This shows the top door installed.  I attached some chains that hold the door from folding all the way back.  The door turned out to be a lot heavier than I thought it would be; the original plan was to let it fold all the way back to rest on the dome itself.  Instead, I decided to use a pair of chains to hold it from folding back too far.  Now, as long as a strong gust of wind doesn't slam it shut some evening.....	I built a rain skirt that is attached to the dome and keeps rain from getting to the dome track and wheels.  The T1-11 that comprises the outer walls was  treated with a water seal stain.  The white dome surfaces are painted with exterior latex and caulked with elastometric silicone sealant.  Clear elastometric sealant was used in the corners and edges of the dome skirt as well.	The telescop in its new home.  The entire project from start to finish took about seven weeks; I took a lot of time away from the studio to complete it.  Total cost including the removal of concrete and construction debris, and the pier-top plate, was about $2500.  It's worth every penny and every bit of effort!
The "instrument package" at the telescope's business end.  The main camera is a Meade DSI Pro II.  I use an Antares off-axis guider to send some light to a Meade DSI Pro-I camera for autoguiding.  Also shown above is an Atik 5-position filter wheel which contains photometric B,V,R, and I filters as well as a clear filter.  At this point the telescope is being used at its full focal length of over 4200mm.  This makes guiding a real challenge and ultimately prompted me to change to the setup in the next image.	This shows the new arrangement.  I bought a Meade ETX125 - a 5" Maksutov to use as a guide scope.  It can be seen hanging below the main telescope.  I mounted it below the telescope to minimize its moment arm and reduce the amount of counter weight I'd need.  The DSI-I is attached to the 5".  The DSI-II is now images through a focal reducer/field flattener that reduces the effective focal length to about 2300mm.	A closeup of the guide scope.  Small pieces of wedge-cut oak can be seen which are adjusted with 1/4-inch bolts to provide pressure between the two telescopes and provide a longer mounting baseline and reduce differential flexure between the two optical assemblies..  Since this image was taken I have moved the guidescope back a bit so that its dovetail clamp now rests against that of the main telescope which makes things a bit stronger and stiffer.

     The result has been worth every bit of the six to seven weeks of concentrated effort and the approximate finished cost of $2500.  These nights when I go out to observe I simply open the top hatch, remove the lower door section, turn everything on, find one calibration star and begin observing.  The total time needed from the time I walk out of my back door to the time I am on target for the first object for the evening is now 15 minutes instead of 90.  The polar alignment is very good as is the telescope balance; factors that were somewhat hit-or-miss when having to set up and balance/align everything each time I wanted to use the 'scope.  The building is only just large enough for the task at hand.  For the time being I am using a small folding chair and tv table to hold my laptop computer.  The light from the computer screen is a problem and there isn't much room to move around; its easy to bump into the telescope in the dark.  Hence the next phase will soon be underway; building a small warm room in the front of the garage which will also serve to house the computer.  I'll use a KVM switch to provide a "remote station" inside the dome to use while focusing or any other time I need to be inside the dome, otherwise all observing will be done "remotely" from the warm room.

     So - this story is TBC!