Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. - President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
My interest in astronomy dates back to the time when I, as a third-grader, got a copy of Fred Hoyle's Frontiers of Astronomy. I read it over and over, practically memorizing it, fascinated by the idea that we could actually figure out what was going on inside a star, an object that was just a tiny pinpoint of white light.
It wasn't too long after that that I got a small telescope; later, as a high-school freshman, I got a larger telescope. It wasn't too long after that that I wanted an observatory so I wouldn't have to lug the thing in and out of the house!
Lo these many years later, the time for an observatory has come. After a protracted search of the numerous places in the southwest desert that qualify as near, at, or in the middle of nowhere (so the sky will be nice and dark at night, that's why), but still within shouting distance of utility service, land has been procured. What follows is the chronicle of the transformation of 40 acres of high desert into my vision of astronomical nirvana.
So, like Dorothy, we begin by putting one foot in front of another as we follow the treacherous road to The Emerald City (or at least an observatory with electricity and indoor plumbing :-).
The Bunker Ranch Observatory owes its name to my builder. He tells everybody who asks that he's building a bunker, in reference to the buried basement. A while ago, he presented me with a sign dubbing this site the "Bunker Ranch". So it seemed most fitting to name the facility the "Bunker Ranch Observatory".
FLASH! (07/26/00): An order was placed today for a 400mm (16") Astro Optik LOMO Hypergraph, which will be the main imaging instrument at the observatory. Delivery time is 10 - 12 months. It will ride on an Astro-Physics 1200GTO mount.
FLASH! (05/03/02): Notification was received today that the Hypergraph is, at last, ready to ship! The observatory and the telescope are now in a dead heat going down the stretch.
Update 04/28/02: The observatory is nearly ready for telescopes - we only need to motorize the roof and install the electric hoists. The Hypergraph may ship by the end of the month; its Astro-Physics mount is already here. Meanwhile, work is proceeding apace on the basement - plumbing and electrical rough-ins are done, and it's time to install the drywall.
The exterior of the building is now complete! This view, from February 28, shows the east side of the observatory (and a bunch of clouds, which are completely incompatible with the idea of an observatory). Note the 4-foot-wide entry door in the east wall.
The roof is still too difficult to roll, but at least we're down to only needing three people to do it! We've finally licked the problem of the eave flashing interfering with the siding, so the roof is ready to be motorized. The current plan is to install a cog-track and gear system, as is used in Mt. Washington's Cog Railroad. (Actually, this plan has been modified somewhat - it's been turned upside-down, so the cogs are on the roof and the motor/gear is on the wall, so the motor doesn't move. Also, instead of attaching cogged track to the roof, an industrial-strength roller chain will be employed. But everything else is exactly the same!)
Below is a current view of the basement, taken from the doorway (see the floor plan in which north is to the left). The shiny ceiling is the underside of the bridge decking which provided support for pouring the concrete slab that forms the roof. Over that 7"-inch-thick slab is about 18" of dirt. Inside, we're framing steel-stud walls for a bathroom and a darkroom - behind the drywall panels is a shower stall and an up-flush toilet.
You can see the plumbing and electrical rough-in for the kitchen in the
wall facing the camera. It's ready for drywall, and after a thorough
cleanup from that mess, it'll be time to install the cabinets
and appliances. The day when I can start moving my junk stuff into the
basement is not too far off!
The up-flush toilet is plumbed, wired, and tested; it works, but hasn't actually been used in combat yet :-). Why and what is an up-flush toilet? Well, you see, the basement floor is some 12 feet below ground level, so the line from the septic tank enters the basement about 8 1/2 feet above the floor (see that large PVC pipe near the ceiing?). An up-flush toilet uses a pump to overcome the obvious gravitational problem that poses.
Below is a view of the observing level, looking north. Beyond the safety-yellow railing is the stairwell, leading down into the basement. The floor plan for this level is oriented with north to the left. The hole in the floor is where one of the telescope piers will rise from the footing beneath (the other is just below the bottom of the picture). Note the 45 gallons of DryLok, which accounts for the now-white basement walls.
On the observing level, the electrical subpanel is installed, and electricity has been run to the telescope pier locations. The next step is to install some temporary lighting, and begin work on electrifying the roof with the Igus E-Chain. The E-Chain will carry lighting circuits into the roof, along with power for the hoists that will help stack and unstack telescopes and their mounts onto each pier.
Work is progressing on building piers; this has been complicated by the fact that the two cap plates to which the piers are to be bolted did not get made identically - the bolt patterns differ slightly. Since the intent is to be able to exchange piers between the two locations, I am cautiously working on getting a pier base plate made that will fit both hole pattens without compromising structural integrity.
Next up: interior
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| Site | Well | Power | Septic |
| December, 1999 | January, 2000 | February, 2000 | March, 2000 |
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| Observing | RV | Basement |
| May, 2001 | April, 2000 | May, 2000 |
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Terry R. Friedrichsen
terry@mail.trf.sunquest.com
