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Client Testimonials
The following are some unsolicited comments from our clients.
"BYO, Scott Horstman traveled from Ohio to Montana to build my Dobservatory; an Observatory adapted for Dobs. It has 3 foot high walls, and one drop-down wall towards the East. The roof is motorized. The size is 10'X10'. It houses a 16" Dob.
I have never seen an individual work so quickly, & with no written plans, he amazingly had it completed in one weekend, including wiring it! Mine is in the second Winter, and absolutely no problems of any kind have emerged.
What makes Scott so special in this type of construction, is that he also is an Astronomer, so he is aware of the needs of others, while building their Observatories. He also is the friendliest person you could ever hope to meet! His wife Diane, that handles the office end of the business, is an encyclopedia of information, when you are trying to decide what you want & need in your Observatory.
I cannot begin to thank the Horstman's for making my viewing so easy and a pleasure in my Dobservatory. "
Carol A., Helena, MT
"Mount Jennings Observatory is great - I've never done this much observing but it's so convenient now that any excuse to go out works!"
Don G., Mount Jennings Observatory (BYO # 100), Manteno, IL
"Just wanted to take the time (6 weeks later) to let you know just how FANTASTIC my new Observatory is working out... I have probably observed more in the last 6 weeks, than in the previous 18 months! Seriously! It is wonderful how quickly I can go from "wow, skies look clear right now" to observing and photographing - literally 2-3 minutes! Everything is already setup, I just loosen the turnbuckles, roll the roof back, and power up. And lets not talk about how great it is at Oh-dark-thirty in the AM to just turn off the mount, and roll the roof closed, and head in for sleep. Like 1-2 minutes! Fabulous! Having an insulated warm room is going to be wonderful come winter! You, Kenny and Jay were awesome to work with, timely in your arrival, highly professional in your building skills and product - and most important and enjoyable to me - really LOVE astronomy. I enjoyed viewing in the evenings with you as well."
Dave W., Bolton, MA
"This BYO is the BEST astro investment I've made - since you put it up, I've gotten in a huge amount more observing time. The expensive toys get justified when you get time at the eyepiece. If the Clear Sky Clock says things will be good, I can come home from work, roll back the roof, eat dinner, and then head out for a few quick looks. Anyone who has an option to do this would be crazy not to build one!."
John M., Lanesville, IN
"I'd like to take a moment to thank you for the product and services provided. I've installed the 14' rack and motor and have been enjoying it tremendously! The system works perfectly and makes use of my observatory much easier and enjoyable."
Rod M., Washington, NJ
"Chris, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that I chose the M1 OASYS system to complete the robotic automation control of my observatory, The Dark Horse Observatory. Although the system is very easy to install I am not very handy with tools. You provided the support to identify a local dealer who was interested and provided contact information. When the dealer was installing the M1 OASYS system you took the time to assist him on the telephone with a couple of programming questions that he had. The result was a robust and amazingly functional control system. Subsequently you have freely spent a lot of time on the telephone and email answering questions that I had. I have been able to write the control rules with very little effort. The result is that the system controls my observatory effortlessly.
Not only has the M1 OASYS system managed to perform all of the features that you indicated when I first inquired, but together you helped me solve the problem that I had automating my Pier Tech 3 pier. I had no idea that it would be so easy. Before this I had been waiting for about a year hoping that there would be a software solution, but a satisfactory program was not forthcoming. You took the time to analyze the control system and recognized just how easily I would be able to control this with your system. I now have a script that automates the process of opening the roof and then raises the pier. When closure of the roof is requested, the order of the process is reversed. It does all this while ensuring that it is safe to open and close the roof.
I cannot recommend your product highly enough! In addition to providing a great product, you provide real, tangible support and you stand behind your product in a way that is seldom seen these days. I would, and have, recommended the M1 OASYS system to anyone interested in automating an observatory. Although my observatory is only in my backyard, I would nope to be able to let it open up, gather images, and shut itself down unattended so that I could be free to travel to a dark site for visual work. That dream appears to be close to reality now. Thank you for all that you have done to make this possible and thank you and Chuck for developing and marketing such a stellar product! If I can be of help as a reference for you I would be delighted to help!"
Chris Abissi
Dark Horse Observatory
Kimberton, PA
Click here to check out Chris's website: http://www.darkhorseobservatory.org
"I received the motor for the roof and have it installed and running. I like it a lot, although my wife says it's just a guy "more power" thing. It sure makes rolling the asphalt shingle roof off easy. I'm looking forward to really using the telescope and getting into some serious astro-imaging now. Thanks for your excellent plans and the rollers and roof motor. They really helped make this a reality!"
Ed R., Appleton, WI
"Thanks for the nice set of plans, rollers, mount and motor. The motor works great. Everyone agrees that it is very cool. The installation of the motor was very smooth."
