Yet Another Observatory Build Thread

[r3i]

It's time to join the party...

After years of admiring all the terrific observatory builds on this and other sites, a move to a new house has given me the opportunity to finally do my own build.

Taking my inspiration from projects done by Malc-C, Gina, Darren and many others I'm building an observatory 4.8m * 2.4m, which will be split into a warm room and observing area with the roof from the observing area rolling back across the warm room.

I've never built anything this substantial before and it will no doubt test my limited DIY skills to destruction, but as long as I can persuade myself to take my time and enjoy the journey as much as the destination, I'm hoping I'll get something serviceable at the end.

I've been through the necessary 'planning applications' and have have secured approval from the Authority (wife), so here goes...

In the first few posts following this one I'll be playing catch up as I've already made a start.

[r3i]

Setting the scene: elevated view of the observatory location. There's a large tree and a fence that has seen better days to be dealt with.

After employing the services of an arborial contractor, we now have a pile of logs, a nice new fence and open views over the fields.

[g7vhj]

Good Luck with the build.

pete

[Gina]

Lovely Which direction are we looking in

Best of luck with your build

[r3i]

Thanks Pete & Gina - I'll need all the luck I can muster

The back garden faces south east so not too bad an outlook.

[Chris]

Thanks Pete & Gina - I'll need all the luck I can muster

The back garden faces south east so not too bad an outlook.

Welcome aboard and great start with the location:) an open field South East is about as good as it gets I think. Are you planning on having the roof role back towards your house in this case?

[r3i]

Moving swiftly along, some pics of the pier foundations:

I made a template for the threaded studs that the pier will bolt onto:

Hole dug and some rebar added:

After 16 bags of ballast, some cement, water and a stiff back, the foundations are formed. The plinth is aligned to be parallel with the observatory walls, and the studs in a north-south direction:

After letting the concrete go off for a few days, I stuck the pier and mount on top to see how it looked:

[r3i]

Welcome aboard and great start with the location:) an open field South East is about as good as it gets I think. Are you planning on having the roof role back towards your house in this case?

Hi Starfox - yes that is the plan: the warm room will be nearest to the house and the roof will roll back over it.

[r3i]

The next part of my project was to build a base for the observatory. I decided on using a decking kit - this did work out a little bit more expensive than if I had sourced the component parts separately but as I'd never built anything like this before I thought that having a complete kit of parts would give me a better chance of success.

So here's the kit on arrival:

The kit came with 6 4" post anchors which were concreted in place after the main joists had been joined together:

I also laid an armoured electrical cable at this stage:

2 Cable conduits were put in place to enable power and data cables to run between the warm room and the pier:

As I would be putting a heavy structure on the top, I supplemented the 6 kit anchors with 4 additional ones. Once all the joists were in place I put some 50mm Celotex insulation in the warm room area:

Finally the decking boards went down. As the nights are drawing in, I ended up fixing the last boards under torchlight:

Thankfully it all feels quite solid.

[Gina]

That looks very good - a really nice solid floor I don't think you'll have any problems with that Lovely Job

[r3i]

Thanks Gina - really enjoyed following the progress of your build.

I'm already reaping the benefits of having a flat platform with a decent view of the sky. Last weekend I got set up and managed 50*5 minutes subs of M33, way more than I've achieved in the past. Polar alignment was a bit rushed and shoddy but still the end result looks promising for when I get the permanent setup.

[wookie1965]

really nice all as i can see from my house is more houses so an obs build is out at least i can look at the great pics you guys post thanks.

[Gina]

Thanks Gina - really enjoyed following the progress of your build.

Very nice of you to say so - thank you

I'm already reaping the benefits of having a flat platform with a decent view of the sky. Last weekend I got set up and managed 50*5 minutes subs of M33, way more than I've achieved in the past. Polar alignment was a bit rushed and shoddy but still the end result looks promising for when I get the permanent setup.

WOW! That's a great image

[laser_jock99]

Good start- looks like a great location.

Nice M33 BTW- once you get your polar alignment spot you should never have to look at it very often again. That's the beauty of a permanent set up.

[r3i]

Thanks Wookie & LJ.

Looking forward to having a permanent setup - at the moment I'm spending probably over an hour each session setting up and packing away so it will be good have that time for observing instead and also as you say to be able to get balance, alignment etc. spot on.

[VigdisVZ]

It's looking great!

Time to start looking for a house maybe

[Laowei Tony]

M33 - wow!

I look forward to the next images.

Good luck with the build.

[r3i]

Thanks Carl & Tony.

Despite the wet weather this weekend I was able to make a start on the framework for the walls. I'm using 75mm x 47mm treated timber with a wall height of 1.8m. I got the 2 long sides installed and also the south east wall - as others have done I've made it lower so that I can have a drop down flap just in case there's anything interesting near the horizon:

Today I've been agonising over what material to use to cover the roof. The warm room will be a pent roof and the rolling roof will be pitched. I think that I've convinced myself to go for the rubber roof that Gina successfully used on her observatory. It might a bit more expensive than say traditional felt but looks to be easier to install. Any comments would be gratefully appreciated.

[Gina]

Coming on very nicely And yes, I can thoroughly recomment the rubber roofing Felt has a horrible habit of cracking It's heavy too.

[Islander]

I'd recommend the EDPM roofing too. It's easy to apply, very strong and has a life of 50 years +

[r3i]

Thanks for the roofing recommendations.

[ollypenrice]

The rolling roof going back over the warm room is a great idea and one that deserves to be more popular. Our biggest one does that and it works a treat. Because we can observe and image low to the horizon the rolling roof is really a 'rolling roof and upper sides' but it has never given any problems. I made the frame from square section steel using a hobby MIG welder. I think I made the warm room a bit high because sometimes it crops off the scope's view, but not often. Mind you, I'm fairly dwarfish so I don't need much height in the warm room!

Yours is looking splendid.

Olly

PS My roofs are in corrugated steel in three cases and a synthetic corrugated material for the fourth. We get real extremes of temperature (40C to -20C) and blazing UV here so the steel is reassuring. It isn't the most beautiful material, however...

[Gina]

Mine is a bit smaller and built in wood but also 'rolling roof and upper sides' and this design has prooved excellent

[r3i]

The rolling roof going back over the warm room is a great idea and one that deserves to be more popular. Our biggest one does that and it works a treat. Because we can observe and image low to the horizon the rolling roof is really a 'rolling roof and upper sides' but it has never given any problems. I made the frame from square section steel using a hobby MIG welder. I think I made the warm room a bit high because sometimes it crops off the scope's view, but not often. Mind you, I'm fairly dwarfish so I don't need much height in the warm room!

Yours is looking splendid.

Olly

Thanks Olly - I'm somewhat vertically challenged as well so low wall heights are okay by me. Tricky compromise though - didn't want them too high to block off the view but also wanted enough height so that the rolling roof wouldn't crash into the scope, to allow a bit of spare capacity should my gear change in the future, and also hopefully afford some protection from wind gusts.

Speaking of wind I'm going to have to be careful with how I keep the rolling roof secure as I've already noticed that a fair bit of wind blows through these parts and we haven't had any really strong gales yet. I'll be reviewing the preventative measures that were documented when Gina had her spot of bad luck with the flying roof.

[laser_jock99]

I have sheet metal cladding walls & corrugated bitumen sheet (Wickes) roof. Both are dark green so blend into the countryside well. I'm on a high, exposed site (~1500 feet) so I went along with what the local farm sheds are made from. Seems to have kept the weather out so far..........