For a situation of light pollution please see here.

The 'Antares Observatory' is located in the north-eastern part of switzerland. Its owned by the Astronomical Society 'Antares' (roughly 100 people). Open events and group sessions are frequently organized to bring the faszination of astronomy also to the public.

In contrast to many typical observatories, telescopes have to be installed and calibrated outside the building each session. During cold winter months the observatory itself can then be heated which sometimes is a great thing... The disadvantag, however, is the problem of the vibration that the gear is exposed to during its dislocation as well as the large effort that has to be done for installation and calibration every night.

(WGS84) at 727m (±2m):
9°17'0.6" (±0.3") East 47°25'32.5" (±0.3") North

Officale site: http://www.sternwarte-antares.ch

Since spring 2012 I use a TEC140 APO refractor for most of my imaging activities. In combination with its dedicated field flattener/corrector it produces a very flat imaging plane also for large sensors. Vignetting is not an issue (flat fields nevertheless are needed to correct for all other uneven illumination effects) so that the image quality is equally good from edge to edge.

The photon measuring device is a SBIG STL11000M camera with Baader HaLRGB filters. All is carried by the AstroPhysics 900 GoTo on a wooden tripod. For automated focusing, a StarlightInstrument Micro Touch Focusing System is used.

For wider FOVs I use a NP101is. This telescope offers fantastic color correction and with a focal ratio of f/5.4, individual exposures can be shorter than with the TEC refractor (f/7.2).

The 14" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope is used for visual observation (mainly for group sessions) and is carried by a AP1200 GoTo Mount.
The small 4" Borg refractor is on the top of that system and is used for astrophotography.

Since spring 2009, a STL-11000M camera is used for deep-sky photography. It is a monochromatic camera with a colorfilter wheel inside.

More details on that camera can be found here.

Different digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR cameras) were used since my start in 2003. Today I use a Hutech modified EOS 40D and partly also a modified 20D camera.

There are three objectives that I frequently use with DSLR camras for astrophotography:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8
Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6