In addition to
the wonderful and very comprehensive
Bill Arnett database of
amateur observatories, I found these amateur sites to be
particularly illuminating as to design and technical solution or in
some cases just plain cool.
Bob
Luffel gets my award
for best track & roller system…so I copied it!
Also note these worthwhile organizations to which I belong: they
promote the lost art of looking skyward to the universe, and are
protecting our ability to do so.
Amateur Telescope Makers of
Boston
Mid-Hudson Astronomical
Association
SELENE - NY
International Dark Sky
Association
They are all well worth a look:
Antilhue Observatory
Daniel
Verschatse's observatory in Chile. Split-level warm room /
observing room, solar power, clean design - a real
inspiration.
Bertold Hamburger Observatory
Grooved nylon
wheels inset into 4x4, runs on stainless tubing welded to flatbar.
Innovative, seems to work well, tough to fabricate?
Cave Creek Observatory
Good photos of
truss details. I wasn’t wild about the foundation or roof
carriage system, though.
Cloudbait Observatory
Very nice site
with a few construction photos. Valuable details on remote
operations, including several schematics.
Darklight Observatory
A LeSueuer
Astro-Pier mounted high on a concrete pier, 900GTO, C-11. Fastar
imaging.
Garden Spot Observatory
Roof rolls on
V-casters & inverted angle. Split roof w/ warm room. Emailed
him and got specs for the casters. Small pictures.
Jim Pennington Observatory
8' x 8' building
for an 8" LX-200. Detailed narrative and decent pictures. Flat
casters in "over & under" welded angle bar to prevent
blowoff.
Rick Drozd Backyard
Observatory
Fiberglass panel
roof, flat wheels rolling on angle iron track. Good detail
pictures.
Rod Cook Observatory
Roof rolls on
pipe. Good truss and roller details.
Starstuff Observatory
Small,
straightforward, flat casters rolling on angle iron track. Some
good shots.
Tidewater Farm Observatory
RCOS 16”
on AP 12000 mount on a LeSueuer Astro-Pier, V-groove casters, split
observing room and warm room. Very nicely done.
Twin Oaks Observatory
Very detailed
images of a very solidly constructed grooved caster-and-inverted
rail system. "Gambrel" style roof trusses - plenty of headroom.
Credits Chris Vedeler for rail design.
Vedeler Observatory
Great CAD
drawings - sort of the definitive V-caster & inverted angle
design. Added a garage-door opener to motorize the roof,
post-construction.