Instrument Installation . . .

(We Work With You, Our Customer!)

We provide our customers with:

Top Plan View Schematics showing the entire telescope in the stow position.
Side Plan View Schematics showing the pier offset position relative to DEC axis, minimum recommend clearance for the tube arc, height of DEC axis relative to top of pier, and necessary clearance for the south end of the instrument relative to the south wall.
Pier Dimension Schematics including exact bolt positions and spacings.
Pier Jig Polar Alignment Instructions explaining in detail the method of assuring that the pier bolts are aligned correctly to the North Celestial Pole.
Complete Observatory Plans (Optional, at additional cost) which will be custom designed for your geographic location, climate and your personal preferences.

All schematics are e-mailed to the customer as zip files which contain high resolution, 300dpi 8"x10" TIFF images, suitable for printing on standard printers.

Advanced, observatory class telescopes that feature precision pointing, tracking and automation are certainly a pleasure to use. The housing of such a precision instrument is something that needs to be taken into consideration by the prospective customer. ObservatoryScope can offer a variety of recommendations and solutions. For customers with a more generous budget, an obvious choice would be an enclosure featuring a dome. Such an enclosure offers excellent protection even while the instrument is in operation. A domed enclosure also offers protection from stray light, which is a serious consideration for campus installations. A roll-off roof observatory makes much more sense for customers who are on a tight budget or those customers who already have an ideal location, relatively free from stray lighting, for their instrument. Roll-of roof structures are much more affordable. Additionally, roll-off roof arrangements have the decided advantage of improving image quality at medium to high power by removing the majority of the structure from around the instrument.

We are more than happy to work with each customer to come up with an instrument housing solution that meets the customer's needs and the customer's budget. ObservatoryScope Engineering can provide plans for several instrument housing options to meet your specific needs. Plans for roll-off roof structures or domed enclosures, designed to meet your needs, can be developed in CAD for a moderate price.

Examples of Schematics and Drawings . . .

Side view of complete telescope installation, showing clearances relative to enclosure.		Pier dimensions and bolt positions.

Pier Polar Alignment
Pier jig showing polar alignment method.