| Here are the two telescopes in place. This view is from the door looking north. I have already made a temporary pier adapter for attaching the equatorial mount to the concrete pier. The height of the telescope had to be such that it can be swung sideways to be low enough so the roof will clear the telescope as it is rolled off. The Dobsonian is already low and could be raised about 8" to better see over the 4 ft walls. An equatorial drive platform could be added. |  |
| Here the Maksutov is rotated for clearance by the roof for rolling back over the observatory. The white in the background is the end of the roof. This photo also shows the temporary pier-to-tripodhead adapter in more detail. I hope to replace this with a sturdier and more functional adapter. |  |
| A diagram of the layout of the observatory |  |
Plans: Power is needed in the observatory to power lights, the clock drive and a computer (laptop). It will be low voltage, probably 12 VDC. If power is brought in, then a data line will be run through the same conduit to provide connection to a computer in the nearby building.
| Type: | Roll-off Roof | Rolls from south to north |
| Floor Area: | 8 ft x 16 ft | raised wood floor on posts |
| Wall Height: | 4 ft | Standard 2x4 stud walls |
| Orientation: | Long axis North-South | Built around existing concrete pier |
| Roof: | metal roof sloped 6 in 12 | 4 ft truss spacing |
| Foundation: | 12 - 4 ft long railroad ties buried 3 ft | 6 supporting the floor 4 under the telescope platform 2 for the roof rails |
| Telescope Foundations: | 2 stations with 8 ft x 8 ft area | a concrete pier for an equatorial mount a 2ft x 2ft pad independent of the floor |
| Telescopes: | 333 mm f/4.5 Newtonian 102 mm f/13 Maksutov-Cassegrain | Dobsonian Mount Equatorial mount with clock drive |