michaelmorris

This is now out of print 😞 Ian's book looks to fill a very similar niche 🙂 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/costers-catalogue-of-2000-visual-double-stars.html

Pier temporarily installed 😁😁😁

Welcome to SGL. I too am a fan of lunar observing and double stars. Your problem of looking at the same few objects is very common. Have you considered setting yourself some observing goals? For lunar observing you can't go far wrong with the Lunar 100. https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/the-lunar-100/ For Double Stars, your Bible is going to be Sissy Haas's Double Stars for small telescopes. Unfortunately it is now out of print, so goes for a premium price https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Double-Stars-Small-Telescopes-100-Stellar/31466919747/bd However, there are other almanacs of double stars that make nice observing challenges. List of Easy Double Stars for Winter and Spring https://cdn.website-editor.net/f4f41486dda946fca6b252365cd24eb1/files/uploaded/List%20of%20Easy%20Double%20Stars%20for%20Winter%20and%20Spring.pdf

I'm presently working on the detailed design for my roll off roof observatory. I'd like to have the facility to monitor the scope remotely during imaging sessions. To this end I'm after a budget video camera that works well in very low light conditions, but doesn't rely on IR led lights to achieve this. Any suggestions very gratefully received.

I'm about to install the pier that will be used in my ROR observatory. It's an Altair Astro metal pier which requires 4 x M12 bolts to secure it. I have already put on a 1 tonne concrete block to bolt the pier to. My plan is to drill 4 holes in this block and glue in 4 x lengths of stainless steel rod. What resin/glue would people recommend for doing this? Cheers

No negotiation 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I'm near Pershore.

No I moved out of Worcester 4 years ago.

Landscaping on back garden now nearing completion. 😁

I'm now thinking using a custom-made fibreglass roof instead of a metal one.

A bit of a hiatus whilst I do other landscaping work done in both the front and back gardens. The uprights for the run off rails of the adjacent pergola are now in.

I'm in the final planning stages for a new roll off roof observatory in my new house. It's going to be a completely self-built structure with oak uprights and top rails for the roof support pergola. As on my old observatory, the plan is to have a lightweight roof opening and closing by hand and simply running on rubber wheels on the horizontal rails with rubber wheels retained by a simple outer retaining batten on the outer portion of each horizontal rail. I used this arrangement very successfully for the metal shed-based roll off roof observatory I had up until 4 years ago. This time instead of a thin metal roof, I was thinking of using a custom-built lightweight curved fibreglass roof ( like a shepherds hut) with wooden strengthening. These appear to be remarkably cheap to have made (around £400). So here is my question - has anyone else used such a roof for a roll of roof observatory roof? What (if any), problems did you encounter? Thanks

It's their fence, so I can't see it being an issue. Anyway, space is very much at a premium in my small garden and I have to weigh up easy of access with the impact that moving the structure out an extra 20cm would have. The fence panels will get a good coat of preservative before the observatory goes up and hopefully the use of larch cladding will negate the need for frequent access for applying preservative to the observatory walls.

Next job is to finalise the design of the observatory itself, then start building (probably in May). 😁😁😁

Next a layer of sharp sand and some old 450cm X 450cm slabs as a base.

Next 60cm X 60cm X 80cm deep hole dug for pier base and filled with 3/4 tonne of concrete.

Latest progress with the observatory. Grass stripped off and armoured cable layed in trench. Then whacker plated a good layer of hardcore to make a firm base.

Thanks for the advice folks. The roof will have a gutter, so shouldn't be too much of an issue with rainwater. The fence panels can simply be lifted out, so again shouldn't be too much of an issue with maintenance. The shed will be clad in larch, which as far as I can find out needs no annual paint with preservative. The whole structure will sit on pressure-treated bearers, probably 15 or 20 cm high.

A year ago I bought a small cottage in a Worcestershire village. This weekend I have a mini digger being delivered so that I can start work on building an observatory. 😁 I haven't had one for nearly 4 years. 😟 It is planned to be a scratch-built 2.75m X 2.4m roll off roof with larch cladding and a metal roll off roof. I'll keep you posted on progress. First job had been to mark out the approximate dimensions and position of the pier so that I can dig the trench for the armoured cable for the observatory.

Ditto, what a shame.

Another Malvernite here. Welcome to SGL. I love the sketches, keep them coming.

I'm hoping to be there. As with others, this will be first (and possibly only) trip away all year ☹️. Due to a huge confluence of poo over last year I had completely lost my astronomy mojo. So I've decided to keep it simple and just bring my C9.25 to do some visual double star observing. I'll be in a large blue airbeam tent on pitch 361. Do pop by to say howdy if you want.

I have a very slow internet connection. The video just got more and more behind the audio and then everything froze. Had to give up 😧