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

This page describes my observatory which was relocated in Dorset, England from a previous site in NE Scotland.  Landscaping of our new garden and other house & garden priorities delayed the observatory's re-erection. However the telescope was finally installed in the new observatory on 2001-06-10.

Originally called the 'New' Observatory,  the observatory was later renamed the 'Kingcup Observatory'.  The observatory was later moved back to a new site in Scotland (the Clair Observatory)

Description

The observatory is a wooden shed construction 6' 6" x 6' 6" , with a roll-off roof.  My LX200 telescope will be mounted on a permanent 7" diameter metal pier, bolted to a concrete base.  The observatory will have ample room for storing the LX200's case/tripod if necessary  and has sufficient room to take 1-2 visitors.  

The observatory has been built using the same shed and pier that were used for my previous observatory (Hilltop Observatory), which were dismantled from its NE Scotland site in March 2000.  The observatory was designed to be capable of moving, the only thing that doesn't move is the concrete pier base. !

The new observatory is located in the back garden of our new home which lies at the edge of a town in Dorset, England. The site has a somewhat limited but nevertheless reasonable sky access. The minimum viewable altitude using the telescope in the observatory are 20 deg to S, W & N, 40 deg to E (so unfortunately can't see Mars in 2001 opposition).  The site unfortunately suffers from light pollution from a i) overlooking streetlight and local lights and ii) nearby towns of Poole and Bournemouth.  

Myself (right) with work colleagues, Emeka, Marcus and Andy, 
who helped me erect the observatory at its new site

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New Features

New Features incorporated into the observatory are :

• Computer desk area

• RS-232 cable link between computer and telescope (runs under observatory floor and up pier)

• Cat 5 LAN cable connection between observatory and house

• low voltage cables carrying certain equipment power from transformers in house.

• a junction box

• LX200 power cable running under observatory floor and up the pier

• outside power 

Further features that will be added shortly are :

• light blocking screen to shield off light from nearby street light.

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Design and Construction

The observatory uses the same sliding roof shed and telescope pier used for Hilltop Observatory. (please refer to Design and Construction of Hilltop Observatory)

Pictures of the observatory being reconstructed at its new site  :

The reconstruction plan used  for re-erecting the observatory is listed below.

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Opening and Closing

The observatory takes around 5-10 minutes to open and setup up everything 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

The observatory when used in NE Scotland had a number of accessories to make it as comfortable as possible for observing, such as a stool, adjustable table, wall clock, wall thermometer, cupboard for telescope accessories and battery operated light.  

I've now added a small computer table.

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