Sky Shed Ransu

[Ransu]

All days work, and got done only this little piece of metal.

Pier adapter, robust neanderthal model

Made of 3 pcs dn50 pipe flanges and M20 bolts.

Weight abt 15kgs..

Welded in place.

[spaceboy]

Very nice

[Gina]

Yes indeed! A good day's work

[Ransu]

Grand opening today:hello2:

I got done inside walls plywood covering and assembled equatorial head to the pier. I update also door handle better matching model. And add some old carpets:D

Still have to wait this month untill first dark night's here. But no worry, i'm happy that i get this done fast. Btw today was very hot day here, max temp was 32C and still 25C at 10pm.

I don't have any electricity yet in shed, but it is easy to add later.

I have 17Ah powertank to give power.

Equatorial head, Celestron Cgem and partly diy saddle for main instrument and guiding scope.

One of main telescopes, TS 250mm f5 imaging Newton, havent try it yet to deep sky, so it's waiting first light.

Next set up, Equinox 120 and ST80 quiderscope

Little William Optics ZS80 and ST80

And last but not least:

My oldest and most loved instrument, C8 with Celestron 102/660 guiderscope.

[RobH]

Nice setups you have there!

On a practical note, speaking from experience, if you're mainly imaging, paint the inside of your obsy a light colour (mine are light grey)....it makes it much easier to find things in the dark.......you're not looking through eyepieces so dark walls etc are unnecessary.

Cheers

Rob

[laser_jock99]

Wow- fine collection of scopes you have there!

[Ransu]

Roof opening mechanism.

Roof of my shed is guite heavy, made by purpose because of wintertime snow. Anyway i wanted it to be more easy to open and close and build winch based opening mechanism.

Main parts are 20€ boat winch, rope and 3 rope sheaves.

Turning clockwise roof opens and other way it closes.

I added one plate by welding to separate opening and closing ropes. Actually there is only one rope, locked to roof frame by 2 screw. (last picture)

Difficult to explain, but pictures hopefully tells better:)

Winch and rope sheaves

Modified winch.

Roof open.

[malc-c]

I was thinking of doing the same sort of thing for my roof which too is quite heavy, but didn't have any ideas for the winch - seeing your post has helped a bundle -

[yesyes]

Then replace the crank with a motor, add a rain sensor and have the roof close automatically when it rains.

[malc-c]

Then replace the crank with a motor, add a rain sensor and have the roof close automatically when it rains.

Having first parked the scope in the home position

[malc-c]

could you get away with an un-modified winch ? - simply making the cable system a loop and looping the cable (or rope) around the winch drum a few times so that moves the rope rather than filling the drum.. if you follow my logic

[malc-c]

This looks interesting

TD Industrial H/D Power 12-volt Winch (2,000-lb. Rating) | Overstock.com

£56

[yesyes]

I think you need a few turns around the drum for the cable / rope to get enough grip. With a simple half turn it would probably just slip.

Oh and yes, the scope needs to parked first. ;-)

The rain sensor would have to send that command...

[Gina]

I've thought a bit about this sort of thing as well but I won't be doing anything about it until I've got everything built and can see how much effort is needed to open and close the roof. I like the idea of electric operation

[Ransu]

This looks interesting

TD Industrial H/D Power 12-volt Winch (2,000-lb. Rating) | Overstock.com

£56

Your cable loop system idea is exellent, i think it is possible to do with this 12V winch, if the drum diameter is big enough to get good friction. And also is better to use cable, it is not flexible, like rope is.

[spaceboy]

Not only a great obsy but some simply great scopes to go in it. Enjoyed this thread very much Rauno and love the look of that cgem with the equinox 120 on

[Ransu]

Thanks Spaceboy! My shed just closed for tonight, i made polar alignment for CGEM and equinox get tour of double stars, nothing else to see here yet. Everything works fine and i enjoyed abt 15 "twins". I used 3.8mm baader eudiascopic. Very nice views:)

I tried also M13 and M57, but didn't see anything, too much light.

[minte222]

dont fancy building me one by any chance

[Staypuft]

Nice bit of carpentry! Hope you enjoy your new Astro Sauna!

[Ransu]

Almost finished Finnish observatory now:D

Outside now:

I lifted EQ head 250mm, height is good now for Refractors and C8, with newtonian i need to use chair.

I used M20 threated bar and "long nuts" to make it rigid.

Today was rainy and i done some teenage tuning for my

guidescopes, SW ST80 and Celestron 102/660

Fisheye view from upwards:

[Deneb]

Thats a very nice setup, how do you find that celestron cgem mount ?

Nadeem.

[Ransu]

Thanks Nadeem, i buy CGEM from Telescope Service this summer and piersystems are DIY

[Gina]

It certainly looks very nice from the outside And nice on the inside too :)Superb job!

[malc-c]

Fantastic build.. looks very professional

[Ransu]

Thats a very nice setup, how do you find that celestron cgem mount ?

Nadeem.

Sorry Nadeem, i think i misunderstand your question:D

I have only short experience of CGEM, my earlier mount was CG5-GT. So far i'm happy with new one, and comparing these two CGEM is:

+much more solid

+better building quality

+goto is way more accurate, last night i done again polar aligning and watched binary stars, goto shows 90% star in field of view using 5mm Baader eudiascopic eyepiece and Equinox 120

+goto is quiet

+polar aling possibility with any star. I have used that one, because of light nights. Can't see Polaris and big dipper stars witn N.E yet.

Dislike:

-hand controller cable is 1/2 meter too short. I have to find extension for that.

So far i'm happy, i don't have experience of Skywatcher or other manufacturers goto mount's so i can't make comparing to them.