Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Chris's Obsy build

Chris

By Chris
in DIY Observatories

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 350
  • Created
  • Last Reply
r3i

r3i

Posted
Posted

Cheers shellfish:) yeah first light was bitter sweet really as it was the same day sir PM passed away, it was an apt tibute though. I imaged the rosette neb with my 150p f/5, see below I'll post it here:)

Excellent first light image Chris - makes all your hard work worthwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

no chance i think i swolloed it eating ribs :p and it was broke anyway after my 4 year old head butted me last month. the 200p is a great scope is it a blue or black one

:D

and its the black 200p, see pics below of my little upgrade:D

post-16129-0-85596500-1357919980_thumb.j

post-16129-0-50562600-1357920069_thumb.j

post-16129-0-17070600-1357920148_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The rails are now finally finsihed so I can fully role the roof back:)

I've also come up will a solution to at least half my water ingress problems, the main cause of water gettting in was due to rain hitting the exposed part of the rails then running along the whole length of the rails then leaking though little holes in the rails and down the side walls. This wouldn't normall be a problem with solid rails but the only rails I could find where from Wickes and they had 4cm diameter holes periodicall along the length. to get round these holes I patched them up with all weather silicone sealant with a small square of DMP on top (kind of like a puncture repair kit). The only problem is that these still leak a tinay bit with heavy rain, and this is despite me going around the obsy several times with silicone sealant!

My hopeful solution is to stop the rain water even hitting the exposed rails by placing plastic guttering upside down over the rails. Inorder that the guttering can easily be took off and put back on again I've made some pegs with screws.

because my pier is high and I'm using a Newt I've bought a mini step ladder which should do the trick:)

post-16129-0-08234100-1358080373_thumb.j

post-16129-0-73299700-1358080426_thumb.j

post-16129-0-80460700-1358080541_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gina

Gina

Posted
Posted

My rails are timber and definitely didn't come from Wickes! Much cheaper and better quality from the local timber merchant. Most of Wickes timber seems to be warped. I reckon they pick up the rejects from timber yards.

Sorry to see you've sold your ED80 Chris - I fear you might regret that if you do much DSO imaging, but good idea to get an NEQ6 Pro. That really is more important.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I've got to agree Gina you need to be pretty selective when you buy timber from a DIY store, there always seems to be one lemon in a pack of timber:(

In hindsight I would have ordered some solid U-channed off the net but, also I would have found the extra money for a rubber roof over the warm room:( I guess its normal to make some mistakes although having said this I can always change these things in a year or two. I just need to get the inside timbers fully dry so I can seal the inside with paint and membrane, its already been tripple treated inside and out, wood is nice to work with but hard work to maintain! I almost wish I'd done what yesyes is planning on doing and clad the thing in UPVC.

Gina, it was soooo! painful waving good bye to my WO66 apo, C80ED, and My 150p, and also my Helios 20x80 bins, ST80 and my mk1 HEQ5:( Unfortunately I needed every penny I could find to make the NEQ6 pro happen, but it was the sensible thing to do in the long run, I've sold my old HEQ5 to Stan26 which is a big upgrade from his EQ3, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with it having seen what wonderful images he's teased out of an EQ3!! :)

I got the 200p cheap from the same guy I bought the NEQ6 from, its just really to tide me over until I can get hold of a big quattro or 250PDS, I will miss the FOV of my fracs for sure but with the 200p's 1 metre of FL and f/5 to play with there are no end of smaller objects to image. Eventually I will upgrade the rubbish dovetail and strap the old one to the top of the scope so I can stick a tiny say 65mm TS quadruplet apo on top thus covering widefield and close ups on one rig, I can use my cheap 200mm lens piggy backed on the 200p for now:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
r3i

r3i

Posted
Posted

My hopeful solution is to stop the rain water even hitting the exposed rails by placing plastic guttering upside down over the rails. Inorder that the guttering can easily be took off and put back on again I've made some pegs with screws.

Fingers crossed and hope your cunning plan succeeds :smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well guys we will find out very soon if it works, the snow is on its way this afternoon! I'm not looking forward to my 12 hour shift in A&E tomorrow thats for sure, alot more injuries when its snowing:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
Pitbull

Pitbull

Posted
Posted

What a great thread,

Just spent the afternoon reading it all much to SWMBO disgust but it is prompting me to think about my own project this spring/summer.

