16-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain

In 1999 some members feared we were putting an increased strain on our 8¼-inch Clark with all the public open nights. Despite having a 12-inch Meade LX200 and the Patton Telescope, it was thought an additional 16-inch Meade LX200 telescope could be used not only for public nights, but also for digital imaging and internet access. A grant was written, in part, to acquire such an instrument.

The request went like this: The second part of this proposal concerns the purchase of a Meade 16-inch computer-controlled telescope. This new instrument will help Skyscrapers to accommodate public observing sessions and groups in a timelier manner. It would also enable us to provide K-12 science students digital astronomical images, via the Internet, for which our historic Alvan Clark telescope (vintage 1878) in the main observatory was not designed to accomplish. Together these instruments will complement one another, giving the visitor a well-rounded view of the universe.

We were quite surprised, but very happy, when we were notified in November 1999 that the scope acquisition had been approved.

The 16” Meade telescope was ordered in February 2000, with an expected delivery time of six months. The custom pier arrived in about two months. Well, the scope itself was ready a few months early and it was shipped from Meade on May 8 and received by Skyscrapers soon thereafter. That was the good news. The bad news was, not a single one of us who helped write the grant ever thought about where we were going to put the scope should we get it. In other words, we hadn’t planned on a permanent observatory to house it.

But in true Skyscrapers fashion, we rallied and built a 12 foot by 16 foot roll-off roof observatory. Once again it was entirely constructed by our members. Construction began in July 2000. The basic frame was completed before the end of the year and the onset of cold and snowy weather. The wiring had to wait until the 2001 spring thaw, since the power and computer cables were going to be run underground. By July 6 all the work had been completed and the 16-inch Meade soon settled into its new home. The 16-inch roll-off roof observatory was officially turned over to the members at the October 13, 2001, AstroAssembly.