KIOWA OBSERVATORY

Where we started. Lots of good does and don'ts.

Things have changed as they do, Jon and myself continue to

work together. Jon in Denver Colorado, me, in Southern New Mexico.

Welcome to Kiowa, Colorado, situated about 45 miles southeast of Denver, as the photon flies. Kiowa is one of many small towns that form the gateway to the great eastern plains of the Rockies. The populations are small, the buildings few, the lighting minimal. All these contribute to the astronomical desirability of Kiowa’s location; fewer people and buildings, less light-polluting interference.

Enter three friends with a little money, a varying amount of construction experience and three 11-inch telescopes that are hungry for dark skies and tired of being exposed to wind and dust. There comes a point at which you become frustrated with these things and commit to a building. And so it was that in August of 1997, Terry Chatterton, Jon and Steve Solon began the process of enclosing themselves and their equipment. Now, had we been financed by some unknown millionaire, this project would’ve taken weeks, but, then, there would have been no satisfaction to it, would there? As paychecks and time were available, we built, and to this day, we’re still building, a little at a time.

The first step was to design a building to accommodate us all. After looking at many websites and books, it was decided that the roll-off roof design would work best for our needs; it could be made large enough for three telescopes and equipment, plus include a chart/warming room away from the observing area. The dimensions of the observatory would be 24 feet long by 12 feet wide with the attached 8 by 8 foot warming/chart room on the north side. The building would, obviously, face south, and at first, we thought the roof should roll off to the east and west, split in the middle, but the site didn’t lend itself to that design, there being a dropping slope west to east. More efficient and wind-practical was to have the roof roll off to the south at an incline steep enough for gravity to do the work, but not enough to create too much pull-weight for the winch.

Below are links to photographs of the observatory.

Now, where to build. This was the handy part. Terry lives outside Kiowa (convenient) and the three of us have been friends for a long while. Jon and Steve were frequent visitors to Terry’s, setting up their scopes amidst a huddle of trucks and cars to keep the wind away (this is the plains, remember) Terry’s property is large enough, the offer was made (Terry’s wife said, "Okay") and off we went. The site is perfect; Terry’s house is 300 feet away (astronomers are so damned noisy), Denver is to the northwest, (a ten degree-high glow) Colorado Springs to the southwest (a much smaller ‘light dome’). This easily brings stars of magnitude 6 within reach, and since the three of us would do primarily astrophotography, any skyglow would be negligible. An added bonus is that there are no major cities east of the site and Kiowa’s growth isn’t phenomenal, so we hope to be ‘light-protected’ for many years.

All this said, written down and done, it was time for the fun to begin.

This project was and is, truly, a marriage of combined skills; what one may have lacked in certain experience was made up in other areas. The ideas during building flowed, were discussed, argued about, resolved and initiated. Plans on paper became physical movement, dirt, sweat, wood and concrete. We broke ground in August of 1997.

Terry owns a small tractor which we used to form the foundation. As mentioned, there is a slight incline west to east, so things had to be leveled. The first day, the ground was so hard that only 1/2 inch of ground was scraped at a time; very slow going. That evening, Terry watered the site and going was much easier the next day. It took three weekends to dig and prepare the foundation to 4 inches level below surface. We dug a six-inch trench around the perimeter of the foundation and laced it with reinforced steel bars for stability.Site and Foundation

In the middle of the 24x12 main area, spaced equidistantly, we augured the holes for the piers, three feet deep and eight inches in diameter, and dropped Sonotube down each one to preserve size. We also ran electrical conduit and wiring at this time. Just the thought of no extension cords to trip over was, in itself, pure ecstasy (actual convenience??) We ran the conduit up alongside each pier, and then at several places around the foundation. The ground was firmly packed and the entire area was cris-crossed with rebar for the concrete.Piers and Power

Time for the cement (how are your backs??) We ordered an entire truck-load of fiberglass-laden concrete, about eight yards worth. The thinking was that any leftover concrete would be used to shore-up the east (downhill) side of the foundation. Ah, concrete work......good on the jeans, good on the boots.....that our wives let us in our houses at the end of the day is a miracle, but our timing couldn’t have been better; it rained for three weeks after the foundation dried. Concrete truck and Poured Pad. It is now Autumn and getting colder and windier. But hey, we’re hardy Colorado souls, right? We have a project to do, right? We could, easily, be considered lunatics and demented astro-fiends, right? All of the above. When the temperatures 30 and wind-chill factor is -10, you’ve really got to make an effort to keep that "Big Picture" in mind......we started framing anyway.

