With my suburban Winnipeg back yard getting brighter and brighter, I need to move my automated telescopes somewhere else that’s under dark skies. As part of that project I’ll be scaling back my current 10×10 roll-off roof observatory into a 4×4 micro-observatory. Since my telescope setup (an 8″ Celestron SCT) is close to fully automated at this point, I believe I can get to the point where I can fully automate the observatory building much easier in the smaller format than for the entire 10×10 shed. And since building materials are incredibly expensive at the moment, cannibalizing the shed for materials means no cost, and potential for building a second micro-observatory for my second setup (a 102mm refractor.)
I’ve started modelling the building in Fusion 360 and have the basic design built. Over the next few months I’ll refine the model and start building when Fall brings cooler weather!