Getting started...
As with most people wanting to permanently house their telescope investment, I wanted to have an observatory. I've fought with design issues, researched countless Internet sites, talked to observatory owners -all to sum up the conclusion that there is not such a thing, as true "cheap, but well built" observatory.
My plan / idea was to construct an octagon shaped domed observatory that reaches the following goals:

• Relatively inexpensive, meaning below the $300 to $350 dollar range.
  
• Well built, (better than most portable buildings).
  
• Large enough to house my LXD55 scope, or permanently mount my large 12" LX200
  
• Relatively simple to build so others could follow.
  
• Able to get all the materials locally, like from Lowe's or Home Depot
  
• Last for years and years.

Wow! I know those are some serious goals, but I think I can pull it off. Now, keep in mind, that $300 range isn't including a floor. Once finished my observatory is going to temporarily be sitting level on a concrete slab off my basement patio - or even just close to it on the grass. But in the Spring I'm going to move it to a nice spot in my back field on a permanent concrete slab which will most likely cost another $150 to $200 to form. But, the ultimate goal will be met for $300 to $350....<gulp> hopefully.

My Octagon shape, cut from 2X4's and molded together with Mending plates (like the ones used for roof trusses) and
Chicago head 3.5" screws. It's a little over 8' in diameter. There will be 4 rings cut just like this, all totaling about 32
individual boards.
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This is the base so far. It stands 4' tall
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This is the railing I've constructed out of PVC pipe and industrial castors from Lowe's. There is an extra
piece of wood that created the "circle" shape on the dome base, which allowed for the attachment and
guiding pipe, I'll show you that later.
Next steps are to secure the pipe, and then lay down a nice solid veneer top for the wheels
to roll on smoothly. Thus far, I can take that top ring, and spin it completely around with no effort!
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Price invested so far, including all material is about $100, and there is still enough lumber sitting on my shop floor to build the dome :) Time invested so far is about 6 hours.

Update - Dec 20th, 2002
Got the Dome Structure just about done. Again -using the same batch of lumber I original purchase of about $100. I still have more bracing to do, and with the holidays on us it's hard to get time -but hopefully I can get all the bracing finished up soon, then get the outside shell coverings started!

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Update January 10th 2003
It's been a while since I have reported to you guys, so I figured I would let you know how it's going.
After much contemplation about covering the dome, I've decided to use cardboard and fiberglass. Yes, I said cardboard -
Some of you may be scratching your head wondering what I'm talking about, let me explain.
I called a local fiberglass fabricator, and talked to him on a few different occasions. As with most professionals, he saw it no problem to fiberglass my dome, and he was going to do it cheap! But still, cheap in his eyes wasn't cheap in mine (remember the budget)..
After talking to him , and taking his advice, I decided to completely cover the dome with cardboard from a local furniture store, and then either cover it with fiberglass material myself, or have him spray on a fiberglass finish.
The do it yourself will be messy, time consuming but cheap (About $125)
The Spray on finish will be about $250
Either way, the cardboard (according to him and a few other manufactures) provides an excellent backing for the fiberglass to setup. A good cardboard won't bow or sink like chicken-wire or screen mesh will, because when fiberglass is setting - the temperature of the material actually rises up to about 170 degrees or more - hence the metal getting warm and sagging.
I'm still not sure which I'm going to do -lay it myself, or have him spray it - but I'm definitely going to use fiberglass for the dome.
Here is a picture of the cardboard layer covering the dome.( Man my shop is getting crowded!)
And cracks or ripples in the cardboard will all be filled in with fiberglass (phew!).

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The plan for the Base is going to be 1/2" Plywood, with seamed edges and a nice white finish paint.
The project is getting close to being wrapped up, but there is still the dome door to work out, painting the inside of the dome, wiring (which I've got a great idea for lights, thanks Chris R) and other things to consider before FINALLY, I can house my LX200 in there!

