Sandia View Observatory, mpc# H03

Construction on SVO started in May of 2003 after getting sick and tired of hauling all my gear out to the back yard to setup only to have to take it all down by the end of the night. Another reason to build a permanent observatory was that you had to have one in order to get an official mpc# for astrometry work.

Here are some pictures taken during the construction phase. I learned a lot during the building having never built anything like this before.

Here is the start. After having dug a 2.5x2.5x3 foot pit for the deadweight for the pier and filled it with almost 20 bags of Quickcret I mounted a Le Suer Astro Pier on it. After polar aligning it and making sure I got it all laid out correctly I framed a floor around the pier. The floor doesn't touch the pier so walking on the floor doesn't transfer vibrations. If I was to do this over again I would have made it larger than 8x10, probably 8x12 so I could frame off a separate control room.

Here is another view looking to the East at Sandia Mountain, hence the name Sandia View Observatory  :-)

Here is some initial framing going up.

Here's a shot with the sides on and the roof rail system partially completed.

Here is a close up of the rail system. I used V-groove wheels and 1" angle iron tracks for the roof to roll on. It actually rolls pretty damn easier without any roofing on. I had to tie it down to keep the winds from rolling it off.

Another view looking to the Southwest.

Here is what I use to lock the sliding roof down when the roof is closed. I have one on the North and South corners of the roof.