Today, I was reflecting back on my interest and beginnings in astrophotography.   I thought I would share a bit here...

The first telescope I had was a 12" Newtonian, which I built scraping various parts  together, although I purchased the mirrors.  At that time, I was starting to experiment with making my own optical mirrors and flats -- Flats are a real challenge.

My second telescope had a bit more thought put into it...  After a lot of experimenting with optics, I ground, polished and figured a 17.5" f4.5 parabolic mirror, and also made the Flat; and I built a Servo-CAT driven GOTO Dobsonian telescope -- shown in the first photo.  This particular photo shows a 4th generation of modifications, where I had the scope setup for "realtime" visual imaging with a monochrome video camera.  I used this scope for public outreach to share astronomy with our local community.

My third telescope was a true imaging system, using a 10" Meade Cass with an SBIG ST-10.   Around that timeframe, I purchased a 6" APO lens from Thomas Back, and built my own version of a TMB 152 f8 APO Refractor.  I used a 4" FeatherTouch focuser, adapted for RoboFocus control.  A lot of the fun was building the internal structure of the Refractor with its supports and baffles.   Since I did not have a Mount for that scope, I adapted it to fit on top of my Meade 10" scope/Fork Mount -- the second photo shown here.   This started out as an experiment, just to see if the Meade could take the physical weight, and still track and guide.  I played around with various configurations, and ended up fitting a SBIG STL-6303 to the my TMB APO, and using an SBIG STV on the 10" Meade for guiding.  Out of this setup, I got my 1st APOD of M8, the Lagoon Nebula back in 2005, followed by an APOD for ngc7000 Cygnus Wall.

I later bought a Paramount ME to mount my TMB 152 APO, and the FSQ-106.   I still have the Paramount ME and the FSQ-106, but have since sold my TMB APO.
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In 2005 I had built a prototype remote, robotic observatory using a 10 foot dome (Technical Innovation's ProDome) located in our backyard, in Camarillo, California.  This was to prove out the design for a larger observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains, near Mayhill, New Mexico.   This first observatory was located in the city, which was not the best location for an observatory, but it helped to prove the design concept.  I was able to image narrowband with this setup.

From here on...   I used CCD Commander for my Automation software, controlling all of the observatory, telescope, and imaging operations.  I really like its "ACTION" based operations.  Many thanks to Matt Thomas (Author of CCD Commander) for his support and help over the years.  Great application Matt...!  I still use CCD Commander to this day in our Sagrada Observatory for full automation/imaging control.

In 2006 I decided to design and build a remote robotic observatory in the Sacramento Mountains, near Mayhill, New Mexico.  I called this observatory the JMSM Observatory, which was at an elevation of 7,400 feet.  This observatory was specifically built for the installation and operation of my 24" f8 RC telescope.  Since this observatory was about 100 miles from our home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, I configured it with multiple levels of backup systems/redundancy for power and Internet connections.

While the observatory was under construction, I built a 14" f8 RC OTA as a prototype to prove out the design concept for the 24" RC OTA.  The RC optics for both the 14" RC and the 24" RC were purchased from Star Instruments -- ground, polished, hand figured by Paul Jones.

Initially, I setup my home built TMB 152 APO with an FSQ-106 for imaging at the JMSM Observatory.   The FSQ did a great job with wide-field images.  At that time, I used an SBIG STL-6303 CCD camera.

The JMSM Observatory, at 7,400 ft. elevation, typically had snow during the winter.  The photo shows snow conditions after an occasional snow storm, which would typically shut down the observatory for a week or so...  

The next photo shows my wife Carol and I next to our completed JMSM Observatory.  The small building next to the observatory structure is an instrumentation "Warm Room".  The observatory has a 16.5" ASH Dome, controlled by Technical Innovations DDW Controller system.  In all the years of its operation, it never failed.  For power, I installed two 3,000 VA Online-Double Conversion-UPS systems -- one for the Observatory, and the other for the Warm Room.  These proved valuable during the Summer months when there was a lot of lightening strikes in the area.  Since the entire observatory was made from steel, the Dome interior acted much like a Faraday Cage, protecting the computers and imaging equipment from EMI.  I additionally installed a UFER Ground system, using 1/2" copper wire installed in the ground, connected to the observatory structure --  as is typically done in professional observatories.  All this was highly effective protection from lightening strikes.
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Around the time that the JMSM Observatory was completed, we decided to move from California to New Mexico, and settled in Las Cruces.   There we build our dream home, which included a 14.5' Dome observatory -- drone photo.   This is the observatory I use now -- called the Sagrada Observatory -- and it is the home for my 24" f8 RC telescope.  The 14.5 foot ASH Dome has a "wide Shutter" which works well for the 24" RC..  The telescope/fork mount is supported by a 24" diameter concrete Pier that goes down into a 9' x 9' x 9' concrete Base, which is isolated from the house structure.  Having the observatory co-located with our home makes it very easy to access and maintain.  Below the observatory is my machine shop where I made this telescope.

By the way...  I assembled both ASH Domes on-site at the JMSM Observatory and the Sagrada Observatory -- quite a project -- requiring about a week to complete each for each observatory.   I should mention that my friend Dean Salman helped me assemble both the JMSM and Sagrada ASH Domes.  Many thanks Dean for your help and your friendship over the years.

We sold the JMSM Observatory about two years ago, hence my 24" RC is now located in the Sagrada Observatory.   All the images on my Astrobin page were imaged with the 24" RC from the Sagrada Observatory. 
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Well...   That's about it for my Astro-Imaging trip through time...  It has been fun over the years to design and built these telescopes and observatories.  In addition, I am having a great deal of fun imaging with the 24" RC.   

My next project is to re-configure the Paramount ME and fit it with the FSQ-106 APO that I still have.   I will use my previous Apogee U16M 16803 CCD Camera with that setup.  I plan build a "compact" roll-off observatory on the observatory deck that is next to the Sagrada Observatory.  Look for some wide-field images in the near future...

All the Best, and Happy Imaging,
Mike