Fozzie

Hi all, After reading a few posts, and looking on line at different observing chairs over the last year or so, I decided that it is something I'd like to have a go at making myself. Ultimately the plan is for a hardwood chair, probably sapele or iroko again, next year, but after work gave me cash for a monthly prize I thought I'd trail the build in redwood pine first.. to check stability, adjustability and generally any pit falls during the "working" The general design is a typical catsperch, but I've added a few tweaks, and changed a bit based on discoveries as I've built.. Wood list is as follows, all 2400mm long x 20.5mm thick. All redwood pse available of the shelf.. 1No 144mm wide, 1No 119mm wide, 3No 94mm wide, 2No 69mm wide and 1No 28mm diameter dowel. Rough plans are as follows, apologies the paper got damp in the garage, but you get the general idea.. First issue was, the back board was to be 1200mm x 144 x 20.5.. now although I check it (not very well by all accounts!) there was no way I was getting a straight bit out of this bit of wood, it was badly warped (so I made a bird box from it instead for the youngster to paint over his holiday!) I ended up using the 119mm for the back board, 1200mm long, with a 619mm piece for the foot and, as the chair back is narrower than intended i added a shoulder brace, 419mm long. The backing supports are cut 1375mm long x 94mm x 20.5, these have 38mm diameter holes cut in, 20mm from one side , with areas left for the seat support and fixing the foot/shoulder brace. After this I cut out the saw tooth seat support halfway through the holes and shaped the end and support areas.. while doing this I had both bits of wood fixed together with clamps so this helped with alignment of the nooks and bits. I then proceeded to fit the 6mm x 30mm dowels 10No to each side From there I cut out the foot and shoulder brace.. From here I needed to align the two supports with the seat back, bit of measuring and using a 6.5mm bit instead of 6mm to give some tolerance I hand drilled the dowel holes to the back of the back board.. there is 20mm (of the 30mm dowel) in to the supports and 10mm in to the back board, I marked the 10mm depth (this was actually 12mm) with tape on the drill bit, otherwise id have drilled through no doubt.. And it all fits together, which totally surprised me! The final chair front looks like this, and is 1438mm high... I'll update the thread when I complete the back leg, later in the week.. Finishing wise, I've had a few ideas, other than simple stain and varnish, but I'll save that for later, and I'm open to suggestions. Any feed back greatly appreciated, or advise.. Ta Fozzie

Yep.. sun dog... which reminds me I had a cracking "display" in August, never got round to posting an image.. A few feature in these.. Upper tangent arc, circumzenithal arc, upper suncave arc.. Nothing on show in Leeds at the moment though.. Ta Fozzie

Many Thanks.. So assuming it is (we cant both have deduced incorrectly!) then the overall height is in the region of 120 - 130cm.. im guessing looking at the pictures and guesstimating that actually helps a fair bit.. Thanks Fozzie

It would be nice to have a bit of WL activity/contrast for the 11th Nov transit... seems to have been ages with not a lot going on (in WL).. Haha this comment reminds me of the wife's reaction to a glass of good rioja.. she gets all giddy, and fidgety with a hot brain as she puts it, and that's after one glass, two and I have the evening to myself! not sure why I had to share that bit. Ta Fozzie

Might just highjack a bit of this thread.. can I ask @JeremyS the height ranges you've mentioned above is that the (im assuming) the range at which the observing seat can be placed.. Think I'm going to have a go at making one.. it would be useful to know the height range.. Thanks Fozzie

@Lurcher How's the chair going...? I'm thinking of making one shortly, any retrospective do's and dont's. I'll be making a proto type first our of Redwood Pine (won a Wicks voucher through work, so thought why not) then maybe going for a full hard wood version in the new year..? All the best Fozzie

Bet he doesn't even fasten it up either.. I've done that a few times, although around the harvest you'd be amazed how late our farmers stay out till.. Last year I had one turning over his field at 1 in the morning, he was very interested in what I was doing and looking at whilst blocking the entrance to his field.

That's true.. don't go flashing a bright torch around, it'll annoy the astrophotography types.... In all seriousness though, according to "go stargazing" location maps there are loads of Dark sky discovery sites and better all over, and I bet locally they are all known for other "extra curricular" persuits.. I've turned around on many a clear night for the fear of being unwelcomed (or worse overly welcomed when parking up!) It would be more helpful for the operators of these areas to give genuine advise other than stock flip chart answers..

Welcome along!

Just over a year in and the Iroko wood has darkened alot.. almost hoped it would stay lighter than this.. but hey ho.. the grain running through, gives a fantastic contrast! Amazing how it's aged, much better than me that's for sure!

Great, thanks for the confirmation!

