Our observatory was designed with the intent of eventually adding a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom for overnight convenience. 

**LEGAL TIP:  To recover our costs of building and incorporate the land into a single loan with the building included, we would have to add a separate sleeping area, kitchen and bathroom.  Financially, we have a significant amount tied up in the building so in order to recover this equity financial institutions require a 'dwelling' defined as a structure with separate sleeping areas, kitchen, living area and bathroom.  Think about this investment from a leverage standpoint where mortgage interest can be deducted as well as deducting for equipment depreciation should you wish to pursue a business path for tax purposes.  My idea was this, get our $35,000 we have in the property OUT by financing the entire observatory and land then use a portion of the cash to purchase new equipment!

    My wife and I designed the entire observatory and took care in thinking about the future and our family.  Our son added the idea of a gaming system with the TV to give our two children something to do while we were there.  Our two children would need entertainment while I observe and my wife would need space to work on her sewing and quilts, so we decided to add a front portion of the observatory and have it become a 12 x 24 foot family room!

We added a 26" flat panel HD TV, water cooler (and hot water) tank, refrigerator, computer station with Hi-Speed Internet Access, 4 security cameras, surround sound stereo radio and TV, and a system to control all lights and cameras from the observatory control room.  We planned to have the observatory also store several items and this has worked out very well since we now have a 12 x 16 foot storage area which is located directly under the telescope area (Another idea from our son, the floor of the Observatory starts at 58 inches).

It took one month to complete the design of the observatory, using a program called Visual Home 3D which is unfortunately no longer available.  I was able to create a three-dimensional model of the observatory and take a tour to locate potential problems. I must admit this was the first time I designed something on paper (or computer) and it turned out EXACTLY how I had planned.  You know how it goes, you have your idea of how things will go and during construction it changes significantly but not in this case.  When Mr. Ramirez was constructing the structure, I was literally explaining to him exactly how I wanted it done, little was on paper since I printed the layout without dimensions, it was all in my head.  Over the family room in the structure I designed the roof pitch to deflect the northern to Northwestern winds and because of the 2-12 pitch on the roof it actually creates a cushion of air around the lower portion of the observatory dome to hold down the dome structure.  This portion of the structure is the one that I'm most proud of, we have experienced winds as high as 60 miles an hour and as you can see the dome is still there.  Right now I am working on the blueprints for the plan in order to offer them for sale for a very reasonable price.

The total cost for construction of this observatory was $31,400 (Not including the cost of the land).  I did all of the electrical work which saved about $2,000 and I had various contractors who I had used in the past construct the observatory so they gave me a very good rate on their services.  I want the structure to be around in 20 years and because of what we had used now for materials, it will last as planned.  Many builders now use foam insulation and wooden studs to complete the exterior construction of a typical house and then either cover the house with a vinyl, hardy plank or brick.  The Lozano Observatory was constructed with the typical wooden construction but also has 3/8" composite boards on the exterior which was then covered with Tyvek home wrap and then Hardy Plank siding material. 

For a comparison, several major homebuilders skip the extra step of covering the sub-exterior with plywood or other such materials and instead only cover studs with 1/4" to1/2" foam insulation board.

Quick Facts :

The observatory property is 6.35 Acres

· The Cement Telescope pier is 12 inches in diameter, 14 FT tall and weighs over a ton

· 29 Cedar trees were cut down to clear the property

· The main telescope mirror is 12.5 inches

· Lynn and I mounted the 100 lb. dome ring to a height of 12 ft using only a nylon rope

· We have high speed internet access

· 13 tons of material were needed to complete the road; all spread by neighbor and family member Jim Todd

· The cement pad at our entry weighs over 600 pounds

· The telescope is controlled by a GPS receiver

· 68 sheets of 4x8 drywall were used to construct the finished walls

· The dome is 8 feet in diameter and is one molded piece

· It took me, Brothers Khail and Dan as well as Alex and Lionel Bila to mount the dome; it took 5 hours

· Robert Jr. earned a Boy Scout Elective by wiring 2 outlets and one light switch

· A cellular alarm protects this observatory

· Over 1,400 labor hours were required to complete this project

· To minimize vibrations during imaging, no part of the pier touches the observatory

· Many different types of fossils are found on this property

· The Pier base is 22” below the ground and was dug with a pick and shovel

· Over 1,000 feet of electric wiring was used during construction

· Robert Sr.,  Lynn and Robert Jr. designed every part of the observatory

· This property was once at the bottom of the ocean

· There are 624 square feet in this structure, expansion will double this size in the near future

· The Electrical wiring, and power service from the electric company was done by Robert

· The front half of the observatory was designed to allow our family to spend time together

The elevation of the observatory is 1,684 feet above sea level, San Antonio average, 680 Ft

· We are in Blanco County but our address is Spring Branch, in another county

· Ground breaking occurred on May 21st 2007

· There are two future doors already framed in this structure

· We receive digital TV signals from San Antonio, Austin, and Temple

· Roadrunners hunt Rattlesnakes; both have been seen on this property

There is a 'Chimney' on our property which drains into the Edwards Aquifer.

The pitch of the roof was designed to help hold down the dome by creating a backflow of winds around the lower portion of the dome 

 

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