systems

Takahashi TOA-130F f/5.7 with reducer, AstroTech 102 f/7.0, and Bisque Paramount MX.

Optical Train

ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera , Takahashi TOA-130R

Reducer with  spacer rings resulting in a f/5.7optical

system. ZWO ASI174MM solar camera

ZWI OAG-L, ST-i guide camera and ZWO 7x36mm filter wheel with Astrodon 5nm Ha, OIII, SII and LRGB filters. 3 inch FeatherTouch Focuser with Starizona MicroTouch Remote Focusing System and ZWO EAF on Solar telescope with Daystar Quark system.

Pier Design

An isolated 16 inch pier goes down 6.5 feet mating with a Big Foot footing form. A 4 inch PVC pipe carries redundant CAT5e network lines back to the house.
RoscoeSkies
Four 14" stainless steel 3/4" L-bolts (Dan's Pier Top Plates) are held in a wooden template for placement into the 16" concrete pier.

RSO Control Room

There are six applications programs that control the operation of the RSO running on a headless mini-PC in the observatory; TheSkyX Professional Edition, TSX Camera Control, MicroTouch Focuser Control, Voyager, Viking, and Dimension 4. The mini-PC operates under the control of a remote desktop.