Meade LX-200 10" SCT

In early 2002, I have constructed a small "observatory" on my second floor balcony which consists of a raised concrete platform 1.5 metres square with fibro walls and a metal-framed roll-off roof. My telescope remains permanently set up and polar aligned and I have a pc connected to it 2 metres away that is then connected by a LAN to my downstairs pc. I am now able to control all functions of pointing, focussing and imaging from my downstairs computer in unadulterated comfort. However, I still find myself racing upstairs countless times checking that things are OK or finding why things are not OK.

This is a picture of my 10" LX-200 SCT with the Optec TCF-s (a robust and accurate pc controlled secondary focusser with temperature compensation), the SBIG AO7 (an adaptive optics system) and the SBIG CFW-8/ST8 combination (colour filter wheel and CCD camera). An 80 mm super finder is attached to the SCT by means of Milburn rings. The mount sits on a Milburn Deluxe wedge. The serious looking bloke is thinking about how much it has all cost!