麻田記念天体観測所の紹介№１

HOW WE BUILT OUR OWN OBSERVATORY

Our hand-made "Asada Memorial Astronomical Observatory" was completed in 1996. This observatory was named after Mr. Shiro Asada, who is the eldest member of our club and donated all the necessary cost.

Its size is 2.7X5.4m, and two equatorials can be installed. The main telescope is 10 inch F6 Newtonian Takahashi MT-250 on precision euqatorial mount Pentax MS-5. This set was donated by Mr. Asada, too. We also use our hand-made 14 inch Dobsonian there.

The observatory is located at Senyougahara, Jinseki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture. It's one hour drive from Fukuyama City. Its altitude is 700 meters and commands a very fine view. Our member Mr. Koichi Murakami found this site. The land owner Mr. Akagi consented to rent it to us, considering its educational value for his grandchildren.

Beside this roll-off roof observatory is a small hut in which we can drink tea, take a nap or warm ourselves. Each of us paid 50,000 yen (about $500) for this house.

The owners of this Senyougahara Observatory are as follows: Mr. and Mrs. Shiro Asada (honorable members), Mr. and Mrs. Tadayoshi Takahashi, Mr. Shozo Taso, Mr. Yutaka Moriyama, Mr. Koichi Murakami, Mr. Kazuhiko Morikawa, Mr. Hideo Matoba, Mr. Hiroyuki Kanao, Mr. Tomonori Goto, Mrs. Toshiko Ohashi, Mr. Takayuki Azuma, Mr. Ikuhiro Yokoyama, Mr. Hideo Kodama. Mr. Hidetoshi Fujii was also our member, but he passed away in 1999. There are 80 members in Astro-Club Fukuyama, and only the above owners have the key of this observatory. The other members can use the observatory together with those owners.

		On September 8, 1996 we marked the site for the roll-off off observatory.
		Concrete blocks for the foundations were laid by professional hands.
		On Sunday October 6, Mr. Yokoyama, who runs a wood-working factory brought a miniature model of the observatory to our club meeting. 　We decided precise size there. According to the plan, Mr. Yokoyama ordered necessary wooden and iron materials. On Sunday October 13, we began our work at Mr. Yokoyama's factory. Here is the pile of lumber.
		We prefabricated the necessary parts in his wood-working factory, and constructed the observatory at the site in two days.
		Mr. Yokoyama is left and Mr. Kanao is right. We piled up the completed frames for wall panels. Thanks to the excellent machines of Mr. Yokoyama's factory, wooden work was done in a day.On Saturday October 19, we put square lumber on concrete-block foundations.
		We laid the lumber and decided where to put anchor bolts. We didn't dig deep for equatorial mount foundations, yet, separated from the observation floor, they are perfectly vibration free.
		Mr. Kanao is laboring with a hand drill, since no electricity was available there. Anchor bolts were set with cement just in the position of the wooden holes.
		Part of the base lumber was chipped away to bury the anchor bolts. To prevent from rottening, we put a lot of coal-tar on the wood. For ventilation there are six openings in the foundation blocks. On Sunday October 20, we began to make the iron frame for the roof. Mr. Yokoyama is cutting the iron.
		Mr. Yokoyama is welding the iron frames. Mr. Kanao is grinding the cut surface.
		Mr. Yokoyama and Mr. Kanao are boring the iron frames. On the next Sunday October 27, we resumed the work for roof frames. Mr. Azuma (left) and Mr. Matoba (middle) joined us. We put together the frames for checking.
		We worked till late at night, and managed to complete most of the parts. Mr. Yokoyama undertook some additional work during the week.
		On Friday November 1, Mr. Kanao transported a part of the siding panels to the site. On the same day, Mr. Kodama transferred the donated 10 inch Newtonian from his dome in Fukuyama City to the hut beside the observatory. On Sunday November 3, all the available members gathered at the site and began to construct the observatory. Mr. Takahashi (left) is painting anti-corrosive on the iron parts.Though Mr. Yokoyama (left) had a high fever that day, he didn't let it known to others and directed the construction. All the parts were carried by Mr. Yokoyama's truck (right).Mr. Taso, Mr. Murakami and Mrs. Takahashi (from left to right) installed wall frames on the foundations. All the lumber under the floor was painted with wood preservative.

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