Clearance

[KyleStoke]

Hello Everyone

I have just been sitting in my shed thinking as you do, what is the distance a pier needs to be away from the walls to accommodate a HEQ5 pro and ED80 with all the trimmings.

My current shed is 8x5 when i move house the garden i will then have wont be able to accommodate a shed any bigger than that. I was thinking rather than having the pier in the center have it off to one side that should allow a bit of space on one side for tinkering that will need to be done from time to time.

So my question is what distance would you feel comfortable leaving between pier and wall?

[JamesF]

I think I'd want a circle of at least six feet in diameter centred on the pier.  As I'm not exactly small I'd be much happier with an eight foot circle, so that's what I've been planning as a minimum for my own obsy.

James

[KyleStoke]

James, an 8 foot circle sounds massive but when you think about it it isn't really that big. 3 foot sounds comfortable to me obviously in an 8x5 im limited to 2.5 feet in two directions. I haven't decided if i will make a custom job or convert an off the shelf shed yet.

[malc-c]

I've just measured my 200p on its HEQ5, which is currently sitting in a horizontal "T" position.  From the centre of the mount to the end of the OTA , or the centre of the mount to the end of the extended weight bar is no more than 24",   Allowing 21" - 25" for a measurement across the shoulders of the "average" person to move around the scope, would give a 48" radius... so James's 8 foot (96") diameter circle is about right al be it on the generous side, but you could possibly safely goto 7' 

My scope room is 2.2m x 2.4m ( 87" x 95" in old money )and has plenty of clearence to move around the scope without risk of knocking it.

[JamesF]

I'm probably on the outer limit of that 25" across the shoulders  Whilst I'm only averagely tall, I have been unflatteringly described as being "built like a prop forward".  That's really why I'd be most comfortable with eight feet plus.

I think Malc's measurements might well be a good starting place -- if you say you'd need a circle of a radius given by "whatever space you feel comfortable moving around in" plus one foot for the scope.  I believe an "average" doorway is two feet six inches wide.  If you took that to be a comfortable space to move around in then that would work out at seven feet diameter as Malc suggests.

Perhaps something else to consider is whether you'll have "furniture" in the obsy, such as an observing chair.  Obviously you'd want space for that, but you might want space to walk behind it, too.

If you're really not sure that you've allowed enough, I'd say go a bit bigger.  If you do so and you're wrong it'll just cost a little more and use a small amount more garden.  If you don't do so and you should have, it'll be an annoyance every time you use the obsy.

James

[JamesF]

I've just realised Malc said two feet radius for the scope.  Perhaps I'm over-estimating how much space many people need to move about

James

[KyleStoke]

I can probably get away with the smaller side then, although i take up a bit of room myself im not planning on doing much if any observing so aslong as the scope can swing around freely ill be happy.

Thanks for your help guys

[malc-c]

Here are some measurments (in old money sorry !) - Internaly the room measures 77" x 95"

No OK there is seldom going to be times when the scope gets in this position unless you are observing right on the horizon, but you'll notice that in this case my scope is 10" from the North facing wall.

For a scope of this size, the scope needs a 57" diameter zone.  This is based on taking the 77" width  and dividing this by 2 to get the central point of 38.5", then deducting the 10" min from the OTA to the wall to get 28.5" radius, or 57" diameter, or 4' 9".. So James 8 feet diameter is spot on for a scope in the extreem position.  Obviously, when the scope is pointing sywards the diameter will reduce quite a fair bit, to a more like 5 or 6 feet, this leaving  2 - 3 feet clearence all round.

Personally, if you have the opportuniy to give yourself enough space around the scope then go with the maximum you can.  Limboing around an HEQ5 in the dark isn't fun !

[KyleStoke]

Haha cheers Malcolm

I will give myself as much room as possible but as long as a minimum 6ft diameter is doable then its fine