I haven’t published that much Grant, the little that I did put online in various forums I removed.
Unfortunately I received the unwelcome attention of burglars. Not too much was taken from my older observatory, mainly damage caused by forced entry. The tool shed was ransacked and a mini lathe, mill and various power tools taken plus the house window frames damaged, though a combination of metal window frames and strong locks prevented entry.
The insurance company did cover the losses but I was asked about how much information existed about by hobbies and possesions in the virtual world and was warned that placing images or details of personal belongings on an open public forum was considered careless behaviour and that doing so would a) raise my insurance premiums by a hefty sum and, b) may lead to non-payment in future claims. I also had to extend the house alarm and CCTV to the observatory and outbuildings as a condition for continuing insurance protection.
Subsequently I have been more guarded.
Partly too, it has been a thirty year slow evolution to reach this point with nothing that damatic that I felt noteworthy at the time though looking back, moving from a concrete pad for a tripod to a fixed pier in the garden, through a wooden shed built to look like a summer house, followed by Skyshed Pod and now the Pulsar dome were big steps. Each change took many months and even years to complete with big gaps in continuity while work took precedence over hobbies and of course when I began the journey there were no on-line worlds to fill with a virtual life.
One day I will sit down and document the various stages my observatory has evolved through, though how to do that without giving away too many traceable personal details escapes me at present and first I must finish that home made spectrometer that I have been working on for the last eight years, then there is an ultra slim optical path Arduino-controlled rotator/focuser that I have been working on for a few years, still awaiting machining of the metal components to commence, I’ve had the aluminium billets since 2015 but somehow being retired has not given me as much ‘free‘ time that I thought it would….!
William.