My little DIY astrophotography zone @ home

mtbdudex · 8th of May 2012 (Tue)

I'm getting tired of lugging out the tripod/CGEM mount and setting up.
Negotiated a "astrophotography zone" with my wife, it's that 8' x 8' red patch in front of our home, N is straight up in this Google image:

Here are 2 more shots. Trialed out, viewing portion is nice, wide open North/East/South:

As the picts show, staked it out, now I've got some DIY work ahead:
-there is a downslope there, 4' down I will cut straight into, move dirt back, shore up with rocks like the other 2 ledges
-Install pier, I need to do research on this>>much quicker polar alignment (cloudy nights/etc has good info)
-install 2" slag, brick squares for level seating, no grass

Once work proceeds I'll post again.

Have others here made a astrophotography viewing zone @ their home also?

8th of May 2012 (Tue)	#1
mtbdudex Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SE Michigan Posts: 1,140 IMAGE EDITING OK	My little DIY astrophotography zone @ home I'm getting tired of lugging out the tripod/CGEM mount and setting up. Negotiated a "astrophotography zone" with my wife, it's that 8' x 8' red patch in front of our home, N is straight up in this Google image: Here are 2 more shots. Trialed out, viewing portion is nice, wide open North/East/South: As the picts show, staked it out, now I've got some DIY work ahead: -there is a downslope there, 4' down I will cut straight into, move dirt back, shore up with rocks like the other 2 ledges -Install pier, I need to do research on this>>much quicker polar alignment (cloudy nights/etc has good info) -install 2" slag, brick squares for level seating, no grass Once work proceeds I'll post again. Have others here made a astrophotography viewing zone @ their home also? __________________ Mike R, P.E. .....iMac 27"(i7), iPad2, iPhone4, 24" iMac, AppleTV(160), MacBook Canon: T1i + lens:70-200 L f2.8 IS II / TC 1.4x 2x / 15-85 / f1.4 50; FEISOL tripod CT-3441S + CB-40D Ball Head Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800 CGEM Schmidt-Cassegrain + gear My top 10 in Astrophotography. . .DIY acoustic panels Last edited by mtbdudex : 8th of May 2012 (Tue) at 11:16.

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