Already secured a 3m length of 300mm Gas Main for my pier (thanks Gaz) time to start drawing out and costing.

Will start my own progress thread when I make a start, waiting for the snow to go and I will post some pics of the site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What a great thread,

Just spent the afternoon reading it all much to SWMBO disgust but it is prompting me to think about my own project this spring/summer.

Already secured a 3m length of 300mm Gas Main for my pier (thanks Gaz) time to start drawing out and costing.

Will start my own progress thread when I make a start, waiting for the snow to go and I will post some pics of the site.

I'm glad you enjoyed the thread and I hope you enjoy your project as much as I've enjoyed mine, I'll look out for your thread good luck with it all:)

p.s. you're not alone with spending too much time reading threads, my wife thinks I need addiction counselling:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

A very pleasent funny educating read,i think you've done a great job.great having a garden isn't it we did same 25 years ago moved from a flat i kmow the excitement you must have felt.thumbs up looking after nipper too while doing house up. ;-)

Thank you, very kind of you to say:) its great having a garden for sure and yes everything takes at least twice as long with a baby to look after but I wouldn't change a thing:) I've got the day off today so I'm off to buy a shed alarm, theres been around 60 shed and garage break ins in Ipswich since January so its time to up the security, might get an extra lock for it as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
r3i

r3i

Posted
Posted

I've got the day off today so I'm off to buy a shed alarm, theres been around 60 shed and garage break ins in Ipswich since January so its time to up the security, might get an extra lock for it as well.

I haven't decided on what alarm system that I will use on my build so would be interested in what you decide to get.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I haven't decided on what alarm system that I will use on my build so would be interested in what you decide to get.

Hi Mike:)

I wen't for the one in the link below:

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/electrical/cctv-house-alarms/other_cctv___alarms/Response-Shed-Alarm-10647507

The reviews were good and it was very afforedable at 15 pounds. I've just finished installing it which was straightforward and when I tested it by pretending to be an intruder it was incomfortably loud so I'm hoping this will see off the crim's:D

There are two settings 'home' and 'out' as well as off, home triggers the alarm as soon as the doors opened and out has a 20 second delay to give you enough time to input the 5 digit code. When you set the alarm when leaving the obsy it gives you 20 seconds to shut the door and then beeps to let you know its set which is re-assuring. The only down side I can see is that it didn't include the battery which is a 9v PP3 but thats no biggy considering the price:)

I also upgraded my padlock to a heavy duty carbon boron hex lock which is supposed to be tough to get through even with bolt cutters! I might add an extra lock once the door is painted, then I think that and the 6' high fence at the back should be enough hopefully:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
malc-c

malc-c

Posted
Posted

Security of an observatory is a tricky one. If someone really wants to get in it's a fairly easy job as these buildings are simple cladded frames, and most will use screw on hinges on doors etc which some how make the fitting of large padlocks a bit pointless. Also, I feel that if you have a huge lock, or multiple locks it "advertises" the fact that you have something in there that you are desperate to protect. Making the building shed like, fitting internal locks (5 lever mortice type) into a door, using round headed security bolts to attach hinges will put off the casual yob trying to do a shed raid. Oh and whilst these cheap shed alarms don't do anything fancy, they give the game away and anyone in 2m of them will find it very painful - these alarms are loud and you won't want to stick around when they are going off.

Not wanting to go into too much details for obvious reasons, but I use an alarm system in my observatory, similar to that shown from B&Q in the post above, but it's been modified to cover all doors and openings, juts in case they take a less obvious route. I also have a CCD camera pointed at the building... but the best deterrent is pictured below... Trust me when she barks you know something is going on

post-10726-0-31638700-1361446959_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites
malc-c

malc-c

Posted
Posted

How you getting on with your 200p Malcolm? I know you had some problems post flocking.

The scope has been effectively out of action since October. The replacement mirror is expected from China in around 3 to 4 weeks, so I'm hoping that this will resolve the issue, even though others feel it's some other obstruction which is causing the issue. I'll be updating my thread as soon as it arrives and I've had the scope professionally collimated. Hopefully it will then perform 100% and my interest in astronomy will be rekindled

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.