Chris

What's going on? I actually thought FLO had extended their range and renamed the brand!

Cheers Lee, I appreciate that. Yeah, I considered trying to lift it on by myself, then realised I'd probably end up breaking both the roof and myself so grabbed a friend, and with two of us it was actually ok, to my surprise. I was stressing out a little bit not having roof on so I can relax a bit now at least and take things a bit more leisurely. There's still a few jobs to do but the basics are all there now If I remember rightly you guys do get more than your fair share of rain down there in Cornwall. I remember having a hard time in a tent in Cornwall year ago lol

hmm? maybe I should pick another name? erm? what about Indesit Obsy? 😄

haha I'd forgot about that type of whirlpool.

Thanks Jeremy, I'm 80% leaning towards it

Thanks, I agree. I've ran out of boards currently, used the last one for a little porch lip above the door! I'll keep an eye on the felt and if it goes down hill I'll bring the job forward. I want to get the inside painted next so I can get the rubber flooring and mount in

Tada! The basics of the observatory are now finished! I won't lie, I'm really relieved to have the roof on and secured. I've bought some black paint for the inside plus I still have electricity to sort out so I can't install any equipment just yet. I'm thinking grey for the outside with another colour for the door, window frames, and rails. Not sure which colour yet? I might name it the Whirlpool Obsy as M51 is my favourite galaxy plus I am building a pond under the rails so it's kind of a watery theme....but hopefully no actual water in the inside 😃

Really superb animation. You've inspired me to do one. cheers!

I have Jeremy, it was a special moment yesterday because a friend from round the corner helped me lift the roof on! I've secured it with 4 hook & eye turn buckles and I'm not working today so just off out to buy some feather board to cover the gap between the roof and walls. I really should unbox that mount and make sure all is good there!

Video update

My father in law has used the same 8" reflector for 40+ years without either cleaning or recoating his mirror, well he might have blown on it once a decade perhaps. It's covered in all sorts but still puts up a lovely bright and sharp image so honestly you have nothing to worry about

Thank you

Cheers Stu! and Excellent! Do it, do it, do it

Thanks Robert, I was on 'no cloud' 9 with it mate!

Thanks so much Jeremy, it's great to hear it had the desired effect

Oh yeah, I used to love that as a kid. They did a film involving some kind of football match heist/escape if I remember correctly?

I little bit too cryptic for me Alan but thanks

Haha there's something a bit Only Fools and Horses about that name, Jeremy 😃

It's a good idea, Nigella, I've not heard of anyone else doing that before. Nice to get people involved. p.s. My running club is called Ipswich Phoenix RC, so liking the Phoenix

I took my best Mars image with the Heritage 150p the other night.

Thanks Mick, I will probably just call it the obsy. Funny you should say about Sir Patrick, I clearly remember getting first light in my last obsy the day he passed away. I imaged a nice Rosette nebula in his honour.

Thanks Nadeem, yes a pier is a definite time saver from what I remember. I'm glad I went that route after almost just sticking a tripod in there. Are you starting to get a bit more back into the swing of things astro wise?

Thanks for all the likes Alan, my notification inbox has never looked so good 😄 Yes once I've grabbed a hand to lift the roof on plus one or two other bits, it will basically be functional at the very least. Then all I need to do is electrics, paint and kitting out. Cheers about the videos, I do really enjoy making vids about astronomy antics. This is why I've not even opened the new mount yet, I need to be ready to film the thing lol I'd better pull my finger out and finish the video I'm currently working on so I can actually do the mount unboxing/setup vid thinking about it. I'm really hopeful about the mount despite having a bad experience with a wifi mount in the past. I know ES are really committed to ironing out any issues with the PMC8 and their open goto system. They have regular livestreams on Youtube to problem solve any issues that crop up so I'm hoping the system has a future with that attitude to making it work

Thanks Jeremy, it's getting there now Thanks Lee, great to hear

It's almost roof anointment time! The roof is now the correct size which took a fair amount of remedial work, so definitely measure 3 times and cut once guys. The roof was starting to sag in the middle too so I've re unforced it with metal rods and more brackets. I've also further re unforced the rails and will add more to the main structure also.