Observatory:

My observatory is a roll off roof type measuring 7'X7', it was completed in 1996 and was refubished in 2004/5. It is constructed using plastic corrugated sheeting onto treated plywood which is fastened to a frame made from 'Handy Angle'.The roof is made from real tile effect aluminium sheets again, fastened to a Handy Angle frame. This slides on eight nylon wheels running on a metal track onto the support shown in the photo.The telescope is attached to a pier which is bolted directly to the floor. The base is approximately six inch deep concrete laid onto a hardcore bed about twenty inches deep.
The interior of the observatory is painted black and features a workbench with storage space. An old computer is used to run some planetarium software, store observation files and some useful utilities and is connected to a small network giving access to the internet. This computer is also used to point the telescope this allows greater versatility than the hanbox controller with essentially an unlimited number of objects.

Latitude:

Longitude:

Height:

115 Metres/377 Feet

Obs. codes:

BAAVSS - JZ
AAVSO - JRO

Location & sky condition:

The Observatory is located in the village of Finstall on the outskirts of Bromsgrove, North Worcestershire. This is only about 15miles south of the centre of Birmingham and 10miles north of Worcester. Despite the proximity to such a large conurbation such as Birmingham, I enjoy reasonably good skies, this is helped by my semi-rural location - I do not have any local lighting such as street lamps, industrial or commercial facilities located nearby and my house backs onto farmland. Good summer nights allow good views of the milky way,M31 and stars down to mag,5.5 or fainter. On the downside to this, there are some large trees which lie directly on the meridian, this somewhat restricts the lower declination limit from the observatory.