It's an easy job, and I think most people can do this. Once you have a covered surface (cardboard) you just cut your fiberglass to whatever length you want and then roll on some resin with a paint roller (the actual mix of activator does take practice) and keep working the resin into the fiberglass until the entire sheet you have cut is soaked with resin. Depending on your mix of resin and activator, drying and hardening times will vary. My mixture took about 2 hours to start hardening.
I waited until I had the entire thing covered with glass, then I went back over it all again with another coat. Some spots on top even have up to 5 coats of fiberglass.
After I had all the glass on it that I thought it would benefit from, I waited about an hour for it all to setup, then used the rest of the resin and activator I had (about a quart and a half) and mixed a highly active content so drying times would increase, then just mopped it all over the surface for an extra thick coat of resin..

By 4 hours, the entire thing was dry to the touch and I had my wife help me sit the dome onto the base outside of the shop so I can continue the finishing work there. The entire Dome as it is right now weighs about 150 lbs.

Next I worked on enclosing the base up.
I used 1/2" sheets of particle board and 2.5" long "gripped" nails so the wood is really clamped on. When doing the connecting corners (wood edge to wood edge) I kept my box knife handy and would 'trim' a little to make a perfect fit. Yes, I mean cutting the wood a little with a box knife. Just small layers (like 1/32 at a time) and a good knife / blade will get the job done. These corners will also get a coating of outside caulk, then painted heavily.

Things left to do in order to make it minimally functional are:
Finish enclosing the base with wood
Install Base Door
Create and Install Dome Door (made from fiberglass)
Install Dome skirt, which will be fastened to the dome base and form a circle around the base.
Paint the entire exterior with a good outside durable white paint with a little gel coat mix in possibly.
Level the observatory on a temporary spot till Spring.

Then, once that's done, I can use the thing! However -these are things that will also be done.
Paint the inside (which my 5 and six year old kids want to contribute by drawing Daddy some starry pictures:)
Install the observatory into a concrete base with an added layer of treated lumber to the bottom ring.
Install electricity to the site.
Add lights and other items to dome.
Perhaps fasten a dome motor for powered revolution.

Oh yea, finally - I changed the name from Harris observatory to "Ozark Hills Observatory" , it just sounds better.

It's been a while since the last updates, sorry! Site updates, and HyperTune service work has kept me very busy!
So, what have I been up to with this observatory?
Yesterday was a 70+ degree day around here, and a perfect chance to do some things.

I had some time to think about the contruction and take some consideration into the design of the entire project itself, and I'm pretty happy thus far with the results.
I got anxious one afternoon a few nights ago and I actually tried the dome out! There was no door, and three sides weren't finished -but I slapped some remanant wood on the side, and threw down three concrete 12" blocks so I could level my tripod, and it all worked great! But - I found out that even a 8' dome housing a smaller 5" LXD55 just isn't quite roomy enough.
I knew when I through my 10" LX200 on a superwedge on it, I was going to be hurtin for space.
The scope and me were fine, but I had nowhere to put a laptop, or other things.. Enter my grand idea -

What this is, is just what it appears to be! A shelf! A Desk!
I figured since I'm putting a 40" side of wood on the outside of the base, why can't I add a extended "room" where I could put my equipment and accessories in? It's like a built in desk when you are on the inside!
And it works awesome! It cost me another $35 to do it, but in a later photo shoot you will see that it added an entire new dimension to the inside of the dome!

Next thing I had to do, was move this monster to a different location. My back yard is fenced and I decided to semi-temporarily sit the observatory there. So, it was moving time (with my wonderful little helper)...

Yes, we rollled it like a wheel! It was built strong enough right? It didn't phase it one bit to roll it this way.

Okay, so I needed a door. I pondered over this for a while, and the best thing I could think of was to build a frame around the door and cover it with the thickest tarp material I could find. So, that's what I did. I found some 10mil thick material at Lowes for about $15 and it worked very well. The leftover material was used on the inside of the dome.
I attached it to the door frame with a SharpShooter stable gun and 1/2" staples. I tried to streach it as tight as possible.

