I have been working on a way to have a functional and inexpensive observatory for my Seestar smart telescope for over a year now. This represents my ideas that today have proven to work quite well. After careful consideration, I have decided to share this with growing community of astronomers and astrophotographers that use smart scopes like the Seestar and the Dwarf Labs products.
This is now an “open source” project that I hope will grow and improve with user input.
Constructing the outer wood structure is the most difficult part. But if you are handy with power tools, you can get it done with about 3-4 hours time. On my first prototype, first video below, I used an old fashion hand saw and my trusty Ryobi power drill. I then progressed to a Ryobi table saw for the units I made in Big Bend, TX.
Check out my Discord channel dedicated to this project. Learn from others that are contributing ideas to make it better.
With the use of the linear actuator and the Tuya Smart Wifi Motor Controller, I am able to remotely open and close the roll off roof via my iPhone or Apple laptop. This allows me to not have to go outside and manually close the box. Plus, it works great for use as a remote observatory anywhere you have wifi. Plus with the incorporation of the rain sensor, the roof/lid will automatically close with one drop of rain.
Pictured above its what makes the whole thing work! The Tuya wifi motor controller. When installed and connected to wifi, you can open and close the linear actuator that controls the roll-off roof, from your phone! Thank you Dan Becker from SCAS.org for turning me on to this. PS; On the Tuya you can even create a schedule to open and close the roof. I love this thing!
I keep an eye on everything inside and outside of the Micro Smart Scope Observatory with two Wyze outdoor/indoor pan tilt cameras connected to the Wyze app on my phone. These cameras work very well and are an excellent value. You don’t need to subscript to a cloud service for image back up since they use an on board micro SD card for storage. Where you can easily review and download images and video from the nights imaging session.
You can support my efforts with no additional cost to you, by purchasing the parts via my Amazon affiliate links below. You can also Buy Me A Cup Of Coffee on this link.
Micro Observatory Parts List
- Tuya Zigbee Rain Sensor (out of stock on Amazon) But Walmart has it!
You can also check out my Seestar remote rental observatory in Big Bend, TX called EasyScopes.space
