An observatory for my 8x8' concrete pad?

Several years ago I built Subject pad near my house as yet another place
to observe from. I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade
refractor out there for weeks at a time protected by a canvas. I've
been a bit leery of bears and deer that pass through out property
knocking down the scope. I might want to boost the scope size to 10".
Probably an EQ mount. Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put
on the pad? I've heard of clam shell obs. Comments?

"W. eWatson" wrote in news:j3b8se$i15$1@dont-
email.me:

Several years ago I built Subject pad near my house as yet another place
to observe from. I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade
refractor out there for weeks at a time protected by a canvas. I've
been a bit leery of bears and deer that pass through out property
knocking down the scope. I might want to boost the scope size to 10".
Probably an EQ mount. Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put
on the pad? I've heard of clam shell obs. Comments?



http://lmgtfy.com/?q=clamshell+observatory+domes

On Aug 27, 7:17*pm, "W. eWatson" wrote:

I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade
refractor out there...
I might want to boost the scope size to 10".
Probably an EQ mount. Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put
on the pad? ?

I'm not sure you can get a dome for a 10" refractor off the peg but
good luck trying.

I know, I know... :-)

On 8/27/2011 11:02 AM, Chris.B wrote:
On Aug 27, 7:17 pm, "W. wrote:

I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade
refractor out there...
I might want to boost the scope size to 10".
Probably an EQ mount. Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put
on the pad? ?

I'm not sure you can get a dome for a 10" refractor off the peg but
good luck trying.

I know, I know... :-)
Well, my old, third ed., of StarWare has several pages devoted to
commercial observatories. My guess on the clam shell site mentioned
above is that a 7' shell is over $3K. That might cause me to think about
building my own obs. The 7' model comes pre-assembled and weights 600
pounds.

On Aug 28, 12:34*am, "W. eWatson" wrote:

Well, my old, third ed., of StarWare has several pages devoted to
commercial observatories. *My guess on the clam shell site mentioned
above is that a 7' shell is over $3K. That might cause me to think about
building my own obs. The 7' model comes pre-assembled and weights 600
pounds.

Are you fixated on a dome? Or would you consider a more practical (and
far less visually obvious) roll off roof? An aluminium dome is
lightest and least prone to overheating. Domes suffer from heat
retention and poor ventilation. Leading to potentially poor seeing.
They do however offer the best protection from cold winds and showers.
GRP/ Fibreglass is an option if you have the patience to produce a set
of gores from one mould. This requires careful work to achieve a
really smooth external finish. The popular hardboard and paint dome
can be rather short lived and is often heavy work to rotate. Marine
plywood seems to offer some advantages but requires care to seal the
joints.

"W. eWatson" wrote in message
...
Several years ago I built Subject pad near my house as yet another place
to observe from. I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade refractor
out there for weeks at a time protected by a canvas. I've been a bit
leery of bears and deer that pass through out property knocking down the
scope. I might want to boost the scope size to 10". Probably an EQ mount.
Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put on the pad? I've heard
of clam shell obs. Comments?


http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html

On 8/28/2011 10:10 AM, David Staup wrote:
"W. wrote in message
...
Several years ago I built Subject pad near my house as yet another place
to observe from. I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade refractor
out there for weeks at a time protected by a canvas. I've been a bit
leery of bears and deer that pass through out property knocking down the
scope. I might want to boost the scope size to 10". Probably an EQ mount.
Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put on the pad? I've heard
of clam shell obs. Comments?


http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html


Interesting list. Canadians like to build kits!

On Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:17:27 -0700, "W. eWatson"
wrote:

Several years ago I built Subject pad near my house as yet another place
to observe from. I used to leave a fairly heavy and large Meade
refractor out there for weeks at a time protected by a canvas. I've
been a bit leery of bears and deer that pass through out property
knocking down the scope. I might want to boost the scope size to 10".
Probably an EQ mount. Is there some obs kit made that I could buy to put
on the pad? I've heard of clam shell obs. Comments?


Why not build an 8X89 shed, low walls, with a roof that rolls on and
off?
https://sites.google.com/site/dobservatory/home


http://www.alcyoneobservatory.co.uk/

http://www.backyard.8m.net/website/O...in%20page.html


http://www.missouriskies.org/observa...servatory.html


Long list, some links don't work:
http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html