The bulk of the framing was completed in one weekend, in fact, almost all on Saturday. The base of the frame was connected to the foundation by "L" bolts imbedded in the concrete at the time of pouring, spaced sixteen inches apart, off-center, so they’d end up between the studs.

Time to enclose the place. We chose plywood siding, 9/16-inch thick for this purpose. For strength, cost, and looks, its unbeatable. In addition, the material allows for rapid adjustment to temperature changes and dissipates any internal heat immediately upon opening the roof. Walls

At this point, our building funds were pretty well shot and the holidays were upon us, so, for a month, we covered our work with reinforced plastic tarps, this to keep the weather out and concrete safe. Financially so far, the observatory cost around $2,000.00, with the concrete being the largest chunk and plywood coming in at a close second. Between the three of us, we had most of the tools.

The roof over the warming/chart room was added next, since it would be permanent, small and easy to build. It was finished in about eight hours (just enough daylight at this time of year.) The room and roof added a great deal of strength and stability to the entire structure; it had to, since it was from this point that the roll-off roof winch would be attached. We now know that this particular design would not have worked as well without the addition of this room.Warming Hut

Now, for the most difficult and challenging part of the project: the roll-off roof. We all knew what we needed and wanted, but working out the exact design took about a month of careful planning. Remember at this point, we’re learning as we go and some things we missed will rear their ugly heads later, but that’s how you get better, right?

The first step was to auger three holes, eight feet south of the main building, for the posts which would support the rolled-down roof. This wasn’t difficult, even in winter, because the freeze line doesn’t go very deep in the soil. We used treated 4x4 posts, spaced eight feet apart at center, cemented them in, then attached 2x4 ‘rail-runners’ from the posts to the north side of the building for the rails on which the roof’s wheels would run. The initial roof was constructed of 2x4s for frame and galvanized sheet metal for cover. After all, we only need to be weather-tight, not hermetically sealed; we thought it was enough. The roof weighed in at about 400 pounds, not very heavy and easy enough for a winch cable to hoist up. We installed 1" pipe along the runners for the large gantry wheels of the roof to roll on. (Down the road, we’ll probably remove these and install angle iron for a smoother ride (that brainstorm came after all was said and done.)) The design allows the roof to be rolled almost all the way down to south-wall level. So, we’re now roofed, winched and cabled, with 400 pounds to hold everything in place, right?

Micro bursts.....those annoying tornado-force winds that show up out of a clear blue sky. One did. And it took our new roof for a ride, kinda bent it up pretty good, in fact. Ah, the learning experience! The winds were clocked at a local airport (which lost three planes) at 100 miles per hour. Back to the drawing board.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? So, what didn’t you learn, idiot?"

We rebuilt the roof, same design, using 3/8" chipboard as a base, then the galvanized sheet metal on top; a little more weight, but well within the winch and cable’s capabilities. We also added six heavy-duty snap link cable clips at each corner and at centers......the roof hasn’t flown since. The winter of ‘97 even dumped five feet of snow on the roof from one storm.....no problems. Wind SafetyFront View (Done)

The year 1998 saw the completion of several phases of the observatory: the finalizing of the electrical, the installation of the piers, shelving, lighting, the computers, carpeting (keeps the tootsies toasty) and sheet-rocking of the warming/chart room.

And we moved in, the three of us.

There is no way to describe the convenience, protection and satisfaction of a self-built observatory: no more setting up, always being polar-aligned and having equipment readily at hand. We’ve done a lot of scientific work (nova searches, variable star observations,) as well.

Equipment-wise, we’re running a Celestron C-11 on a Losmandy mount, a Celestron C-14 on Software Bisque’s new Paramount and a terrific 8-inch binocular telescope that Terry labored on. For photography, in addition to traditional 35mm equipment, we also run an Apogee AP-7 and two SBIG ST-6 CCD cameras for autoguiding. Imaging and guiding software provided by Software Bisque. Image processing provided by Adobe Photoshop 5.0, PaintShop Pro, and Picture Window Pro 2.5. Steve's Setup

A Pair of 8 inch binoculars for visual work: image 12

Kiowa Observatory project is on-going; there’s always room for improvement and further development. Our hope is to provide ourselves with the ultimate astronomical haven from which to explore the universe as much as we wish, and to give examples to others of what can be accomplished with friendship, generosity and hard work.

A quick electrical note (kids, don’t try this at home.) Most amateurs installing electricity know to use meters to test conductivity. Jon used himself, accidentally. He’s coming along nicely. The scars have almost healed, and he’ll look good as new......when his hair grows back.

Enjoy the page, all!