Through the incredible dedication of many OCA members, and in particular William Kuhn (after whom the telescope is named), we have our own professional grade 22" fully computer controlled telescope. This telescope and the OCA Observatory was officially opened in September of 1984. The telescope is estimated to be worth of the order of $300,000.

The most incredible part of the story is that any member can be trained to operate this wonderful instrument. Please review the details on becoming a Star Member.

When the telescope was initially built it was not computer controlled and it had to be moved manually using some pretty extensive muscle power. Through the years and due to the continued efforts of many OCA members the telescope has received much care and attention which has resulted in many improvements.

For many years now the telescope has been computer controlled - allowing it to be moved to objects by selecting them from a specialized computer program. More recently the system has been upgraded to allow the telescope to be controlled using commercially available off-the-shelf telescope control software.

All-in-all these improvements make the telescope extremely easy to use and a very powerful instrument for visual observation and also for the use in astronomical research programs. The telescope has been used to discover new super-novae (six were discovered by past OCA President Wayne Johnson). It has also been used to discover new asteroids by OCA members Myke Collins and Minor White.

In addition to the 22" telescope the observatory is also the home for dual 10" and 12" Meade LX200 scopes (the 12" was donated by John Hoot).