Wow!!! You planning on building a planetarium or something to house such a beast? Obviously you aren't going to be carrying it around and setting it up in different locations.
Interestingly enough, I've sort of had my own interest in this stuff kindled because of a camera I bought recently ->
http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forum...d.php?t=106268
Nowhere near the capability you will have, but heck, I'm keeping my goals small with the two mounts I am getting....
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...iew_Mount.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...zed_mount.html
I don't really have a good view of the sky anywhere on my property other than right in front of my garage, and even then, it's really just straight up, and that is it. I'm not even sure I'll be able to see Polaris to align those mounts.
And actually, I'm gearing up to try to get some video of the solar eclipse coming up next year.
Man, 16 inches can likely gather a LOT of light! That thing is HUGE! Don't let the counterweight fall off and land on your foot!
How does the night sky rate in your area? Here's a map showing light pollution in reference to the night sky ->
http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html Looks like most of Florida isn't going to be all that great. Interestingly enough there looks like there is a great area for night viewing just about 20 miles SW of me. But it's in the Apalachicola National forest for the most part, but the town of Sumatra is pretty close to the center. It's in Tate's Hell Swamp, if that gives you any sort of an idea about how the conditions would be standing around in the dead of night trying to look through a telescope. Bring LOTS of bug spray!
Keep us informed with your progress, please. I find this interesting...