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Norwich observatory


Bubbles82

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Here goes, I have scrapped my original ideas from my other thread and am starting a fresh. Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited over to another forum members house to see his ROR observatory, this has been so helpful it's really given me the answers I needed on the way this type of observatory is put together. So today is the start of my project I have spent the day writing down a list of bits I will need to be ready to put this up over a weekend. My first purchase today were the wheels for the roof which I ended up buying from a local MACHINE MART. I was pleasantly surprised that these in fact have a better load capacity than a lot of the ones online and cost the same.

I have settled on a standard shed which will house the pier and all the supporting accessories like most others have, but still have not decided if I will modify my existing shed as an add on warm room or wire it all back to the garage and use that as the warm room instead.

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Quick update today got some timber for the internal frame and collected my wheels for my local machine mart

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For anyone looking for these type of wheels they were some of the best load rated for the size available at a reasonable price. I brought 12 of these for £22 and they have a max load rating of 45kg with a nylon type wheel

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Been busy this week doing some DIY in the house so haven't done much observatory wise so thought I would make the most of the sun and start treating some of the wood I'll be using. I plan to pre treat everything including the shed to ensure all the joints a bits that can't be reached once this its together are protected. I've opted for an oil based preservative as from previous experience a lot of the Cuprinol type wood treatments are more about the colour than actually protecting the wood. The way the oil based one shows the grain is nice[emoji3]post-23724-143299509522_thumb.jpg

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That's right I found a shed that will come to about the height of the mount in parked mode. I'm going to frame round the inside at the top of the shed and place the beams the roof will roll on against that. I will build a frame to assemble the roof a fix the wheels to that this will give me extra clearance when rolling off the roof[emoji3]

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  • 2 weeks later...

Little bit disappointed today have just spoke to the company I am getting the shed from to order and the lead time is 21days. The shed is a standard 6x6 shiplap type but I picked this one as I'm hoping the fact the door and eaves height are the same means framing the roof out and making it roll off will be be easier. The shed with no roof will have all 4 sides the same height meaning trimming up the gap around the roof will be neat and hopefully easy.post-23724-143409884158_thumb.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Moving forward with the build I have ordered this shed from tiger sheds, it was a little bit more than I had originally planned to spend but not by a lot and considering it seems to be a better quality, is taller than most standard pent type sheds and has a shiplap roof as well. This weekend will consist of levelling the gravel area and framing the area to contain the gravel. Next up will be cutting and treating the bearers I will stand the obsy on, I've chosen this method as its worked really well for the previous shed that occupied the area it never budged in the winds and the lack of splashing up of the rain has left the original shed as good as the day it was delivered.

Now for some questions.

I plan to use pergola posts for the upright posts of the roll off supports, these are easy to come by and have a really nice grain pattern to them but they all seem to be green wood. So my understanding is that green wood is basically wood that is not treated or been forced dry in a kiln, so if I use this I won't be able to pre treat this before I put them up but will be able to later when they have naturally dried out or is this a type of wood that's not meant to be treated ??

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Shed arrived today seems to be very good quality and well made, have just stained a couple of bits to see how the colour looks[emoji3] I will have to wait till the weekend before I do anything meaningful with it but the way it's constructed should make it simple to modify to roll of the roof.

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Once again the weather is playing havoc with trying to get on with this build the constant showers are making it impossible to get this wood treated. The weekend is going to be a long one and is going to require me to put this together all in one day, which normally wouldn't be a problem if it was just going to be a shed. I will do my best to get as many pictures on the way as possible to help others with future builds[emoji16]

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Attached are a few update pictures from yesterday they do t show much detail as putting the base and sides on is a pretty standard thing so didn't waste time taking many. I will however take more detailed pics when it come to adding the rolling roof as this is the part that is where I and many need some helppost-23724-143670184242_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670185125_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670185878_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670187056_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670187748_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670188897_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143670189712_thumb.jpg

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Long day today I have included some pics to show how I modified the roof sides to accommodate the framing for the wheels. The frame was then lifted onto the runners and the roof was then placed onto that. Next was the gap now created by the wheels, I brought 4 pieces of shiplap and trimmed the gap and the corners to make it watertight. I'm going to have to give the trim shiplap a couple of coats to bring it to the same colour as the rest of the obsy but all in all I'm really happy with how this all went together. Next up later in the week is to replace the small screws I have used for the turnbuckles with some more substantial coach screw type ones. Then finally onto the framework for the roof to roll onto hope this helps anybody thinking about having a go at this[emoji41]post-23724-143690053296_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690054507_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690056507_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690058327_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690059308_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690060219_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690061158_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690062053_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690063528_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143690064427_thumb.jpgpost-23724-14369006531_thumb.jpg

