Miguel1983

with the exterior work behind me i'm thinking on the next step. I've made a sketch of the telescope room with pier and i'm wondering what the right hight would be 🤔 suggestions are very welcome 👍 Note that i have i pier that can extend 50cm also the hight off the walls is 2,1 meter in the telescope room (raised floor). For the sketch i took measurements of the pier + raising column + EQ6R-pro + SW ED80 (180cm) As it is on the sketch, the telescope would be 30 cm above the walls in the 0-position with the pier fully extended. The pier is in the center of the room and the roof opening is 2,5/2,5 meter.

I'm very pleased with the Skymax 127, it's lightweight, short and well made, the ideal grab and go scope in my book. Of course it needs some time to cool down to ambient, but that should be an issue. You always reed about how a Mak is best used for planetary observing, but in my experience it does a great job on the brighter DSO's, certainly most Messier objects are no problem. As astrophotography goes, i've only used it for Lunar work, i wouldn't know if putting a 0,5 reducer on it would be pushing it too far.

Interesting stuff here, i've had my eye on the SW and ES Mak Newton scopes for a while now, but there aren't that many around you can read about. At least on paper these scopes look like they offer the best of two worlds. Choices choices, there so many great scopes out there 🙈

Fruitful day today, finished all the cladding, quite happy with the results 😊 Led strip fits beautifully also last week my wife applied some liquid rubber as a moist barrier With the cladding done i can focus on the interior of the observatory.

Hi, not exactly what you asked, but i use the Dark Sky Meter app on my Iphone, the results are quite accurate, comparing with SQM meter. As i recall it was only a few €.

Love it ! Nice work Steve 👌

Swoop1, what about this This is how i do it, the difference with the 1,25" nosepiece is minimal. Is it also a Mak you're using ?

Yes, 2”. I have no issues with focus, the nosepiece is mounted straight in the visual back of the Maksutov.

I have the filter mounted on the 2” nosepiece witch is mounted on the T-ring adaptor attached to the camera.

Hi, since i started work on my observatory there hasn't been much time for AP, but since lunar photography is done in minutes i had a go yesterday. Gear: SW AZGTI with the Skymax127 and Sony A6300 and Baader Neodymium Moon & skyglow filter. 100 frames taken and 50% used to stack in autostackerd.

Finished the cladding to the right side and started on the carport ceiling

LOL that’s in the background some 100m further 😛

Yesterday i started with the cladding on the garden side of the cargardenshedobsy (new word) also the electrician placed all the wiring that need to be in the walls or ceiling Didn't get very far yesterday, the electrician took up some of my time and had quite some work working in the door and window, but that's done now so i can get a move on next time.

i guess one really has to live in the dessert to get perfect conditions 🙄

This design is a proven one and, i think, works very well for dedicated observatory structures that are limited in size. In my case however the all in one concept (carport - garden storage - bicycle storage and observatory) of my project really makes the structure to big for this kind of roll off system. So i was left with the option of a flat roll of section, also a plus, standing in the garden you almost can't see the roll off, so very discrete. At first my idea was to have the telescope, when in the parked horizontal position, as close to the roll off roof as possible, so when in use it would raise above the roof. This would work fine i guess, but it still would rule out the objects witch are lower in the sky, also a fixed position that close to the roof would mean that i might be limited in future telescope or mount upgrades. So i ended up looking at a lifting pier, with the 50cm travel, i hope few limitations are left over. *edit* Gina, loving your location, what number on the Bortle scale is that, i'm at 5 sadly.

Hi, today i received an adaptor plate i've ordered to specification to connect the Skywatcher tripod extension to my pier. The tripod extension is bolted on the plate from the underside of the thick steel plate with one M12 bolt in the black tripod adaptor that is included with the Skywatcher extension, i've just turned it around so the flat side is down towards the plate.

Cladding of the bicycle storage is done

Hi, i bought this one for my AZ GTI, quite happy with it.

Some specs about the pier for those who wonder Type : Roemheld shop-floor 8915-04-50-E Material : aluminum column and plates Weight : 21 Kg Baseplate : 225mm square by 15mm Top-plate : 170mm square by 15mm Column : base 150mm square, 135mm square for the extending part Height retracted : 720mm Height extended fully : 1220mm

Day 6 roof is 90% done insulation is done cladding on one side is done (15x3m) raising pier is delivered

Day 4: Insulation placed in the walls by my wife and son I placed the brushes to make the sliding roof closed to wind This is the back side of the roll off roof, the wood panel acts as a stopper Wood panels are placed all around now, the roll off roof is ready for roof covering (Saturday) Note : the roof slides not as good as yesterday's video shows because of the brushes, still it's manageable with one hand. I'm now starting with the cladding and the electrician comes tomorrow

? I will put some kind of clamping system on the inside, nothing concrete yet, i have to think about that but i don't expect to have a problem with that.

ah OK So to answer the question, that side of the carport is open so that the wall we're looking at from the house is less massive, so it's pure visual, also, it would be more like a garage instead of a carport.

Progress of today : Roof covering started (EPDM rubber Resitrix by IRS ) This is something that i have outsourced And i made the roll-off roof... And placed it The sides will be finished tomorrow There is a 25mm gap, tomorrow brushes will be placed in front of that gap and a wood panel and then the roof cover My design worked out well, the action on the roof is feathertouch ! IMG_7274.MOV While i was busy with the the roll off roof, my son and brother in law placed the vapor barrier To be continued....