Building an observatory

[RA180]

Hi folks,

Things have changed....I've moved house to a reasonably good dark area, stuck out in the fens so would like to make the most of it by building a small observatory!  The back garden needs a complete and total overhaul so I've got plenty of flat ground to work with.

Does anyone have any advice on the best construction or anything else on this?  I'm open to any comments here.  I've got an area of probably 2m x 2m to work with, though that's not fixed. It can be expanded if necessary.

It's got to house a 250PDS, which I'm hoping to pillar mount if I can find a good pillar to use, but for the time being it will be on a tripod.  I can run power to it, but would prefer to have battery as well.

What I'm thinking of is something like a concrete base and brick lower section, maybe half a meter high, then a wooden 'construction' on top with removable sides.  Any thoughts?

Any help or comments appreciated!

Thanks

Alex

[DaveS]

Have a look in the DIY Observatories section lower down. Loads of threads there and plenty of ideas.

[red dwalf]

yep the diy section very helpful and check out my build if you like, link in my signature.

you won`t regret building it, best thing i`ve done, 10 minutes and i`m up and running. 

[RA180]

Thanks DaveS and red dwarf....I completely missed the DIY section. Didn't know it existed!

Just been scanning round it for the last 20 minutes. There are some truly stunning creations out there! Also given me lots of ideas already. Thanks again and I'll call this thread closed.  Will re-post if necessary in the DIY section.

[Beulah]

Look forward to your build, Alex - I enjoy looking at the obsys here. Some very talented people. Kinda jonesing for one right now.... 

[laser_jock99]

A 250PDS is quite a large/long scope- I'd be thinking 3m x 3m for big Newtonians to give yourself a reasonable working clearance around the scope.

The reasoning is that with a big Newt on a pier the business end could be 9 feet up the air if pointing anywhere near the zenith. To access you eyepeice or camera you'll need a tall stepladder and this will require a good clearance around the scope.

How high your eyepiece could end up (note the stepladder in background!)

[perfrej]

Why so high a house? I would use lower walls and lower pier...

/per

[RA180]

Loving the designs that are out there!

laser_jock99: That is one HECK of a pillar!!!  You could put another pillar next to it and call them the pillars of Hercules! I'm guessing it's that high because of the trees in the background?

perfrej: I'm thinking the same thing; my visibility is limited by a fence round the garden, and to a point, light pollution from a town a few miles away.  If I can set the pillar height so that the telescope can swing round to any viewing point, say, 15° above the horizon then I should be OK.  That (and also my height) will also end up defining what the minimum roof height is.  Need to make an allowance for any possible future scope & mount upgrades / changes though.

I'm thinking at this point that I'll do a wooden frame base built round a pillar, then have two sections to the housing; one for the scope then another for chair, laptop and equipment (keeping them and their light outputs away from the scope).  This should keep the footprint and 'skyline' to a minimum.

It's the roof strategy that I'm not decided on yet.  I'm tempted to have a pitched roof that can fold down, then have canvass sheets that can be drawn across the open roof aperture to minimize wind and external light pollution effects.......not sure this is the best way forward.  Any thoughts?

[laser_jock99]

Why so high a house? I would use lower walls and lower pier...

/per

Not so good for visual use Per!! You'd have to lie on floor to look through your scope.

A low pier is good for Newtonians though. My outside, widefield rig sits pretty low (no walls to look over).

[laser_jock99]

Loving the designs that are out there!

laser_jock99: That is one HECK of a pillar!!!  You could put another pillar next to it and call them the pillars of Hercules! I'm guessing it's that high because of the trees in the background?

Yes- a sturdy steel pier is good for big scopes. The height enables the scope to just about see low horizon objects over the observatory walls.