The Cedar Bayou Observatory

In February 2008, astronomy became an 'Obsession' for me...   Ok, so my new scope came in.

This was my RCOS 14.5" RC.  It had the capability of operating at either

F/9 or F/15 depending on which secondary is installed and the position of the spider. 

The mirror is from Aires and is one of the Ion Milled versions.  That process removes the glass at the

molecular level for the ultimate smooth finish.  The scope fits well on my Takahashi EM-500 mount.

This is where the new RC will be housed.  It will be remote controlled from the comfort of my house since

we have really hot and muggy nights full of mosquitoes here.

My telescopes, pier, and deck

A previous trip to Ft. Davis

The scope is a Takahashi FCT-150 which is a 6" triplet APO refractor.

It operates at F/7 or F/5 with the reducer installed.

It has a 4" focuser that easily illuminates my 6 X 7 medium format Pentax camera.

The scope is mounted on a Tak NJP-160 mount either on a portable tripod or my pier at home.

(Traded on 2/4/2005 for a 14.5" RC)

I use a SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera, CFW-8 color wheel, and a FLI DF-2 focuser to do my imaging.

A SBIG STV is now in my arsenal for guiding, imaging, calibrating, and just plain having fun.

I have a Tak FC-60C to serve as a guide scope, wide-angle astrograph, and portable travel scope.

This is my Takahashi Mewlon 300 on a Takahashi EM-500 mount.  The pedestal and mount are extremely beefy and handle the scope beautifully.  A cool thing about the mount is that it continues to keep The Sky software updated even when you un-clutch the mount and move it by hand.  The encoders keep working.  The scope is a Dal Kirk design which is similar to a Ritchey-Chretien design but with a much smaller central obstruction.  (Sold in 2004)  See some of the images taken with this setup HERE.

Must have a "Light Bucket" right???  Well this is my 18" Sky Design dobsonian scope.

Equipment sold:  Meade LX-200 10" F/10 SCT and a Tak FSQ-106 on a EM-10 mount..

I built a 16' octagonal deck around a permanent pier in the

best place on my property for the most visibility of the sky.

	In February 2008, astronomy became an 'Obsession' for me...   Ok, so my new scope came in.
	This is my new (well new for me) Astrohaven 7' clamshell dome that will house my scope for imaging from the house.
	The FCT-150 and Mewlon 300 were set up at the HAS Columbus site for the August Mars party.  On this night, the refractor has the most pleasing image of Mars but the Mewlon had a larger image scale and showed a tad more detail on the surface.
	The Takahashi Mewlon 300 and FCT-150 on Loyd's deck in Ft. Davis.  Getting ready for TSP 2003.
	Here I am in Ft. Davis at Loyd and Patty's house.  I have 3 of the 4 scopes set up and will set up the Sky Tent today.  We just did visual last night with the Mewlon.  The seeing wasn't very good, but we had fun looking about...  Hopefully I can get some good images this week.
	Now the Sky Tent is set up over the Mewlon 300 leaving the poor FCT-150 out in the elements.
	Opposite view
	The Mewlon fairly well fills up the Sky Tent.  Notice the stand alone PC on the table.  It is wireless networked to my Laptop so I can control and monitor the progress of the CCD sessions from anywhere.
	This is showing a new adapter that I had made to recover back focus on my Mewlon so I can shoot at F/9 again with the AO-7 in line.
	This was my FSQ and EM-10 mount all in a nice travel package.   It had a solar screen packed also.
	Here is Loyd Overcash's playground in Ft. Davis.  This is where I stayed during the 2002 Texas Star Party and CCD'd.  We also had Paul & Liz Downing, Phil Baker, Don Jarvis, and of course Loyd's permanent dome.
	Getting set up for the evening.
	My SkyTent really makes it nice while CCD'ing.  It keeps the wind from wiggling the scope during shots as well as keeping any extraneous light out.
	Here is a view inside.  You can see that it rotates to allow the scope to view any part of the sky.
	Yours truly waiting for darkness in my Sky Tent.
	This is a night time shot of our observing area taken with my Sony digital camera.  It is a 30 second shot taken while I painted Liz Downing and their new Sky Tent with a red light.
	This is a night shot of my setup.  You can see the little Tak FSQ with the Pentax 6X7 and the STV guiding it outside.  My notebook PC is capturing images from the larger Tak in the SkyTent.
	Here is a shot of Paul's tent by mine.
	This was my medium format photo setup.  The STV guider kept the scope dead on the subject while the camera took 1 hour shots.
	Here we can see what happens when folks from the Ranch have entirely too much time on their hands.  I woke up to find that we had been 'visited'.

Click here for STV to Temma control box cable schematic 

HOME