This morning I got this one line email from the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center:
Your site is now code Z72.
So Cademuir observatory is now officially recognised by the MPC! In order to obtain an observatory code it’s necessary to observe some minor planets (in the 1000-400,000 range) of varying magnitudes, at least a couple of times a night over at least a couple of nights and record their positions to an accuracy of within 1″. Using the (.25 scope with a focal reducer and a DSLR I was able to get most reading accurate to < 0.5″. I’ll post a full writeup of the process in future, for now I’m going to celebrate and hope for clear skies to see ISON in the morning!