Shadow of the Mountain Observatory

Shadow of the Mountain Observatory - The Build

July 29-31, 2011: Porch, Interior Door, and Equipment Test

7/29/11: I arrived Friday evening and had just enough time to get the small porch built. Suprisingly it was clear so I spent some time in the darkening twilight getting all the equipment set up. Unfortunately, the battery in my mount controller was dead and all my slews were going to very wrong places in the sky, but that is why you do tests I suppose.

7/30/11: I spent a good bit of Saturday getting the door to the control room in place and mounting the door knobs. I'll trim it out later when I decide how I want to finish the interior.

7/31/11: Spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday mowing and cleaning up the lot. Thanks to Steve for bringing his sickle mower...he made short work of getting the thick stuff knocked down. We discovered 4 yellow jackets nests in the process and have the battle scars to show for it!

7/31/11: I put a few pieces of trim work on to cover up the ends of the gables. I think it gives it a cleaner look.

7/31/11: We went to Wally World on Saturday and I picked up a new battery for the mount. Before leaving Sunday I wanted to do another equipment test. With the new battery in place the mount was behaving itself. The equipment check was a success and I am anxious to start imaging soon!

7/31/11: With the roof rolled off there is a nice shaded area under the gantry. I haven't decided exactly what to do, but I am thinking about making this some sort of patio area and bringing in a picnic table.

7/31/11: The view from the top of the hill. I still need to run some PVC under the deck to run my wires from the control room to the scope. I'll also need to put some insulation and paneling up in the control room. I'll probably wait for cooler weather to bother with that. Then, as time and funds permit, I'll work on finishing the interior.

Shadow of the Mountain Observatory - The Build

July 29-31, 2011: Porch, Interior Door, and Equipment Test

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