In Juli 2011 I decided to relocate my observatory in my garden.

The reason was the poor sight to the east and west and therefore less time to capture images.

This was my old situation:

Before starting I had a lot off work removing the BBQ , outdoor kitchen ,a few trees and the bench.

Day 1:

The second step was framing the concrete floor and mark the position of the pier:

I build a wooden frame , and drilled some holes :

Fortunately my fellow astro photographer Robber Koornwinder was so kind to help me out.

He braided the iron for the pier.

We placed the studs in the concrete:

And filled the frame with concrete.

Then we started with the concrete floor.

Its a job!!!!

The end of day 1 :

Thx a lott Robbert

Day 2:

I went to buy a longer pier but they only come in the size of 6 meters so I had a problem :

buy the 6 meters or add another 40cm of concrete to the pier.

I went for the second option and was happy we kept the studs long.

just enough space for the iron plate on top of the concrete.

Day 3 :

 The biggest challenge : Moving the observatory with a few guys!!!!

My idea was to take the roof and door off and lift the the structure completely.

I arranged my brother Ben (whos a contracter btw) , Maurice Toet ,Dustin (my son of 16) and a friend.

To make a long story short........It was unmoveable .

The builder from Alexander observatories told me that it was well build...well it is!!!!

I ran through my neighbourhood in search of strong men.

I found two more and we fineally managed to lift the thing up.pfff what a stress!!

Totally forgot to take some pictures...

That beer tasted good.

Day 4

As you see on the pic above I left some space between my shed and the observatory.

I made a door in between to store  my trashcans and garden tools.

Day 5

 Mounting the pier:

I ordered a 2 cm iron plate and some supports.

After drilling the holes I asked Wim Groen from the Rijswijk public observatory to well the tube on the plate.

The supports:

And the finishing touch:

Wim (ouwe Scheveninger)well done and super bedankt!

At last:

Let the games begin!!!

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