Hey, where'd the dome go???? Well, it may not be the typical observatory in structure but it's still an observatory in function and it fits the dictionary definition for an observatory. I named it the Gassendi Observatory because of my interest in the Gassendi Crater. Its location is about 8 miles from Bandera, Texas.

The pier consists of a 6 in. x 6 ft. Le Sueur Astropier bolted to a 5 ft. high concrete pier with an 8 in. thick slab at the bottom. I also have a Le Sueur wedge for equatorial use of the LX200 but security and the difficulty of attaching the scope prevent its use. Inside the trailer are two networked computers attached to the pier with audio/video connections, dual USB, dual RS-232, and Cat5 cables. I have full remote control of the telescope using my own control software and The Sky astronomy software. The provided camera software is used with each of the cameras.

I started using this property for stargazing in 1989. At that time there was only one other residence within 1/4 mile and the only light pollution was low on the Southeast horizon coming from San Antonio. Deep space objects like M51 were very visible and beautiful using a Coulter 8 inch dobsonion on the back deck. In 1998, I built the upper deck and pier for my new LX200. Shortly afterwards, the property around me started filling up with new homes and trailers. Most of them are not much of a bother to me but a trailer across the road with its high-wattage mercury vapor light has severely hurt my deep space viewing. M51, that used to be so beautiful, is totally invisible to me and many brighter objects are no more than faint smudges in the eyepiece. Negotiation with the owner hasn't worked at all and light shields around the telescope have limited value since the light bounces brightly from all the trees and other surfaces around me. I guess some people would call this progress.

The Big Stuff

This is my 10 inch F6.3 Meade LX200. The 2 pictures show my standard configurations for night-time viewing and looking at the sun. In the sun configuration, note the homemade sun filters on both the LX200 and the 50mm finder scope (the Orion ST80 is using a commercial filter). Instructions for making these filters as well as instructions for building the rail and rings holding the ST80 are available on my DIY page.

This is my favorite scope. It is a homemade dobsonion with a 6 inch F10 mirror. The wood parts were made by my father (I can't cut straight) based upon a design by Richard Berry that I modified. I haven't seen another reflector yet that can match the sharp high-contrast images I see through it.

These are my Fujinon 16x70 binoculars. I love them. With plenty of practice, I am now able to hold them fairly steady but they are still too heavy for long viewing times. The mount is one my father made for me, copied from a picture of a Virgo mount. It works very well. The tripod shown was a temporary one; I now use a commercial heavy-duty tripod. I constructed a set of sun filters for the binoculars, so now I have a good and quick way of looking at sunspots. I can spend an entire night scanning the sky with these babies.

Accessories