Just arrived in 2021: A great instrument, the Planewave CDK17 with 2939mm focal length at f/6.8, with reducer 1965mm at f/4.5. Planewave offered a special price for a month. Credits to them!
Using a self CNC milled 8" double mounting plate, a Celestron RASA36 was mounted March 2022 next to the CDK for super faint objects.
Both instruments have their own filters. The CDK17 uses 3nm Chroma narrowband filters with a 7-position electric filter wheel for LRGBHSO.
The RASA36 uses 6nm blue preshifted Astrodon "max FR" narrowband filters with a manual filter slider. Both instruments use the 61 Mpixel monochrome ZWO ASI6200MM PRO cameras and electrical focusing.
I built the observatory on stilts at the height of the roof, so that the view in all directions is guaranteed and trees do not interfere. Only in the east are objects below 18° altitude inaccessible because of the hill.
The observatory is painted matte black inside to suppress moon reflections. The electrical installation is fully remotely operable.
Several WiFi-controlled smart home components are installed. This allows the remote use of the complete observatory. I actually only go up to the observatory occasionally for maintenance and cleaning.
The blue motor opens and closes the roof electrically. In the front right you can see the highly sensitive infrared rain sensor, which I coupled to a smart home alarm on my phone.
Here is the older instrumentation from mid-2021. The CFF185 refractor with reducer has a focal ratio of f/5.5 at 1015mm focal length. An excellent instrument, I still have it.
At the front of the mount, a 10Micron GM3000HPS, and a precision hair hygrometer for monitoring humidity.
Currently 112kg counterweights are installed. After replacing the CFF185 with the large RASA36, the weight limit of the mount (100kg) has been slightly exceeded, fortunately no problems have occurred as a result.
The mount was aligned horizontally and polar-aligned with high precision.
The incredibly elaborate control panel of the 10Micron mount. Actually totally superfluous, since the operation is exclusively remote.
For the iPad, which controls the entire system wirelessly, I have attached a holder here. Mostly, however, I sit comfortably in bed and operate from there. Thanks to a VPN, remote control of the system is also possible from anywhere in the world, which I use regularly on holiday.
In summer, you can occasionally sit outside. The floor was covered with black antistatic rubber mats.
On the left, a commercial dehumidifier that maintains humidity below 70% with the roof closed to protect technology and instruments from condensation and mold.
The lower part of the huge steel column is mounted on a cylindrical concrete pillar with a diameter of one metre and a 3x3 metre base plate, which together weighs more than 4 tonnes. Very stable!
The upper part of the hefty steel column with the attached controls and the mount electronics.
The electronics box for the mount is removable if you do not want to use the mount for a long time. It is connected to the in-house Ethernet.
Commissioning of the mount after careful balancing in both axes in summer 2021.
The hole in the observatory floor through which the upper part of the steel column passes was closed with an elastic fabric sleeve to keep insects out.
The Davis weather station on the boom delivers reliable weather parameters to the internet, ready to be called up at any time and from anywhere.
In addition, a sensor for the brightness of the night sky was installed. The magnitude data are also displayed below the Allsky camera image as a light curve.
View to the west at sunset before an astrophotographic observation night. In the background the Allsky camera can be seen.
Before the roll-off roof can be closed, the mount must be moved to the park position as shown here. Otherwise, a safety switch blocks the roof motor.
Here is the view to the south. Three cardinal directions are completely free, to the east only from about 18° altitude because of the hill.
10Micron mounts allow programming of a special parking position, which in my case even points just below the horizon, to allow the roof to close.
A drone photo taken from directly above. Here you can clearly see the available floor space of 2.75 x 2.75m interior.
The instruments do not come closer than about 20cm to the walls. There are also three IR surveillance cameras installed.
The entrance door is designed as a magnetically latching sliding door. As decoration, all participating brands were allowed to immortalise themselves on signs.
The observatory was painted white on the outside to reduce heating in summer.
This is how it looked in mid-December 2021. I have constructed a low-voltage rail heater (4V/160A) that keeps the rails ice-free. But only a broom helps against heavy snow.