This evening's gathering of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association was our periodic "Member Observatories" night. It's a popular meeting with various members showcasing their personal observatories. I always learn a few new tricks and it's fascinating to see what others have done to solve the various problems that face small observatory owners. It's also amazing to see how different they are, whether in construction style, size, or price.
We're lucky here in Tucson to have so many amateur astronomers, and with the often-clear skies, building a backyard observatory can be a very worthwhile project.
I gave a short presentation on Xanadu West, my vinyl-shed roll-off-roof observatory.
