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RAR_MI_USA

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Everything posted by RAR_MI_USA

  1. I have never seen such a puzzle-like assembled shed like that before. What an idea! Great work . Ray
  2. May I ask what are you using to control forward and reverse of the motor? Do you have a variable switch (for variable speed)? Make you own, or find something on Amazon as well? Curious to give it a try myself.
  3. Great progress Dave. This subject and the nice work you have done has gotten me to thinking about building another small garden house/shed myself, not to be used as an observatory (I do not have a good vantage point for a fixed scope/obsy due to sky obstructions of neighboring trees), but rather one to store my telescopes inside of year round so I don't have to carry them out of the basement, up stairs, thru doors, then down deck stairs and into the backyard every time I want to observe or image. Naturally, I would have to insulate it fully to protect my equipment as I am a stickler for that. The winters here are hell regarding the cold and snow.
  4. Cool. Development and city/township rules, they vary so much everywhere and some I have heard about are downright inhibiting. The city where I live has its rules like all do, but as far as sheds/buildings/observatory, etc. go, the limiting factor is size, not height, and is fairly generous. There are actual dimensional restrictions (floor square feet) but rule of thumb is you can build anything without a permit as long as it not large enough to accommodate an automobile, which would then classify it as a garage. That gives a fairly wide latitude considering the size of the average auto here in the USA. As always, nice work Dave. I will be returning every so often to see it progress.
  5. Nice going Dave and looking good. Hey regarding your hold downs, those top blocks of wood you have the hold down screwed onto.... well, they may not hold up under any stress from wind lifting on the roof. One should never drive screws "inline or with" the grain, but rather, perpendicular or against. I fear you may find those wood blocks will split easily. That should be an easy fix for you. As to your roof frame, from what I gather, it is much too light to hold up very long. And additionally, not sure if you experience snowfall where you are, but here, that roof would fold under it's weight. I suggest full 2x4 framing for the roof. And I hope you don't mind my suggestions, because that is all they are, and I want to see you get years of enjoyment from your observatory after all that hard work you have put in! Ray
  6. Anxiously following. It has been awhile. Glad to see your progressing.
  7. I am glad to see you have been doing some more work on the observatory. Been checking in now and again. Was getting worried. Spring has sprung I see. Ray
  8. Too far...more like the bathtub fills to quickly and starts overflowing.
  9. I would say, of course depending on how much you would use and enjoy it, to build one if you believe it will be of use. The best and cheaper method would be to use mostly re-purposed wood, but I am not sure what is available or feasible over there in the UK. Here in the states, decent used wood is plentiful at times, although one must do a little work to get it and then make it usable. All one needs to do is scope out the back lots of local businesses, later bring their trailer, dismantle large crates and other wooden partitions (no skids), and load up. When you get it home, you must further tear it down to separate the usable pieces, and discard the rest. With a little time, one can accumulate enough material to either get a good start and even finish the project at home within a few months or sooner, depending on their enthusiasm. Of course, one must be competent and have all the proper tools to build too. I did this myself a few years back and managed to built two completely finished units, a garden house and a storage shed, and my entire cost was the price of screws and nails.
  10. I have an EXT 80-AT, and my Autostar 494 controller does not even give me the option to choose a model (as it should), but instead asks for the focal length only. And consequently, will not align properly. Even though my correct city/state, date, time and time zone are all entered correctly (42.5 North Lat/USA Eastern time/Daylight Savings, AM/PM correct, etc), the scope attempts to align below the horizon when I choose stars that are overhead. I will be curious to hear from others with any ideas on that as well. Ray
  11. Awww.....disappointing, but completely understandable. Look forward to seeing further progress when our upside down world rightens itself again. Ray
  12. I notice a lot of people on this site incorporate the horizontal braces in their framework when building their OBS. I have never seen that done or done it myself, except in places for windows or door frames. Probably because we use more vertical studs, one every 16 inches and the caps (top studs) are always doubled up. Your construction looks sturdy enough to weather any wind at any rate. I would be more worried about having electronics installed without the walls or roof complete, because of the dampness in the air. I have replaced many radios inside my unheated garage over the years due to humidity and temperature fluctuations throughout the year. In my experience, anyway, it seems to destroy electronics. Looking good. Keep up the good work.
