Windy Mountain Observatory Construction

Constructed on the same site as WMO #1, WMO #2 boasts a 14 X 10 concrete pad as a base to build on #1 was constructed on a 12 X 8 wooden base which was unable to support any weight whatsoever because of the design. Choosing wood as a base meant that I wouldn't have to get a permit to build. If you choose a wood base, make sure you use enough joists to stop sagging. My plan didn't call for enough and there wasn't enough wood in the kit to compensate. My Bad! Thanks goes out to the wife for helping me with the skreeing/smoothing of the concrete. Would have been very sloppy without her help.

Here are the 4 X 4 pressure treated rails for the roof to roll off on. The endposts feature mounts on the bottom that allow me to adjust the level of the rails. The rails are attached to the observatory walls with two feet of overlap. These are VERY sturdy since they are actually part of the observatory walls. #1 had the rails attached to the end of the wall with hanging straps. Bad idea, unless you plan for it and hang them properly. My Bad, again!

The walls are up and fastened to the concrete. Walls are square to within 1/8", which made it very easy to square the entire building. Rather important for proper operation of the roll off roof. Especially later on when I hope to mount some kind of opener so I don't have to do it by hand. Note the tree in my neighbors yard. Between that and the roof of his house, I have a couple hours window to get objects low in the south every night. Omega Centauri is visible between there.

Now for what I consider the most important part of the observatory. The runners for the roof. Thanks to Bill Shaheen of the now defunct Cave Creek Observatory, where I got the idea on how to fashion my runners. They are built from 14' J-grade 2 X 6s a(super straight) and the best 1 X 8s I could find. The wheels are 5" bearing casters I got at Lowes. I removed the caster housing and used bolts as axles. ***USING QUALITY SUPPLIES HERE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!*** However you decide to make you roof, take the time to plan it and do it right. You will thank yourself later

Here is a close up of the wheel mountings. What you see here is the bottom side of the rail. Note that the 1 X 8 extends down from the rail (remember it is upside-down here.) These will sit to the outer side of the walls and serve as guides to keep the roof rolling straight down the rails. Since the runners are very straight, these barely touch the walls, if at all. Note that the 1 X 8s and the 2 X 6s are separated by standard 2 X 4 blocks. There is also a 1 X 6 square used as a spacer in the housing. Using this and a couple of washers makes the wheel fit in this housing perfectly.

The roof is metal. The product is called Channeldrain from a company called Wheeling Corrugating. Here you see the lightest member of the family on top to fasten the sheets with self sealing screws. With the combination of the roof and the insulation, the temperature on the inside of the observatory never rises above the lower 90s. This may seem high to some, but remember, this is in southeast Arizona! On the hottest days, the underside of the roof is cool to the touch. Final weight of the roof is a 510 lbs and can be pushed off with one hand.

And the finished product. The siding is T-111. Inside and to the right of the door is the control room. More photos to come.

Here is the primary instrument in the observatory. Meade 14" LX200R on a Milburn Wedge. My friends, Stellarvue 80 is riding side saddle and is used for wide field work.

Having gotten fed up with the inconsistent performance of the LX200GPS mount, I decided to remove the OTA and put it on a Celestron CGE Pro. I've also purchased my own Stellarvue 102ED for permanent use in wide field work. My initial evaluation of this new mount is that it is awesome. You can see my first imaging effort on the Star Clusters page. Look at M 22.