Obsy plans for comment

[earth titan]

Before I submit these to the treasury for final approval I would value comments from people as to suitability, although they are only rough concept and options at the moment.

I'm interested in size, direction and any other comments people may feel appropriate. I have an area about 12' x 6' to work with.

I would ideally like to learn form others rather than make the mistakes myself (although I'm sure there will be many.

I will be building it myself, using treated timber and clad in a layer of strandboard and the visible sides clad in something nicer (TBA).

Warm room will be lined with a layer of Knauf board then chipboard internals.

Pier will be plastic drainage pipe with a pier top to be decided on.

I prefer 'slide 2' option, as it has the added benefit of a strategic conifer to shield a local street light.

[Zakalwe]

Personally I would put the slope of the roof going the other way. As it is drawn, if there is water on the roof then it will run into the obs as you open it.

[earth titan]

Damn good point, well made. Was going to have it this way round to prevent having to look 'over' the top of the roof, but my plan is to keep it low profile so should not be a problem.

Ta.

[Earl]

It might be easier to make the roof go over the warm room, making it hang over less and not worry about the drainage

In that case I would have the warm room at the north end as its not so bad covering the low north part of the sky.

[MikeD]

Is there a need for a warm room at all? You can use your house as a warm room and link to the obs with a wireless network.

Mike.

[earth titan]

Linking by wireless? I would dearly love to but with PHD, ASCOM, EQMOD etc. I'm thinking I need a PC in the obsy. Unless someone knows of a workaround!

I have considered rollling off over the warm room (this was my 1st option) but SWMBO wants this to be pleasing to the eye as well as functional as it will be in the garden on the patio(ish). She has demanded a smooth roofline . I can also see it may make the build more complicated, to ensure it is weather tight.

Unfortunately, due to the location of the spot in the garden which would best suit, I can only roll off in the directions shown

[Gina]

I agree with Earl Makes the roll off roof smaller and lighter and warm room to the north means less trouble from the slight warm air currents from it as less observing is likely to be towards the north.

You'll need a separate roof for the warm room or it won't be warm when you roll the roof off.

EDIT... Cross posted.

[Gina]

As for operating from the house... Yes, you'd want a computer in the obsy. If you put it towards the north side you'd have fewer problems with the warm air currents it would generate. Also, it would be best to use one that consumes as little power as possible to reduce the heat output. Laptop or netbook for example. You could bring that indoors when you're not using the scope too.

[yesyes]

I take it you have seen Aoraki's build which has a very similar roof design?

I agree with the PC in the obsy / warm room. You could then use Remote Desktop to control it from the house if you want, which should work fine over wireless. Better than having all the actual data going over wireless.

[Gina]

I think in your situation, with limited space and other restrictions, I too would suggest not having a warm room - it does complicate the build considerably, as I can confirm from building mine. Costs more too.

[Helen]

You can roll the whole roof, but roll it with the rails along the long walls rather than the short walls and roll it so that the roof remains over the warm room when its open (that's how mine works). You'll still need a flat roof on top of the warm roof otherwise it'll be cold - but it doesn't need to be waterproof as it'll always be covered. Ideally you don't want the roof to be in the way of your south horizon as the interesting bits are low in the southern sky.

Other points I'd make:

- 6 foot is tight, I'd say 7 foot minimum

- don't skimp on the rolling mechanism (I've refitted mine with gate wheels and tracks and its made a HUGE difference)

- you can have a PC in the corner of the obs controlling everything, but then remotely control that PC from the warm of the house, so you may not need a warm room. Personally though, I like having the option of sitting there with it (particularly when setting up), and the warm room provides a bit of sheltered storage space.

Its a great project to do though - so enjoy!

Helen

[earth titan]

Thanks folks.

Warm room will have a separate roof and I know it complicates it slightly, but I see the complicated bit being the sliding roof.

Wish I could slide off the long way - would make life easier but no access this side and SWMBO wants a decked seating area as well and I'm not one to argue.

I like Aorakis build. Mine is hopefully similar, only slightly smaller. If I can aim for the same finish - woweeee!!

Good advice re the position of the warm room. Don't want to be looking over those nasty thermals...

[malc-c]

If I follow the plans correctly, the roof rolls off to the south (ish) - Ideally you want as little obstruction between East and West. Aorakis build would be your best model to use given the constraints by SWMBO.

Personally I would opt for having and operating the scope from a warm room, rather than from the house. Cables snag, and often things like focusing etc require you to visit the scope and then take a test image, especially when using masks. My wife wouldn't put up with me constantly "popping" in and out of the house all the time, especially if it's really cold outside.

I also want to clear up the "issue" with thermals. Whilst it's called a warm room, mine is typically 4c - 5c above the scope room when opened. So whilst it might be around freezing in the observatory, the control room is still quite cold. I use a small 2Kw fan heater under the desk that blows warm air on to me, and even though after half an hour the control room may be 12c I've not seen any issues of thermal's when the scope is directed over the roof of the warm room. This could be due to having decent insulation in the warm room roof and the fact my ROR rolls over the roof of the warm room, providing a further layer of insulation ??

[Aoraki]

Hi Earth Titan, glad you like my obsy. If there's any assistance I can give just shout up or drop me a PM.

Andy