I have been doing astrophotography now since 2004. It is has been evolving and continues to evolve. Last year (2006) after hitting 100 entries in my journal I realized it was time for a more permanent setup.

The POD (Personal Observatory Dome) by SkyShed was my original choice I would have to wait just over a year before ordering it. A few weeks before delivery a friend of mine offered to sell me his 10'x12' Explora-Dome custom built observatory. It was a deal too good to pass up. The trick was to move the observatory via flatbed truck from Shediac to Moncton.

The observatory

Before getting the obsevatory delivered I had to prepare the site. I decided on a 12" concrete pier First thing was to dig the hole with an auger. It cost about $30 for the day at the local tool rental shop. Thank goodness for good helpers!

I decided to wait until the building was installed before pouring the concrete. I installed the sonotube and covered it for the night.

The fence had to be removed in order to back the truck in. Good thing we used spikes for the posts and not concrete.

I hired 'Monton City Towing' for the move. Excellent service. When I originally asked for a quote I wanted to make sure they understood the nature of the beast. They were confident they could move it for $150.

The trick is to get the flatbed under the observatory and edge it on the truck slowly using a wench.

It was tricky getting it off the pier.

It took just over 2 hours to get it loaded and about 30 minutes to get it to it's new home

It took a total of 3 hours to move it without any incidents. The next step was to put the dome back on. It took 4 of us about 2 minutes to lift the 180lbs dome on the track. Thanks to all my helpers.

Left-Alex       Right-Bob, Alex, Marcel, Paul

Of course it figures for the next two nights aliens took over and clouded the skies.

Left-Alex, Sam

My good friend Stephen happen to be in town for a visit and he and Amanda helped me mix and pour about 10 bags of concrete to finish the pier base. It should be noted that I am using a Skyshed pier design. This allows for leveling of the pier at the base and at the top.

Finally after letting the pier base harden for 5 days, I installed my metal pier constructed by a machine shop in Nova Scotia (thanks to my brother Stephen), and the rest of my gear.