After many years of backyard imaging and driving to dark sites we decided to give remote imaging a try.  We looked towards our local club but at the time (2006) remote imaging was not well understood by most amateurs.  We were told it was possible to put a dome or roll-off on club property but you would really need to be on site to use the equipment (of course all that changed within a few years and there are many remote observatory’s at the club now).

We ended up looking in SE New Mexico and found a nice sized property that we could put a dome on and give remote imaging a go.  The dome (Technical Innovation 10 Ft Pro Dome) was commissioned in late 2008 and has been running almost every clear night since.  We started with a Takahshi TOA130 and then installed a AG Optical 16” Newtonian astrograph in October of ’12.

We added a second dome in late 2014
In the second dome we have a 12.5 “ AG Optical iDK on a Paramount ME housed in a 10 Ft TI Pro Dome.  This setup features a SBIG STXL11002 with the 8 position FW8-G with Astrodon Gen 2 LRGB and a Baader 7nm HA.  To reach focus we have an Optec TCS3-Si.  An Optec Pyxis rotator is also in the image train for guide star accusation.

If you have been considering remote give it a try.  Once all set up it is nice to be able to start all the equipment up and be imaging in 5 minutes.