  13. The references indeed, did not make sense to me. With over 240 TV channels to choose from at home, not much British TV is available to us. We do have BBC America, but that is mostly American geared programming (with an accent) and other documentaries. YouTube is the choice place to watch British programming for me. I have seen every back episode of The Sky At Night and always look forward to the new monthly episode. (One program a month is not enough, I think, but I suppose is a BBC recipe that has worked for decades, so who am I to say?) However, in the time of the Internet, I was quickly able to get your point. I understand it to mean your yard looks half like a botanical garden and half an archeological dig site. Haha. Mine once resembled the same after I took large pool out, that was destroyed by the winter of 2013-14, and the hole sat unfilled for a few years until I got around to filling it in. Here's hoping the forecast is correct and better weather is coming so that you are able to get some more work done on your project. I look forward to it! Ray
  14. At least the sun was shining when you took those last pictures. Hopefully a sign of better days ahead. Looking forward to your progress!
  15. Hello. Look at a star map (or Stellarium, etc.) and use the narrower angle of the "W" asterism of Cassiopeia as a pointer out just past the halfway point of the nearest star that it points to (in the constellation Andromeda). Center your binoculars at that area and move slightly up and down, left and right slowly, until you see a faint, white oval blob. That is M31 (Andromeda Galaxy). I know the method I gave sounds odd, but it really does work. Give it a few moments and once you find it, do it again and again. Years ago I found it this way, and ever since, remembering where to aim, I can now point to it in my binoculars almost instantly every time. By the way, M31 has the best appearance visually in binoculars. In all of my telescopes, visually, it is less noticeable and impressionable compared to when viewed in binoculars., because the FOV is narrower and due to the magnification, it is dimmer in a telescope. Also, M31 is 6 times the width of the full moon in the sky, just so very faint, and unfortunately, is very easy to miss. All that can be seen anymore due to LP, with the naked eye, is the galaxy center, which appears as a faint star.
  16. Awful the rain you have been experiencing over there. Almost time to put on your life preservers and abandon ship! You get all the rain, while we had less precipitation (snow) this past winter, although I am not complaining. I am wishing for a much drier spring for you!
  17. Welcome from sunny, but soon-to-be-raining Michigan! The folks on this forum are a much friendlier and easygoing bunch. You'll be happy you dropped by.
  18. Great. The winches should work perfectly for you needs. Again, very nice Obs and visual timeline. I wish you many clear skies!
  19. Beautiful. Those are close enough to and considered to be palm trees by me. The daffodils and snowdrops are a sight too. Actually, the snowdrops should be up here too (SW Lower Michigan, USA - I'll have to look back by the pond where they thrive), but not yet the spring bulb flowers, the daffodils, tulips and crocus. Soon, hopefully, depending on the weather. The coldest months of Jan/Feb for us here have been milder than normal, and the seasonal snowfall is down (we had about a 1-1/2 feet total, where normal is around 7 feet or more, so who knows? I am in an area of the country where we experience the extremes in weather within any given year. It can be -20 F (-29 C) in winter and then nearly 100 F (37 C) in the hottest part of summer. But, it was clear out last night for a change and I was able to drag my Nexstar 8SE and test my new dew heaters, long enough to make my toes go numb. The heaters work well. Looking forward to see your Observatory progress, as it comes along.
  20. Very nice observatory and great work and visuals throughout the process. May I ask about the steep roof incline downhill? Do you have it motorized or somehow assisted in it's return route? The roof's grade downward looks awfully steep and I could imagine a struggle bringing it back if done simply by human power, depending of course, on the weight of the roof, and with snow and ice buildup possibly being a factor in added weight. Opening it up would pose another problem with the weight working to pull away down the incline.
  21. Looking good. I hope the rain lets up and gives you more time to proceed. By the way, your surroundings have a serene, natural beautiful about them., and I see some of the spring daffodils are already in bloom? Personally, I am hoping for a better spring and summer for star gazing. The winter was terrible for it. Fingers crossed
  22. I guess it is true what I have read a long time ago. There are palm trees in England! It is so green there for February (No green flora survives winter and the snow where I am. It's desolate.). What are the local temps like now? P.S. I am watching your progress eagerly. Nice work so far!
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