Gina

Gina, The joists and 18mm sheet ply came from Lawsons, and I can't fault the quality. The ply was £26.05 plus VAT per sheet. They do 47mm x 75mm carcassing at 94p plus VAT per meter, which I think is the size TJ used looking at his build photographs.

Ah I see. I checked them out and they only deliver inside the M25. As I said I'm seeing what a firm near here can offer.

Don't get me wrong, the studwork from Wickes is still usable (mostly) but for the vertical runners I've had to be selective, and more so for the top rails as that is where the tracking will sit. But at just over £2 for a 2.4m length it's cheap, and when you are buying 100 lengths it all adds up

Right. Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. The uprights for the obsy base will only be 1220mm (4ft) so less critical than yours. The warm room ones 6 and 7ft. I shall be doing a lot of cutting so I think the Wickes "rubbish" might well be alright, as you say. I'm not going to be too hasty in ordering, however much I crave to get on with the carpentry

BTW, I was wondering how you did the corners. I was thinking of using square corner pieces to bolt the frames to. eg. 75mm fence posts.

Did you get the plywood from Wickes, Malcolm, and was that alright? Look like I won't be buying sawn timber from Wickes. If I can source the timber locally it'll be more convenient in the sense that I won't need to make sure I get everything in one go to use just one delivery charge from Wickes. Unless absolutely every detail is carefully designed, you can't be sure you've covered everything, and I've had enough of designing!

OK - I've run out of screws (200 ) so I've stopped for today. Been slow going mainly due to the heat (almost hit 24c today !) and the fact that I'm as red as a lobster !

Been hot here too, about a degree less than you. Have had to have lots of breaks to cool off!

So far I've built 4 panels of stud work... and it's all level and square !!!

Looking good - nice progress

Oh and Gina (or anyone else looking for timber), I would think twice about ordering from Wickes... a fair few of the lengths I had delivered are twisted, and a couple bowed like a banana - It's made for selective choice of which lengths to use for the long uprights.

Hmm, I see. That's not so good I'm investigating a sawmills and timber merchant about 6 or 7 miles down the back lanes from here. Sent them an email. If I don't hear in the next day or two I'll probably pop over and see them. We have dealt with them in the past.

Oh yes, I think that would do any house proud! Looks great

A 5ft wide roof may be alright, it depends on what's below it and also how protected from the wind it is. With wind blowing from the lower side, water will be blown onto the wall in addition to the rain, causing additional weathering. If it's lawn or flower beds underneath these will disperse a certain amount of water. I'm having a roof just over 8ft wide with corrugated sheeting which will concentrate the rainwater into a row of jets. Now I could bring the roofing out further on a framework to provide a canopy but I think guttering would be easier. I've put lots of guttering up - it's no problem - just arrange sufficient (and continuous) slope so that the water runs well. Oh and use enough brackets so that plastic guttering doesn't sag in between.

Regarding flooring, I was thinking of providing extra support in the middle of the span, particularly for the 8ft run of joists. I don't mind a bit of give but too much is rather disconcerting. Admittedly, in general I do tend to over engineer. Not that it's such a bad thing, just adds a bit to the cost. Better to err on the safe side.

Whenever I've seen the floor joists in all the houses I've been in, they're 6x2.

Interesting He's so fast the picture blurs

Nice progress Malcolm

I'm concentrating on getting things ready - I have a lot to do. I could use a tripod but need my sleep and all the setting up and taking down again is a bit of a pain. Even the sun isn't reliable ATM for white solar work. I also have a lot of work to do on the property so am tired at night and busy by day. This is a coffee break

That sounds reasonable I depends on how far the walls are from the pier/scope, of course. That rotating roof design needs a fairly tall and narrow obsy ie. the side wall where the roof rotates down to has to be as high as the width of the roof. OTOH a wide/low obsy helps viewing at a lower angle. That is why I'm looking at a split apex roof with each half rotating down to the side. It's also easier to build. That curved roof looks like it's made of fibreglass. I guess you could use a wood paneled roof covered in felt. Then again I'd like the obsy to look as ordinary as possible - like a garden shed or (in my case) an animal shelter.

Exactly the dilemma I've got!

I think I'm beginning to home in on a design for my shed. But the wall height and scope height are still straining my brain!

I'd like my pier lower but for headroom I don't want the walls too low but low enough to be able to aim the scope close to the horizon.

The design I like best is "Harry's Astro Shed" http://www.harrysastroshed.com/shed.html

I'm thinking of basing my design on that.

Now that's what I'd call "good foundations"!

Yes, I'm doing it the other way round - decided how high I want the mount, building the pier to suit then building the walls to match that. Steel piers are too expensive. The scope height and position are paramount IMO.

That makes quick and easy work of it Took me a week to dig a hole for the pier

Nice to see progress though Well done

That's good Malcolm

I thought you'd worked it all out Yes, it's certainly frustrating - I agree!! And yes, you need to be careful with your back. So easy to forget and overdo things. Good luck

Everything seems to take such a long time, doesn't it? But having a small digger available will make light work of digging out the plot and particularly the hole for the pier foundations. It's taken me about a week and a lot of hard work to dig my pier hole! But it's done now and I'm sorting out reinforcement. Trouble is, there's other jobs that have to take priority.

I see you have a tree right behind your plot - I hope that doesn't hinder your view too much. My first thought was that you already had a good base in that patio but I presume other factors came into it.

Very pleased too Ordered EQ6 Pro SynScan mount late one afternoon and it arrived early next morning - can't beat that!

I've saved it to read later - should be good. Thank you My education was in science and engineering so had a basis from any early age. My grandfather was interested in astronomy and I learnt quite a lot from him. Also read a number of books and been an avid watcher of "The Sky At Night" with Sir Patrick Moore.

I'm thinking of adding motor drive for focussing, particularly later on when I get a better scope for imaging. I've made a motor drive for my current mount - EQ2. I have experience in interfacing to computers so I could add computer control.

I've bought lots of stuff from ScrewFix, mainly for the house but other things too. It's amazing what you can get from them. Quick delivery too.

We have a couple tractor and farm suppliers in the nearest town and they supply nuts, bolts, washers etc. in single quantities. Mainly galvanised steel. I'm thinking of getting some studding for my pier from them, though admitted SS would be better.

Very interesting I have captured a wide view of the stars with a Sony A200 DSLR and 18mm on the kit lens. Focussing wasn't a problem. I tried a series of photos at various exposures to see the effect. 30 secs was the best unless you want star traces, as has been said.

Years ago I used a Pentax Spotmatic film SLR and have several lenses from these days. I bought an M42 to A mount adapter to use the Pentax lenses with my Sony A200. Of course, the DSLR has to be on full Manual mode but these lenses are high quality and quite useful. Focal length is effectively increased by 1.5 times as the DSLR has a smaller frame area than 35mm film.

Regards

Gina

Good food for thought there - thank you I have yet to try DSO imaging - now it doesn't seem as daunting as I thought

Thanks again

Gina

I did wonder what the ranks were. Thank you for the explanation Dunno about a vacuum, probably more likely to be called a "gas bag"

My knowledge of astronomy is beginning to get a bit beyond a vacuum now but I think "vacuum" is quite apt for a beginner, and I don't care what I'm called - lived far too long to worry about that OTOH I guess more experienced new members could feel a bit miffed. But if you're a new member of a forum you have to expect that. I think so anyway.

Shouldn't be tooooo long before my knowledge and contribution becomes a little more "nebulus"

Long live SGL

Love Gina.