Kids play house, perfect for the norwegian winter

[Jannis]

Ok now, after 3 insanely cold winters here in norway (usually down to -15 to -20c), i've gotten tired of sitting outside freezing off my arms, hands, feets, nose, eyes, butt, - well, you know the rest...

So, now that me and my wife finally bought out own house this summer, i've decided to build a small terrace to stand on in the winter.

After building it, with materials 3x the normal needed strengt for optimall stiffness, i tried it, and yeey - it works!!! not... :'(

Well, it does, in the way that i can for everyday use jump as hard as i can on it without it even shaking a tiny bit, and you could probably park a tanks on it without it even starting to give after.. but i noticed for long exposures, i need to sit completly still on it, otherwise it wobbles too much for a clear picture.

So, off to plan B.

Well, i Did have this small toy house for kids in the back yard, so i though. Should i make the roof removable?

after some thinking, i came to the conclusion, if i leave the scope on the terrace and i stay nice and warm in the house, it should all be fine.

So, after taking off ~380kg of stones from the roof, i started mooving this probably 4-500kg house, and eventually i got it next to the terrace.

And after some washing, and putting on the stones again, i started filling it up inside with a computer, cables, and connected electricity in it.

I guess this isn't really an obsorvatory i guess, but man how it's going to amke this hobby so much more easy and comfortable for me. Not to mention, short way to go when taking the telescope in and out.

Just had to share this anyway, hope you guys don't mind... xD

And a few pics. It's very small inside, so sorry for the bad inside pic, had to put several pics together to get a decent view of it inside.

[Gina]

Very interesting - thank you for posting We're always interested in how people improve their hobby.

[laser_jock99]

Looks good- I'll agree with you on the point of needing to isolate the mount/pillar from any movement if you intend to do astrophotography. You need to have ultra stable, vibration free mount as an absolute must.

[Macavity]

I guess this isn't really an observatory i guess, but man how it's going to make this hobby so much more easy and comfortable for me. Not to mention, short way to go when taking the telescope in and out.

You might consider VIDEO Astronomy, remote control etc. The scope could stay outside,

with you (warm) inside - Albeit emerging for critical observations.

[Jannis]

Thanks for teh replies

Yepp yepp, the scope is already remote controlled from inside the house now, but i don't want to leave it out when i'm not there. It's expencive stuff, after all, and it's full og kids where i live also. But now taking it in and out will go a Lot faster.

Concidering to drill thiny holes on the floor and put LEDs in them to indicate where the tripod legs are going to stand. Would speed up the aligning process a lot to.

I'm probably not going to heat up too much in that house though, because it will blurr the air if my target is right over the roof on the house, as it's not isolated inside. But if i can have maybe 0 to 10c in there i'll be happy anytime to stay there injstead of the -15 to -20c outside... xD

Just hope my cameras shutter box wont fail again. It broke after last winters use and had to be replaced. And the HEQ5 motors are starting to sound a bit bad, after only 2 seasons. Even after adjusting the gears and re-greased it. Guess i'll have to take it apart yet again...

Is it normal to ahve to service the gears on these mounts 1-2 times per winter? o.o

[fwm891]

Re-greased my NEQ6 last winter and just re-greased again ready for this winter...

Clear skies