I've taken the day off for this, and my intention is to head over to the astronomy centre, good to know there's an event -event on... undoubtedly a daft question but I assume your happy for visitors to bring their own scopes etc, or should u leave it home!?

Exactly the same, I do keep considering a SCT, but I feel im a refractor man.. My F11 has never disappointed me.. the seeing and transparency and good old weather, continue however to be an abject disappointment! Fair play on the Paramedic Science, a Worthy and Nobel undertaking.. wishing her all the best! Both fine scopes John, the 130 (triplet?) must be similar in weight. to the 8kg? Is this for handleing or size or just pleasure of use?

might have a bit of a temperature yeah... Would just like to go a bit deeper than I can with the 100mm, I have been tempted to go for the star travel 150 or 152mm F6.9's (but there's always another Bill to pay..) and for some reason the thought of a newt or Dob isn't doing it for me.. although you could get a lot of mirror for the price of a 150ED the 8kg is interesting, the EDF125 is listed as 7.8kg.. not a lot of difference..

This looks new... a 150ED doublet in the offering from Altair.. I liked the look of the 125EDF , but I like the look of this a tad better... has some interesting specs too.. From the Blurb.. The focal ratio of F8 and the FPL53 ED Glass element allows excellent colour correction for high resolution imaging, and visual use. Colour aberration is almost non-existent and the doublet lens acclimatises quicker to ambient temperatures, reaching optimum performance faster. Not only are the optics top quality - so is the CNC machined optical tube, 2.5" Rack and Pinion focuser, tube rings and sliding dewshield with super-durable powdercoated finish. Each Altair 150EDF refractor comes with an interferometer test report showing a Strehl ratio of 0.92 or more in green light. The test report is logged against the lens serial number, and as usual, always the pick of the best optics when assembling any lens. Weight is 8kg and length is about 1.2m assembled, allowing another 40cm for the dewshield extended. We recommend the iOptron CEM120 or SkyWatcher EQ8 for imaging and/or visual use, however the EQ6 mount will handle the scope for visual use, and/or solar system imaging. https://www.altairastro.com/Altair-150EDF-Refractor.html Thoughts!? Ta Fozzie Link Attached!

So yesterday I was in the loft getting the cases down for next week's holiday, and I thought.. i known I check on the Tal 100rs i have stored up their, just to make sure the box is not getting damp or being attacked by anything.. If your wondering why it's in the loft, it's because I bought it when my now five year old turned one, as a gift when/if he's curious enough to want his own scope.. it's "mint" as in I've never removed it from its packaging, seen the lens or taken it out of the green bag.. it will stay that way too.. looks like it was a 2011 scope from the shipping label so will be 13 years old when my son's 10.. Anyways, as I was checking it I thought need to sort a mount for this, and would you have it one pops up in the sale section a short hop over to Burnley.. not just any old mount, a Tal mount for a 100mm refractor... A bit of astro fate! Thought itd be a good thread to see if anyone else fallen on the good side of this?! Ta Fozzie

I keep thinking about calling along.. it's only 15mins from me.. probably should.. I could do with a shot in the arm of astro enthusiasm as it happens!

Nice to see Jules..

LunarMap HD is my go to resource during my outings, I like the fact you can click on a feature and it tells you some basic information, such as length of feature or diameter, origin of name and location etc.. It used to be linked to something called the moon wiki, which would open another browser page and give real in depth detail, origin, geology, name sake, feature information and obiter photo's but alas that part has since been closed by wikispaces.. bit of a disappointment that.. thanks for sharing the Derek view website @Stu, will have a look at that.. Ta Fozzie

That I can imagine is a fair amount of effort, I struggle in a bit of long grass sometimes, let alone in reduced gravity, dusty white, cratered, inhospitable environment like the moon.. I wonder, did he ever tell you har far it travelled?

Easy... which bunker is it in!? If it's even landed yet..

Think I've just been watching them too.. never seen them before so I'm always a tad doubtful.. my sister has the DSLR, so all I had was an basic point and shoot..

Excellent thread, there is some different class workmanship you've done here, no stone left unturned during the refurb.. looks like it was made for that little mac too. Very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing!

A few thoughts... Observing reports – award for the most engaging and imaginative descriptions (you don’t need a camera for this, but could be fun..!) Sun dogs/Halos Moon Halos Green Flash Brocken Spectres Meteors/Showers Multiple star systems – star colours! Oh and absolutely revisit the old ones, new year new conditions, new targets lots still to do! Ta Fozzie

I was watching the Moon/M44 conjunction with a pair of 70mm bins, from the back garden.. watched until HIP 42542 was occulted. I probably should of set the scope up, but it was quite relaxing, laying back on a chair with the bino's (on a stand) in front. I have to say, for a £60 pair, the opticron Oregon 70x15 are a great buy, very pleasing image.