History

The purchase of the 10” LX200 in January 2000 from Venturescope opened up a whole new world of observing to me. After nearly 30 years with a Charles Frank 4” reflector, and later a Celestron 80mm WA, the first night out with the LX200 was absolutely amazing. It confirmed that the money had been well spent. I set up in alt-azimuth mode on the tripod and completed the 2 star alignment. Using the keypad, I saw about 40 deep sky objects in less than one hour. Each one was perfectly centred in the 31mm Tele Vue Nagler eyepiece. They revealed breathtaking detail when compared to my previous experience. The winter sights of Orion and its neighbours had never looked so good, even through the thin hazy cloud. The Orion Nebula was awesome and I even saw the little planetary nebula nestling in the star cluster M46 for the first time. 

After several wonderful observing sessions on the tripod, I began to worry about tripping up and dropping the scope in the dark, with expensive consequences. The thought of some form of permanent mounting and a simple enclosure gradually developed into a desire for a proper observatory.

The Birch Grove Observatory took over 18 months from conception to first light, every stage being meticulously planned and executed as and when time permitted. This may seem a considerable length of time but with a young child and new baby demanding attention (and a break in the observatory program to build an extension to the house) it is probably pretty good. The original goal was to construct an ergonomically designed observatory that would make observing as convenient and as comfortable as possible. This goal has largely been achieved, but the observatory will be an on-going project. Various modifications and adaptations will be required. Nothing is perfect, but it suits me. I am delighted with the results of all my hard work.

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