With a little help from their friends [Jeff Fisher] and his dad
built this observatory in their back yard. Their use of simple
building materials and techniques show that you can create a
respectable home observatory without breaking the bank. It
starts with a footing for the telescope mount. This is
completely separated from the building that surrounds it so
there will be no issue with vibrations affecting the images it
is capturing. From there a foundation made of cinder blocks was
laid before placing joists and installing a sub floor. It was
during this process that they trenched and placed conduit to run
power to the building. With the floor in place the walls were
stick built and a carefully crafted dome was assembled and
hefted in place by this septet of gentlemen. Four months was all
it took to get to this point, but [Jeff] and his dad are still
working on a deck to go around the observatory. They’re using a
very nice telescope that they purchased, but it is also possible
to build one of those yourself