The story

Once upon a time

I was like everyone else, setting up and taking down all the gear every time there was the chance of a clear night. I started out with a Meade LX90 8" on forks and a wedge but that was just not good. The I de-forked the scope and got a SW HEQ5. My camera was a Canon 350D which I modified with a modded Phillips SPC900 wecam as a guide cam (LX and mono) and I started getting my first images that I was happy to show to around. Then I moved up to a 1000D and then 1100D with QHY5 -> QHY5L-II guidecam on the finder which is where I was when this picture was taken.

Note: You can click on many of the pictures to see a larger version. Most underlined stuff are links to Wikipedia or other wonderful resources for explanations of the objects shown in the images presented or other astronomical specialist concepts mentioned.

It's a lot easier with a shed!

I still have the LX90 (on the shelf) and SW HEQ5 but when I built my observatory I got a SW NEQ6 and that was followed by a Teleskop Service TS1506UNC, shown here with my modded Canon 1100D. I have replace the camera with a ZWO ASI294MCPro and a ZWO OAG keeps things on track. Both mount are belt drive and re-bearinged.

The pent roof rolls off at the level below the silver foil (which makes the inside of the obsy brighter when the roof is closed). The polystyrene sheet stops condensation on the metal roof forming and dripping. The roof rolls off to the right, the pier is slightly to the left or the floor to give room to sit at the shelf.