The observatory will have two main permanently installed telescopes a 14" Meade LX200R and a 20" equatorial reflector.

Meade LX200

This is a standard 14" Meade LX200 on a permanent pier mount. Details of the telescope can be found at the Meade Site.

A summary is included below:

Optical Design	Schmidt Cassegrain
Clear Aperture	356mm(14")
Focal Length Focal Ratio	3556mm f/10 (14")
Maximum Practical Visual Power	850X (14")
Telescope Mounting	heavy-duty fork type; double-tine
Primary Mirror Lock	included (progressivTHtension)
Zero Image-Shift Micro Focuser	included (4-speed) All models
Viewfinder	8 x 50mm
GPS, True-level and North sensors	included (16-channel GPS receiver)
Pointing Precision, High Precision Mode	1-arc min.
Autostar^® II Hand Controller	included (147,541 object database)
Slew Speeds:	RA and Dec: 0TH1x to1.0x sidereal, variable in0.01x increments; 2x, 8x, 16x, 64x, 128x sidereal; 1°/sec. to 8°/sec., variable in 0.1° increments
Tracking Rates	sidereal, lunar, or custom-selected from 2000 incremental rates
Primary, Secondary Mirrors	Pyrex^® glass grade-A
Correcting Plate/Lens	Water white glass
Optical coatings	UHTC

20" Split Ring Equatorial

This telescope is a prototype design of a split ring equatorial style scope, with a truss tube design.

Optical Design	Newtonian
Clear Aperture	508mm(20")
Focal Length Focal Ratio	2032mm f/4 (80")
Telescope Mounting	Equatorial

It incorporates a 20" mirror operating at f4, giving it a 80" focal length.This is a reasonably "fast" optical configuration yielding splendid wide field images of deep sky objects. Planetary observations should really be attempted using the 14" Meade LX200.

The scope was developed and manufactured by Pulsar Optical company. Below is a view of the 20" at the 2006 Kielder star party.

The top cage is rotatable so giving ease of observations, I have personally tested collimation during rotation and it held reasonably well. As always with this type of configuration you will always loose some degree of collimation, the trick is to observe one part of the sky fully before attempting to rotate the cage, so decreasing the likelihood of loss of collimation.

The primary mirror is fitted with cooling fans and a dew heater is fitted to the secondary mirror. There is room for a motor to be fitted to the polar axis so that we can track objects, hence the equatorial mount. Presently we are attempting to locate a motor suitable for the job, any suggestions gladly welcomed by all.

Solar Telescope

We also have a Coronado MaxScope 60 - a 0.5Ångström Hydrogen Alpha Solar Telescope. This is mounted on a HEQ5 Equatorial mount.

Aperture	60mm
Focal Length	400mm
Focal Ratio	f/6.6
Bandwidth	< 0.7 A
Thermal Stability	0.005 Å/°C
Safety Blocking	>10_-5 from EUV/IR