Personal Observatory

I have created a site at

http://www.hualapaivalleyobservatory.org

Nothing there yet other than my Clear Sky Chart ... I have a few pictures of the land and the start of the building foundation at:

http://www.hualapaivalleyobservatory.org/construction

I'm just beginning so if your interested in building at the same time (maybe share some costs) let me know. I gave up on the concrete floor due to man-power (just too much prep and pour for me and my dad to do alone), so the more people working together the better.

Roy

[scopegeek]

Roy,

What do you have in the way of power and water coming to the property?

Rob

There is no power or water. I plan on installing a solar panel system on my observatory, but for the time being it is just battery and generator.

Roy

Ok.. part two of the construction .. got a lot of work done this last weekend (despite the terrible weather). The piers are poured and the building foundation posts have been put in place.



More in depth construction photos and details can be found at my observatory website (http://www.hualapaivalleyobservatory.org/).

Probable going to be about 3 weeks before I can do another round of construction. Just too much going on this month. But the next part will be to put the conduit in place for the power lines and telescope/camera controls. Plus put the floor on the foundation.

Roy

Well.. got some time in this weekend anyway... Got the floor and the back deck put in. Next up are the walls.



Also put in the weather station..


Roy

Not that anyone actually reads these but I figured I would post my progress so that others can see I was serious on my plans...

Here it is so far...



And one from the observatory section



Just need to put on the main roof and do the interior warm room walls. Then just trim and touch ups.

Roy

[scopegeek]

Hi Roy,

Just checking on your progress. Things are looking good.

Did you get your plans from Backyard Observatories? The 16x24 floor plan seems to be just like the Club Version that Backyard Observatories sells. We're considering something similar for the LVAS when we're able to get support and funding. I don't remember exactly where you said your observatory is located. I'll have to look at your site and refresh my memory.

Good luck - looks like you're making great progress.

Rob

I originally ordered the 12x12 plans from them and then later got the 16x24 version. You could say I used the 16x24 plans for the building, but it is really a customized version of it (door, windows, warm room size, back deck, fold down front wall .. stuff like that).

Hopefully the weather should be calm enough this weekend to get the main roof in place .. or at least the track assembly and the frame. I have also just finished getting the quote and ordering my solar panels and battery bank (along with inverter/charger and everything else). I'm hoping to get first light by the middle of April.

Roy

Build Session 5 - March 20-21, 2010

Finally! The weather decided to play nice and we could get to the roof. We drove out on Friday night so we could get an early start on Saturday morning and the get maximum time out of the weekend.

We got most of the roof covered and it rolls back and forth on the rails great (a bit heavy, but that was to be expected). I sighted the night before with polaris in the north and was able to get a great view of it for polar alignment, so that determined the pitch of the roof. The angle is about 15 deg (3.2" rise for every 1' width).








Roy