Hals

1 hour ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Looking great, I could do with one of those long extension's, what length is that? 

Old school...it's 16 inches.

I've now fitted an extension to my Todmorden pier so that I have a better Southern view. Many thanks to David B (@Skipper Billy) for pointing me towards it on FLO clearance. I've also beefed up the security considerably, details of which I won't elaborate on for obvious reasons. I will have to do a custom park now as the roof won't clear the scope in the usual home position. Again it's waiting for a clear sky to re-polar align then off we go 👍

Upgraded the roof hold down turnbuckles, much better.

1 minute ago, LeeHore7 said:

Amazing work and great to see some fantastic images for your guiding issues to get something, I'd be ecstatic with them, will look forward to more great images from your observatory. It must be so good to not need to move anything into the garden and set up, plus stay in the warm as you said. Clear skies 🔭📷🌌

Cheers Lee. The warm was relative, it still got pretty cold last night. Just keeping the wind off makes a world of difference.

4 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

Fantastic build and great write up. 

Cheers Terry. I'll add a few more pics once I've tidied it up a bit and beefed up security etc. I've really enjoyed doing it, definitely one of those "why didn't I do this sooner" moments.

First light from the newly built Casita Observatory. NGC 1499 The California Nebula, 20 x 120 sec unguided subs, had problems with my guide cam plus I didn't frame it properly. Just wanted to get something in the bag!

Then a pair of old favourites, M81 & 82. 10 x 300 sec subs, guide camera sorted by this point.

Both with WO Star 71 II & unmodded Canon 80D DSLR. Altair Quad-band filter.

What a revelation not having to lug all the gear and set up, take down, not having the cold wind at your back, shaded from all the lights etc.

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19 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Lovely build. I'd get a security bar that goes straight across the door, those latches are easily snapped off with a little force. I had a RoR broken into while on holiday several years ago with three latches and pad locks. They took my 12inch SCT at the time and never recovered. 

Security bars are on my to do list 👍

95% complete 👍 Apologies for the lack of build photos I had some dodgy weather and limited time so cracked on with it. Roof is held in place with x4 angled turnbuckles but I'm going to replace them with heavier duty ones as soon as I can. Need to sort some paint too yet. I'll put some more pictures on in due course. Just need to get the gear inside and set up and wait for first light. Wahey !!! I' ve got an observatory at last.

17 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Looking lovely, not easy building an obsy. What are you going to name it at the naming ceremony? 

Cheers, I'm going to call it The Casita Observatory.

Roll off beams in place! Test fitted the roof frame, fits and slides very nicely. Still got to sort the guide rails, finish and felt the roof and fill the roof side gaps. Feels like an Obsy now! 

Regarding the roof run off beams, I did originally intend to sit them lower than the shed wall tops but it looks like too much of a faff to do. I'll take the easier option of sitting them on top of the wall tops. Roof will be higher with a larger gap but hey ho.

22 hours ago, smashing said:

Looking good! Out of interest how much of the sky can you see with that, do the walls hinder in that regard at certain angles?

I should be able to see down to approx -20 Dec on the Southern view. Obsy is primarily for imaging so most of the time the scope will be at high elevation. I get a decent view all around. Next door's security light is more of a concern but the walls will mask that and I intend to fit blackout blinds on the windows.

On 14/11/2020 at 09:26, Len1257 said:

Looking brilliant. However I think some diagonals in the walls would help to prevent long term racking? I had to use some steel cable and turnbuckles to correct one of my sheds that decided to wander off.......

Yes I'll probably do that in due course 👍

A bit more today. Strengthened the structure it's really solid now. Started on the roof construction too. Coming along nicely. Fresh timber has had two coats of yacht varnish to help with the rain I'll get before I get the roof done. 

9 minutes ago, Beulah said:

Nice looking building... where did you buy it? It's an ideal size for something I have in mind...

 

Got it from Robert Dyas Ltd. Search for Shire sheds/ summerhouses. Lots of designs, some pretty reasonable.

A bit more done. Built up the basic structure, just need to start strengthening it. Still pondering the rolling roof positioning. I have 75mm castors which have a total height of 100mm so I think I'll set the roll off support beams about 70mm lower than the shed sides to still allow a gap but not such a big one. If I sit the roll off beams at the top of the walls it will sit a bit too high for my liking. Still tons to do but progressing nicely 👍

Some progress. Base built, timber on concrete blocks. Weed membrane put down and covered with gravel. PVC pipe for the electrics running underneath. Floor built. All timber beams and the underside of the flooring have had three coats of preservative. Checked and all very sturdy, nice and level. Pier is completely isolated from the floor structure. At least I can image as is until I build the rest. I've decided to go for a roll off shallow apex roof from the outset now. The Obsy is 7ft x 7ft, large enough for my imaging needs with a 71mm widefield refractor and a 150 PDS. Since it'll be a converted shed/summerhouse I think I'm going to call it the Casita Observatory 😀

Mount fitted to pier and polar aligned. Four corners for the base marked out, they don't look level in the picture but they are. Still got a fair bit of groundwork before building the base but coming on slowly. 

13 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

Right. Looks a tidy way to finish off the base.

It will of course be hidden by the observatory floor in due course, I only put the gravel on to hid the concrete and mud !

Speaking of which I roughly marked out the base before the inevitable rain. The obsy isn't going to be large, 7ft x 7ft, a compromise that I had to make. It will be a converted shed, yes I know the general consensus is it's easier to scratch build but with my building being on par with a drunken chimpanzee it has to look reasonably tidy. So the shed\summerhouse obsy it will be.

The impending lockdown will likely have an effect too, with regards to building materials, plus work considerations etc but I'll do my best.

3 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

Pete, is that just a layer of shingle on top of concrete a,round your bottom block?

It's a layer of gravel on top of some rocky clay, tamped down, with the bottom block set in and levelled then concreted in, and some more gravel over the top of the concrete.

Very, very nice Ruz, integration time is the key to this one.

Very cool ! The last one...I'm reminded of Carl Sagan's quote from his Cosmos book "Poised on the Edge of Forever, I would leap off..."

To echo everyone's sentiments already, its been great to follow this build and personally I'm finding it an inspiration for my own. 

Got the brake disc pier adapter drilled out to attach to the top of the mount, aligned North and fitted. I've direct mounted it because the top of the pier is bang on level. I've fitted an M8 bolt as an azimuth pin and tested it with the mount head - works as advertised! No pics yet because just as I finished the heavens opened. I've covered the adapter over to prevent any rusting prior to priming and painting because it's mild steel. 

As it stands now, at least I won't have to faff with a tripod and the next clear night I can get the mount polar aligned so I'll leave it attached from then on.