My Temporary(Ish) Obs

[Mav359]

So far so good....

We've had some pretty heavy rain and very strong winds and so far haven't sprung a leak, that said i'm not taking any chances so i have also added foam to all seems and taped over them to make sure everything stays water proof.

It doesn't change the design in anyway, the foam and tape are dispossible items and relativley cheap so i though worth doing.

I also took off the warm room roof and and have added a foam seal between it and the walls.

The door jam has been installed and i have created a temporary door, im out of proper lenghts of timber and canvas so i knocked together a basic frame and covered it it an old tarp.

Kit out the warm room next......

[Mav359]

Upcoming weather this weekend should make for an interesting test.....

[RogerTheDodger]

Brilliant idea

[nightfisher]

I salute you, a fantastic idea

[Mav359]

So its nearly finished....

After finally having been paid and the weather allowing me i finally got some time to work on my obs.

Yesterday i put both the internal & external doors on and the desk is in leaving me with just some work over the weekend on the roof. I'll get some pictures up over the weekend once I've done a bit more.

I have to say I'm really pleased, since its gone up there have been winds of over 30mph, heavy driving rain & now snow. So far except for a slight trickle where the roof isn't quite finished its stayed in position and remained waterproof.

However..... Its cold, or at least it was, i bought a £12 halogen heater from Amazon and its brilliant, its properly warm in there now and so that got me to thinking.....

Yesterday i placed the heater in the scope room while i was working, the scopes outside at the min while i work but the roof was open a bit and the door wasn't on because i was working on it, despite that it was still relatively warm so,

Why couldn't i heat the scope room with one of these? wouldn't the addition warmth combat the dew?

[iwatkins]

That is a really nice solution Alan. Really clever.

Cheers

Ian

[Mav359]

Done... More or less

Finally after some hard graft over the last few days i have finished.

Here are the highlights.....

* Internal and external doors are on, its hard to photo using the DSLR so i'll try again with my phone but the internal door is a sliding door.

* The "roll off" part of the roof has had an extra covering of canvas

* Where the roof meets the walls each flat edge has had strip wood nailed to it so moving the roof is a much smoother action.

* The open end of the roof has had brushes attached (there just draft exluders) to close that end but it acts to clean the fixed roof section of any debris.

* i have added a metal edge to the fixed roof section to stop any friction tearing the canvas

* A Stop has been added to this end to prevent the roff from just sliding off the end when being closed

* To keep the roof on and secure i have hooks to the roof and relative positions in the walls and secured them together with bungee cords.

* All the electrics are in, i have power in both rooms now.

* I have run a 5m active USB cable between rooms to a USB hub attached to the tripod. The hub has its own power and so far all devices working.

* Desk is in, i had a second PC & monitor which are occuping it and got an office chair from work that had no wheels left

* I have attached string between some of the sections just to add as storage.

* To keep the warm room warm i have added a 1200w halogen heater under the desk (£12 Amazon), my legs now feel like they are on fire LOL it's very warm in there now.

Overall i very pleased, there are a few rough edges here and there but im no carpenter.

Going forward i'd like to add a 'Skirt' to the roof to cover where the

walls meet the roof on the scope side adding further protection from the day to day elements. I also want to install a new fuse box at the point where this all currently plugs into. I was also thinking of gettin a large enough tarp that will cover the whoile thing in the harsher weather, this tarp could also double as the cover for when its all taken down and flat packed.

[Flying Eye]

Great idea this, and very well executed.

Where can one obtain this canvas from then?

[Viv]

That's a brillant job - congrats !!

[Mav359]

Cheers guys

Great idea this, and very well executed.

Where can one obtain this canvas from then?

I bought the canvas from here Heavy Duty PVC Fabric :: UK Fabrics Online

[Flying Eye]

Thanks very much for the link, it may solve another issue I've been wrestling with!

[dtokez]

great idea! nicely done. Are you still using it?

[Mav359]

Yeah it does the job, I am outgrowing it a bit though but any re-build is going to have to wait till i move out.

Its stayed weather proof since its been up but some more extreme weather due for this weekend i may chicken out and bring the scope and anything else expensive inside.

[Mav359]

Just a quite roof update on the obs, the weather has begun to take its toll a bit to the point where water was gathering on the inside of the roof. I think its because its material, i was also getting water gathering in the channel where the scope room roof runns over the warm room.

So..... quick and dirty

I ran a couple of lenghts of timber of the scope room roof that ran out over the warm room and then stapled a tarp to them so now there is another barrier between the room and the elements. The Tarp was so large that i left it doubled up. I also stuck a bit of foam  insulation i had left over into the roof.

You'll notice the colour of the canvas has slowly lightened in the sun over the last 2 years , it was only ever a temporary solution which ive gotten 2 years out of so i can't complain but i think its run its course.

cheers

[carastro]

When are you planning to move Alan, and will you be able to have something more permanent when you do.  Also where abouts are you in SE London, I'm in Bromley.

Carole

[Mav359]

Hi Carole

I'm over by Crystal Palace

Just trying to get a decent deposit together and get out of London, then it'll be "It Must Have A Big Garden" and then as long as i can live in it it'll Garden First with a view to getting a big OB's built

As for this OB's it has breached badly, turns out the foxes have been walking around on top of it, i had to get everything out and tried off. in the end all i have lost is the PC's Keyboard & Mouse. I'll be making running repairs to the roof over the next few days