Country:	Portugal
Region:	Sintra
Place:	Al Bustan Villa
Latitude:	380  49´  49"  N
Longitude:	090  24´  06"  W
Altitude:	180m

Introduction

In 2002, after operating my Meade 300 mm LX-200 for nearly two years, I realized it needed a permanent shelter. Besides the considerable weight, the setup time and frequent polar alignment made a night’s worth of astronomy more work than it was worth for the most part.

I had first settled the scope in our upstairs bedroom, taking advantage of an existing large roof-window.

It provided a comfortable and stable location to setup the scope. I could operate it a few meters away from my desktop computer while I remained warm and dry. The sky coverage was however limited to approximately 140 degrees. I also had to avoid heavy steps to avoid vibrating the scope and, at the end of each session, the scope had to be moved away from its location to allow closing the window. The biggest disadvantage however was the fact that our master bedroom was located exactly underneath and, therefore, any minor noise emitted by the scope at 3:00 a.m. was like a thunder for my wife who was trying to sleep downstairs.

I then moved the scope outdoors on the Meade giant tripod to my garden patio, 5 meters away from the house.

The sky coverage was much better and the noise became less of a problem for my family. The downsides were that I needed to move most of the electronics and cables inside after each session and cover the scope to protect it from the rain and dust.

Wind, even a light one, was a problem, and I also started noticing some rust on tripod and the scope had to be aligned frequently.

I then decided to investigate the possibilities of getting a proper shelter for the scope. An observatory affords a permanent shelter from the elements, protects telescope and observer from wind and stray light whilst allowing access to a wide area of the heavens.

For a look onto the observatory design and construction details follow the links below