Eight foot diameter dome,

I built my dome in 1999 and competed it just in time for the solar eclipse which the weather here allowed us to see it at 97%,the wall is made of corrugated galvanised sheet, the company I bought it from make pig shelters, and will roll it to any radius you require,it came in three pieces.The dome is made of hard-wood ply cut to shape and glued and screwed together,the cladding is 1.2 mm marine grade aluminium screwed to the ribs and bedded on rubber sealant,it runs on six pairs of roller skate wheels,the shutter runs on six stainless 1" ball gliders.

I used to gain access by concrete steps and climb through the hatch,but this spring I fitted a door and lifted the compete observatory up on 9" concrete blocks to give me headroom,this dome has my 10" Newtonian reflector controlled by a laptop computer that I connect to my scope with Bluetooth serial adapters  and software bisques Sky 5.

Ronald Blay       rons@domes.orangehome.co.uk

Run off roof 12'x8' shed,

I built this from hardwood ply made of nine panels framed with 3"x2" and bolted together like a flat pack kit, the roof rolls off on six vee rollers running on 25mm tee bar,the two shutters at the end fold down out of the way when observing,it has a wooden floor to stop my feet freezing in the winter, I also have a ramp for wheelchair users,I built this observatory six years ago to house my 300mm Meade LX200gps which I control with a desktop PC it has a 90mm refractor for guiding,a Orion star shooter ccd and is linked with Bluetooth serial adapters and Sky5.

I have recently been struck by the dreaded light pollution as a camp site that abuts my garden has been allowed to open all winter, I have spent months helped by Martin Male from cfds getting something done about it, but all KCC have done is fit shades to the main lights, which is not effective for good astronomy, so I am now limited to after 2200hrs when the lights go out.