Observatory Build Underway

[malc-c]

Yeah, you only need a couple of inches higher at one end for the seven or eight feet span that we're working to to get between 1:40 and 1:80, so long as the water runs off that's all that matters.

[malc-c]

You're making real progress there. Looks excellent.

Looks a bit taller than expected. But then, your floor is raised quite a bit...

That's partly due to the bottom layer of cladding covering the sole plate and floor, plus the ground slopes. At the rear the ground is almost level with the patio, which is more or less the floor height. The walls of my obs are 1.8m, which are about the standard for ROR home builds, just that it's floor is 300mm above the ground level where the laws is

[malc-c]

What a day... ruddy rain hasn't let up all day...I could cope with that, but then the wind picked up this afternoon which made things interesting ! - even so I was able to fabricate the pent roof section and clad the last wall in ship-lap. The roof has a fall of 1.75" over it's 80" length, almost a 1:40 gradient, either way water has been running off it (tarp still in place) so that should be fine. The roof also takes my weight so should hold up to the snow. It still needs felting, but there was no way I was going to try that under the tarp !!

In order to get the height of the roof I had to temporarily fit the tracks and put the Apex roof on its wheels. I've only fitted 4 (one to each corner) just to get the clearance needed for the overlap between the Apex and pent roofs in the middle... but it's amazingly easy to move. Just need to drill and screw the two tracks down properly and fit the end stops, which is a job for when it's not ruddy raining !!!!

Anyway, here's a sketch of how it looks.. I'll take some photos when the roof sections are all finished

[Gina]

Glad to see your warm roof sheds the rain OK with such a small slope Good progress in spite of the conditions!

Dreadful weather here today too. Heavy rain and near gale force winds. Cleared up late afternoon a bit - to showers. My site is water-logged!!

[Telrad]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the completed Obs. It's going to be fantastic!

Hope the rains stops to allow you to continue building..

Edited June 12, 2011 by Telrad

[malc-c]

Well I managed to get the warm room roof felted tonight, and fit the rollers to the roof. I've used 5 x 50mm rubber casters per side, and pleased to say that it rolls rather nice. I did fit two ali channels for the wheels to run in, but the tolerances between the width of the wheel and the track was so tight, that it caused a bit of binding. Also as I have a drop side, it meant that alignment of that section became a problem, so it was removed and so I use just the one channel to form a guide which is working very well.

As the forecast is for fine weather tomorrow I've booked the day off work so I can get this thing water tight and secure... all being well I hope to have the observatory cleared from tools and off-cuts of wood and the scope temporary mounted for Wednesday nights lunar eclipse.

Then comes the fun part of wiring, comms, insulating the warm room and then lining the walls... and turning this into a working observatory

More photos tomorrow (note to self - need to charge the camera battery )

[Digz]

yes.....must.....see.....photos........

[Viv]

Malc - I hope you used plenty of sun cream !!

looking forward to the progress.

[yesyes]

Malcom, I hope you did charge those camera batteries...

We're all waiting for the promised pictures..

[Gina]

I have two batteries for my camera and a separate charger. One in the camera, the other in the charger, so I've always got a freshly charged battery (unless I do an enormous amount of photography). I also have two memory cards.

[yesyes]

My post was meant more as a joke... ;-)

But I do agree. I have at least 2 batteries for each camera. They are so cheap on ebay...

[malc-c]

I have two batteries.. both were flat (I keep forgetting to turn the thing off when connected to the PB

OK guys you wanted some pictures.... well having baked in 25c heat, and suffered with hay fever which made things take twice as long the structure is now externally complete

This image below shows the drop down side to allow good viewing to the south

And in the viewing mode, with the roof rolled back

Note that at the time I took these pictures I still had to get a coat of creocote on the wood, hence the un-treated look ! Below is a shot from inside the warm room looking towards the observatory

Standing in the observatory, side up, looking in an Easterly direction

The warm room roof section

Rolling the roof back so I could then apply the creocote

And the finished result

Then spent a good hour tidying up the garden !!!!!

Just need to see if it's water tight before moving on to running the internal electrics and insulating the warm room.... More to follow, but right now I need to take a rest from it - I'm knackered !!

[yesyes]

WOW, that looks great! ;-)

For once you're now actually waiting for rain... ;-)

[yesyes]

Oh and the roof track folds down with the drop down panel?

[Gina]

VERY nice, looks lovely

[malc-c]

Oh and the roof track folds down with the drop down panel?

As mentioned in a previous post, I removed the tracking from the front due to binding as the tolerances were too tight, so the front wheels just roll on top of the studwork, with the back rollers running in the tracking. This also helps with getting the drop down panel to work properly

[Telrad]

It's looking really nice Malcolm!

I can't wait to see the photos of the completed build!

[Gina]

I think it's very clever to run the roof along the top of the fold-down side. Usually there's a fixed running rail to take the roof that would get in the way of viewing. This has got me thinking

Edited June 15, 2011 by Gina

[Astrokev]

Excellent Malcolm. I'm very impressed!

Great pictures but is it possible to also show a few pics of the join/seal between obsy and warm room please? I can't quite make out how you've done this. Thanks.

Looking forward to the next stage and internal fit-out.

[malc-c]

Great pictures but is it possible to also show a few pics of the join/seal between obsy and warm room please? I can't quite make out how you've done this. Thanks.

Hope the attached helps

I'll try and get some more pictures (close ups) when I'm home after work

Edited June 15, 2011 by malc-c

[Astrokev]

I think it's very clever to run the roof along the top of the fold-down side. Usually there's a fixed running rail to take the roof that would get in the way of viewing. This has got me thinking

Oh dear, I can see another re-design coming along!

[yesyes]

In Malcom's design one side of the roof seems to rest completely on the fold-down panel. It would have to be rather strong to support that weight and still be foldable. Also, you need to make absolutely sure the panel cannot fold down when the roof is closed.

[Macavity]

Nice Work indeed. 'Tis true - My "Alexanders" folds down a non-structural end wall flap. But the quasi-separate warm room must present thermal benefits - Stuck with my "integral" one here. But at least it's becoming "cozier". Trying to rid myself of 70's (non-PC) jokes re. "Wondering where he/she/I can get FELT". Sorry for that interruption! More power, re. an interesting thread...

Edited June 15, 2011 by Macavity

[r3i]

Looks like a marvellous observatory.

I noticed that your south facing flap folds inwards - just playing devil's advocate here: is there sufficient room so that when you fold it down it won't hit any part of the scope/mount?

Some other flaps that I've seen on observatories fold outwards to prevent that kind of incident but I guess they're short on space and your observatory looks quite spacious so I'm guessing yours will be okay? If it were me (and one day I hope it will be), I'd also prefer the flap to fold inwards, so that the hinges are not visible externally (i.e. better security).

Edited June 15, 2011 by r3i

[malc-c]

Looks like a marvellous observatory.

I noticed that your south facing flap folds inwards - just playing devil's advocate here: is there sufficient room so that when you fold it down it won't hit any part of the scope/mount?

Some other flaps that I've seen on observatories fold outwards to prevent that kind of incident but I guess they're short on space and your observatory looks quite spacious so I'm guessing yours will be okay? If it were me (and one day I hope it will be), I'd also prefer the flap to fold inwards, so that the hinges are not visible externally (i.e. better security).

Yes, originally I had it hinged on the outside so the flap fell outwards, but then this was changed for several reasons, mainly that of security for the reasons you have stated...the trade off being clearance inside the observatory. I think with a careful choice of parking position I should be OK