David's Astronomy Pages Hilltop Observatory Kingcup Observatory   Home Page   Observatory Construction

This page describes my observatory that was operational in NE Scotland from October 1998 until March 2000 when it was dismantled in preparation for a house move to Dorset England.  See New Observatory for details about its reconstruction.

Description

The observatory is a wooden shed construction 6' 6" x 6' 6" , with a roll-off roof.  My LX200 telescope is mounted on a permanent 7" diameter metal pier, bolted to a concrete base. 

The observatory is located in my back garden which lies in a village in NE Scotland. The village suffers a moderate, but not overwhelming amount of light pollution. Light Pollution is worst when clouds are about, but I normally observe when skies are completely clear. 

SITE:    Latitude 59° 09' N ; Longitude 02° 17' W ; Elevation 50m above MSL

The observatory has ample room for storing the LX200's case and tripod (which I still keep) and has sufficient room to take 1-2 visitors.  The observatory does not have any power sockets as yet and I currently run a 18v lead out to the observatory from my garage at the start of each observing session.  

The observatory was designed to be capable of being moved this feature of the design will be tested during the course of 2000 as I am moving to England and will and will dismantle it at its current site, move it and then reassemble the observatory at a new site in Dorset.

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Design and Construction

I designed and built the observatory in August/October 1998 . See details about its Design and Construction

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Opening and Closing

The observatory takes around 10 minutes to open and setup up ready for observing. Closing the observatory takes no more than 5 minutes.

Both of these times are a significant improvement on the time it took to setup (30 mins) / setdown (15 mins) in the days before I built the observatory when I had to carry the tripod & wedge outdoors, carry the telescope outdoors, set in on the wedge, carry the accessories outdoors, align & level tripod, align telescope etc.

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Accessories

Accessories in Hilltop Observatory were the following :  stool, adjustable table, wall clock, wall thermometer, cupboard for telescope accessories and battery operated light.

Since I  was using a 18v lead from the house/garage out to the telescope I made a reel for holding the wire when not in use and for reeling it in quickly when packing away. [ In the New Observatory I have installed power leads ]

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