~ Ryder Homestead Observatory ~

Amateur astronomers who are visiting these pages would be in no doubt as to the benefits of an observatory to house all your viewing apparatus. Reduced set up time, storing of accessories, a comfortable area to work in and record your observations to name a few. In our case there is an added benefit to the observatory in that we run holiday accommodation on our property at Wattle Flat, NSW (about 3.5 hours drive West of Sydney, Australia) and it is great to be able to offer star gazing tours for our guests.

I have taken the time here to record as much information as practicable to assist amateur astronomers who may also be considering the construction of their own observatories. I found that searching the net was a great way to build up my knowledge on the different design options available for observatory construction. I have included a section below on links to some of the sites that I found useful.

The other invaluable resource was a book on home made observatories that I borrowed which is titled: "How to Build Your Own Observatory - Third Edition". It is actually a reprint of articles from the "Telescope Making" magazine and the copy that I have was printed (third printing) in 1993. The publisher is "Kalmbach Publishing" in the USA and I strongly recommend tracking down a copy if you can find one.

This page provides a description of the construction process and thoughts behind the design. Other pages on this site that are referred to are:

• Detailed photos of the construction process.

• Information on the telescope mounting pier.
• The construction of the timber deck.
• The observatory Roll off Box.
• The observatory wind shield.
• Observatory construction part list and costs.
• Current observatory developments.

The Telescope

In April 2002, I purchased a second hand Celestron 9.25 inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope installed on a Losmandy GM-8 equatorial mount. I was upgrading from a Tasco 4 inch Newtonian Reflector and had decided after a lot of research that the Losmandy GM-8 mount would suit my needs so when one appeared on the second hand market with the Celestron Optical Tube Assembly I snapped it up.

I was fortunate in that the configuration included an NGC-MAX Digital Encoder control unit which makes life very easy when tracking down those hard to find celestial objects.

Observatory Design Options

My research indicated that there were three broad design options available which are:

• The classic Dome structure;

• A shed with a roll off roof; and

• A simple decking with a roll off box covering the telescope.

As I was looking for simplicity along with a reasonable cost I opted for the third design which was a timber deck with a roll of box covering the telescope. The basic features of this design are:

• The telescope equatorial mount is installed on a fixed pier which is bolted to a small concrete slab;
• The concrete slab for the pier is set into the ground and is physically isolated from the timber decking;
• The timber decking is constructed with with an "outrigger" section to take the roll of box when it is "rolled off";
• The roll off box is constructed of a size large enough to cover the telescope; and
• Finally, a fence is installed around the decking to act as a wind shield.

The following pages describe the design of each of these components:

• The mounting pier.
• The timber deck..
• The roll off box.
• The wind shield.

In addition to the above pages, readers may wish to view the page on "Current Observatory Developments" which is an ongoing dialogue on improvements and modifications to the observatory.

For detailed parts list and costs, click on the "Observatory Costs" page.

The Observatory

The photo below (left) shows the completed observatory prior to adding the wind screen and the photo on the right shows the completed observatory with wind screen installed. The wind screen is good value in making observing on those windy/chilly nights a little more comfortable. For a complete set of photos and accompanying notes, refer to the Observatory Photos page.

As can be seen from the photos, the base is a simple timber decking built around a 400mm square slab upon which the mounting pier has been bolted. The diagonal corners of the deck point to true North/South and, as we are in the Southern Hemisphere, you will note that the telescope is oriented towards the Southern Celestial Pole.

The roll off box is simply made from exterior ply screwed on to a square tubular steel frame which I had welded specifically for the job. A door was manufactured from ply as well and fitted with back flip hinges is a way which allows the door to be opened flat against the side of the roll off box. The roll off box if fitted with wheels so that it rolls quite easily. There are two shelves screwed into the back of the roll off box which are just fantastic for storing accessories, observing logs and the like.

By the way, if you are looking at the photo and thinking that it looks the the telescope will not fit inside, I do this by moving the telescope declination axis so that it is pointing down and towards the back of the roll off box. This gives it a lower profile and it fits inside quite nicely.

Useful Links

There are a number of excellent web sites available for the amateur astronomer wishing to build their own observatory. Simply by doing a search on "home made observatories" from your favorite search engine  will reveal a rich array of resources. Click here for access to a page on the SEDS web site which provides links to a number of home made observatory sites.

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