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Quick pic update description to follow on next update and inside[emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]post-23724-143721439495_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143721440291_thumb.jpgpost-23724-14372144112_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143721442073_thumb.jpgpost-23724-143721443093_thumb.jpgpost-23724-14372144395_thumb.jpg

I will also try to ring up the cost of the bits and bobs to give everyone an idea of the cost

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Really nice build, the best bit is the first light, I sat in my warm room and had a bottle of beer first, just soaking up the rewards of all my work.

Don't forget your first light report.

Clear Skies,

Fondofchips.

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Nice job Bubbles. just having read thouth look like you got every thing coved ("turnbuckles with some more substantial coach screw type ones") May be make covers up to go over the windows by day to keep the Sun out ,and stop anyone looking around at night.

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Nice job Bubbles. just having read thouth look like you got every thing coved ("turnbuckles with some more substantial coach screw type ones") May be make covers up to go over the windows by day to keep the Sun out ,and stop anyone looking around at night.

Cheers going make some of those blocks you used to stop the wheels digging into the runner beams. Just brought a cheap blind for the windows[emoji106]
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  • 3 weeks later...

Here it is the finished observatory obviously the weather will be terrible for the next few weeks as I wait for my first imaging chance. I will try to explain how and what I have fitted inside for those who are curious or are looking for ideas for there own build. First up is the external power point, this is a simple caravan type hook up which is wired using artic cable that simply plugs into the external socket on the garage making the who thing a glorified extension lead.

Next is a general view of the entrance and layout of the inside

The next picture is showing the rcd that the input runs through before it goes to the 240 volt mains plug sockets

The whole mains system is wired with 2.5 three core armoured cable rather than normal 3 core mains cable in trunking because A it was easier to route the cable this way around the frame work and B armoured cable is tough and should withstand cold and damp well

Next up is a basic pic of the top mounting plate showing how I have used thick stainless pipe instead of washers to separate the two plates.

Next up is the laptop and bench psu cabinet that has a glass door so once up and running I can keep an eye the screen this has been drilled to allow ventilation but will protect the pc from the damp.

The 12 v supply is fed via a bench psu from two outputs which are again then fed via some armoured cable to my 6 12v marine sockets, which are mounted on a frame I built to hold them near the pier without getting in the way of the scope or mount. These are then split to allow me to separate certain 12v draws to stop potential interference .

And last of all the usb hub and wires are fed up the frame and into a plastic clip lid box for easy access to allow me quick access to the usb hub for different devices to be connected. The final 240volt socket is just visible on the other side of the pier frame this is for future additions and to power the usb hub should it need it. I'm looking for a small outdoor cabinet to replace the plastic clip lid box but this will do for the moment and will only take a few mins to change when I find the one.post-23724-0-61824800-1439406295_thumb.jpost-23724-0-68530500-1439406310_thumb.jpost-23724-0-98021700-1439406327_thumb.jpost-23724-0-29906200-1439406343_thumb.jpost-23724-0-61824800-1439406295_thumb.jpost-23724-0-68530500-1439406310_thumb.jpost-23724-0-61824800-1439406295_thumb.jpost-23724-0-61824800-1439406295_thumb.jpost-23724-0-61824800-1439406295_thumb.jpost-23724-0-68530500-1439406310_thumb.jpost-23724-0-98021700-1439406327_thumb.jpost-23724-0-29906200-1439406343_thumb.jpost-23724-0-53930700-1439406361_thumb.jpost-23724-0-23333300-1439406392_thumb.jpost-23724-0-25022600-1439406408_thumb.jpost-23724-0-93919500-1439406422_thumb.jpost-23724-0-28297100-1439406442_thumb.jpost-23724-0-42984600-1439406470_thumb.jpost-23724-0-21851900-1439406490_thumb.jpost-23724-0-48695900-1439406503_thumb.jpost-23724-0-32112400-1439406515_thumb.j

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Sorry about the repeated pictures both Tapatalk and the SGL website are having a fit. I forgot to say I would like to thank everyone for there help on this who has answered my many questions bit especially STARLIGHT1 For inviting me round to see his observatory and JAMES F for his input when I considered a flip down sided idea and being able to understand my really bad drawings [emoji3]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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