The Nano Observatory v2.0 (The BorgKube)

[Euan]

The fact that it looks like it's not going to rain for at least the next week (touch wood) spurned me on to remake the Nano Obs.

The original, which you can see here had one major design flaw, it opened across my front door! It made it really awkward when people came to the front door in the early evening during the winter

I'm going for an even more controversial super compact design. The internals are only 1m x 1m x 1.2m. The way it holds a swinging 101EDII on an EQ6 is the fact that the whole cube minus the back panel moves forward, leaving the sides open. This gives me 1.2m front to back which is the limits of how far the scope is allowed to swing.

Having a small obs proved a pig to maintain and try and get into, but the good thing about this design is the whole thing can lift forward and give pretty unrestricted access to the kit inside.

Next is to build a slab base for it, put the front wheels on, fit the garage door opener and start cladding it and stain it, hopefully done by the weekend

[Chris]

Very nice compact solution I look forward to seeing the end result:) you're a braver man than me though I don't know if I'd like to leave my kit out the front of my house.

[Euan]

you're a braver man than me though I don't know if I'd like to leave my kit out the front of my house.

There's a fair amount of sensors, cameras, big locks and alarms so it's as safe as it can be I suppose.

Here it is! It's worked out nice and compact, the garage door opener from the old one fitted as well once I had built a section out the back to take the motor. It's also got a nice EPDM rubber roof which I wish I had done the first time around, much less hassle than using felt.

It's pretty much finished now, just wired the electrics this morning so need to re-populate it with the PC and all the bits and bobs, but just about to start an EQ6 mod thanks to Gaz (gary1968)

....and here it is in action. I know the music is from the wrong Sci-Fi show but I couldn't help myself

click on it for the 720p version..

2wn8eFPt7b0

[Chris]

That looks brilliant Euan, the rubber roof looks a better finish than felt, it all looks nice and solid. Great vid as well:)

[nightfisher]

Excellent, i well remember the original, i had just joined here and saw your post of the mk1

[gary1968]

Thats a cracking job there mate..... it should last for years!! Good luck with the belt drive mod....

Gaz

[Euan]

Thanks folks

Looks like the new forum software deleted the video, here it is....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wn8eFPt7b0&hd=1

[Earl]

imagine if you couls use the polar scope..... hehe

[garethmob]

i actually quite like this idea, it dosent take up much space, and providing you can PA it it would be fantastic for somthing like an astrotrac. couple it with a pile of sensors and it could be computerised and semi automated

[Euan]

imagine if you couls use the polar scope..... hehe

Drift alignment FTW

[SlipperySquid]

Sweet setup there mate, It must look awesome to an ant!

Matt.

[nightvision]

Great design, really like the vid, you should making movies!

[blinky]

Looks great Euan - way more solid than the last one! I really need to sort out my roof and get it automated like yours.

[Gina]

I considered that idea at one stage but went for the super deluxe version - big and bold - in the end. Nice job there

[garethmob]

how exactly did you build it? and how does the automation work in such a compact obv?

[Euan]

how exactly did you build it?

It's just built using sawn timber, with the edges that meet with the outside all treated with wood stain. The rails underneath the moving section are pretty heavy duty rollers on v-grooves meant for big automated gates, so they can take a lot of weight and are quite smooth.

The whole front section rolls forward being pushed and pulled by a garage door opener. There are two wheels per side on the rail and a front pair of wheels that lifts if off the ground enough to keep it level as it rolls back and forward. When it's fully extended, it's only the back set of roller wheels that are still on the v-groove. The whole thing makes a nice cat shelter!

I needed a pretty decent way of securing with pillar without having a full concrete pier, so I stuck together two 15Kg high-density concrete blocks for each leg of the pillar and fixed it down with M10 rods using chemical fixings.

how does the automation work in such a compact obv?

The garage door opener does the hard part of moving the top section, but there are quite a few sensors in place to make sure the scope is parked and the roof can close. This is all triggered by cloud / rain alerts using a Aurora Cloud Sensor, an AMX control system and CCD Commander.

The interface is all here, I'm still working on it: http://stargazerslou...tion-interface/

[Black Knight]

Very ingenious. Mrs Black Knight is quite taken with the bijou nature of it as well!