This is it so far. Sitting in it's new location, leveled, dome door on, wind skirt installed on the inside, also the new wall desk installed and door on.
I will be building the outside hardshelled dome ring next. After that, I will go over the entire dome with some good paintable outside caulking, then comes painting the entire exterioir with a white paint.. The inside will then be painted black. Finally - it will rest on a 8' concrete base.

• Dig a 30"X30" by 14" deep hole
• Set 2 peices of 24" rebar in the hole about 14" apart, pour half of hole with concrete, then put two more pieces of 24" rebar in the mix.
• Let cure for about 5 minutes
• Stab 4 - 4' peices of rebar into the footing where the pier will go, set the rebar in a square pattern about 10" apart (10" square)
• Set the 12" sono tube eyeball level about 4" to 8" into the wet pier footing, with the 4' rebar setting in the middle. -yes, push the sono tube into the footing you just poured.
• Attach leveling boards to sono tube - level tube up.
• Shovel mixed concrete into the sono tube until full, continually checking level. Also remember to tap the outside of the tube as you are filling all around, so you make sure to get a nice smooth outside finish on the pier. And be sure to take your shovel and sift around in the mix of the tube ever 2 or 3 shovel fulls, to make sure you are getting a nice even mix in the tube.
• When the tube is full, set your pier template for your SuperWedge, or GEM into the mix.
  This will be a scrap piece of board with holes drilled in it to match your wedge or other mount. I used a 3' piece of stainless steel all threaded rode cut into 1' lengths. 9" of the 'bent' threaded rod ( I bent it at one end for better concrete grip) goes into the concrete.
• Check level, check north location ( make sure the template is pointing Celestial north, not magnetic north) There is a good way to do this, but I eyeballed it since I knew were Polaris was every nite ;) Plus my SuperWedge allows for up to a 8' arc adjustment.
• Let the entire thing cure for 24 hours, then unwrap sono tube
• Backfill your dug out hole with dirt.
• Paint, carpet, or whatever... (I'm going to cover mine with berber carpet.
  
  
  900 lbs of hand mixed concrete went into this baby.
  Here are the pictures.
  
  

Next I 'm going to build a wooden base with 3/4" plywood flooring in the shape of my dome base.

Update on August 2nd, 2003
Hello everyone - it's been a LONG TIME!
Rather than write about the observatory project here, I've been enjoying it! But I need to let you know how the progress is going.

Well here we are - August! Wow - and I need to get things finished up while the weather is warm! The following update is old and should have been done a long time ago. Since this construction, the dome has been fitted with a rain shield (which will be soon replaced) and some paint. Along with other cool stuff - but we'll get to that later.

So after I poured that pier, I decided to use a plywood sub floor. That hard part was to decide if I wanted to make it square or octagon shaped, like the base. Well like most, I got into a hurry and knew I could build the base square allot more quickly than I could build it into an octagon. So, that's what I did! Typical construction here, 2X6 on 16" Centers except for around the pier, I kept the boards spaced there by about 2".

The Entire floor rests on 4X4 posts which are sitting on concrete blocks. Before I added the plywood floor - I drove 6 - 3 foot long rods into the ground and attached the floor to the rods with some metal straps. About like you would 'tie-down' a trailer house. I figured with the weight of the dome, a pier constructed into the middle of the structure and metal tie'down straps holding it - that it wouldn't budge...and it hasn't!
Here are the construction pictures of the floor.





As you can see - the floor actually turned out nice! One note I should add is that when the dome base was fastened to the floor, I used a 1/8 sheet of foam barrier between the two, in order to keep out moister and to insulate a little.

What's happened since these pictures is about what you would expect. I added the dome to the base and painted the entire inside of the observatory black, then I fastened a 3" wide metal rain strip on the inside and outside of the dome for keep out rain and wind. It works good - but I've currently got a small leak somewhere and it allows water to come into the dome. Not much, but it bugs me!
I'll get more pictures and such up in a few days. Till then...Clear skies!