Bob W., Kerr Lake, NC
"Scott, I had to write you and say "Thanks" for all of your help and advice in getting my observatory project built! As I explained, because of physical problems I had to hire a company to do the building for me. The people that built the observatory are very good in what they do but had no idea of how to build a Roll Off Roof! The plans I bought from you were great! Following your plans, they were able to get it done the rite way! Your Aluminum Wheels worked beautifully! While I deviated from your plans to have the building built bigger and with the insulated and sheet rocked Office/Control/Warm Room added plus the Two Section South fold over wall and some other things that I had wanted added, everything worked out better then I could have thought! The last thing we did was add your motorized roof opening system! Now I have to tell you, this building measures 22 ft. X 14 ft. with 8 ft. high walls, and that translates into having "One Big & Heavy Roof" on top of it! The roof was built to open to almost 3 feet past the inside wall between the observing room and the office. We mounted the motor down the centerline of the building and recessed slightly above the lowered and insulated ceiling of the office, with the Rack supported down the center of the roofs trusses! Like I said before and like can be seen in a couple of the photo's I sent to you, this is "One Big Roof" and your motor opens and or closes it in about 40 seconds like it never even knew the roof was up there!! Unbelievable!! It moves it right along with no problems at all, and it's not that noisy either! I was like a kid with a new toy. I had to run it back and forth a bunch of times! I still can't believe how well it works! Thanks again. OK Scott, I had to say thank you for all of the help and tell you how pleased I was in dealing with you and your company! Things I needed shipped, got to me in good time and well protected, and again your help and advice got things done the proper way! I'm sending a bunch of photos of the motor installation and a few more of the building! That’s a full size Ford F-150 parked by the office door. You can get an idea of how big the roof really is! Take care and Dark Skies,"
Bob R., Belen, NM
"After vacillating for many months, I decided to go ahead and treat myself to an observatory. Fortunately, Scott Horstman, who lives just a few miles away and advertises on Astromart caught my attention. The favorable comments of his customers convinced me he was the man to build it. Comfort and convenience tells me I made the right choice. I'm well pleased and highly recommend Scott."
Bob S., Burbank, OH
"After years of hauling out my equipment, I finally took the plunge, and had an observatory built. It is a 10X10 roll off roof structure. It was build by Scott Horstman from backyardobservatories.com. It was a pleasure dealing with Scott. He and his crew came all the way to New Jersey from Ohio. They spent the weekend, and everything was completed. It is not easy to find a contractor to put up an observatory. The observatory will house a Tec 200mm refractor on an AP 1200. For now I have a Ceravolo 8.5" Mak-Newt on the mount. Anyone thinking about putting up an observatory should give Scott a call. Highly recommended."
Marc Z., East Brunswick, NJ
"Well it's official. I have a working observatory! First light was 11-19-2003. It was a wonderful moment in time. The roof latches were released, the white light was turned off, with only the glow of the soft red light left in its place. The scope was ready, I held on tight to the rope and gave it a tug. The sound of the rollers was all you could hear in the stillness of the night and then out came the stars...........Thanks Scott!"
Richard S., Franksville, WI
"Your plans were great, and I can't tell you how pleased I am that you took the time to draw them up for others to use. This is the second roll off observatory I have had, and it is definitely the BEST!! Thanks for such detailed plans."
Jeff L., Charlotte, NC
"CJE design saved me a great deal of time, as I constructed this on weekends and weeknights during the summer. Building looks great, roof rolls very well. I like the "solid" design versus some other ones I have seen as we can get winds up to 70 m.p.h. at least once during the winter up on the hill where we live in the Finger Lakes area."
Roger S., Geneseo, NY
Click here to check out Roger's observatory website: http://highwindsfarm.net/hw_observatory_main.htm
"I have been using the observatory every day since you left. I love it!! Thanks again for building it. I really do love it and it is great to have in my backyard."
Steve M., Bristol, IL
"Scott built my observatory as shown in his ad. He has done an excellent and very high quality job. What a perfect combination, a builder, who is also into astronomy. I highly recommend Scott, if your thinking of building yourself, think about having it built. Give Scott a call!"
John C., Litchfield, Ohio
"Scott built my customized observatory (shown on home page) and I have seen his standard models - good workmanship and, as an amateur astronomer, he knows what is important for an observer."
John C., Wadsworth, Ohio
Click here to check out John's website for more pictures http://www.johnrcrilly.com/LX200-14/
"If you're like me, you've agonized over designing and building your own roll off roof observatory. The very thought of it gives you the heebie-jeebies. You've looked at a hundred observatory web sites for ideas. If there were only some paper plans somewhere ... with a materials list, step-by-step instructions and some dimensions to follow. Well, folks, I have no financial interest in this guy's business. In fact, I've never even met him other than exchanging a couple of emails, but I can't recommend his product highly enough. He has detailed plans for sale and I got mine today and I have got to tell you they are a godsend. It's step-by-step instructions with drawings, a complete bill of materials, and lots and lots of detailed views. Even I could build one of these. He can fix you up with a complete kit too or build it on your site if you'd rather. Again, I am not associated with Scott at all, I'm just a very, very satisfied customer with a set of his plans in my hands!"
Dave S., Saginaw, Michigan
"Our observatory was built in June 2003 by Scott & his crew. They came all the way from Ohio to build it for us & they did a terrific job. Scott drew up the plans & we had the concrete work done before he and his crew arrived. The concrete crew also laid PVC pipe so we could wire the observatory from the house underground. This was their largest project to date - the observatory measures 15'6" X 15'6" and also contains a control room. We are very pleased with the end result & Scott & his crew were great to work with. He paid very close attention to detail - including matching the siding to the existing siding on our house. Here are just a couple of photos & a couple of videos of the room opening & closing (see link below for pictures & videos). It actually takes 16 seconds to open & close - silently - the particular digital camera I used only take 15 seconds worth of video... When closed it looks just like a regular small garage, but it sure turns heads when it's open during the daytime."
Mark & Debbie D., Appleton, New York
Check out their website for pictures and more! www.geocities.com/buckbirth/observatory/observe.htm
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