Attic Observatory

[The Sailor]

For the last few months I have toyed with the idea of turning part of the attic into an observatory, the last week has seen a lot of work and with a few more hours work the observatory will be in operation.

It has the same orientation as my garden one with an axis due east but with a completly clear horizon. The Velux opening is just under 4' wide and is massive and very heavy for an old crock to handle, to this end I am constructing a temp hoist to enable the window to be removed easily and safely, once that is achived the mount/OTA on tripod will be moved to designated position. Unmounting will be done in the opposite way and the window replaced with a frame with a clear PVC for the next session but only if good weather persists.

At the moment I have the tripod in place to see how it goes, the next part is to start fitting it out with shelving and all the astromony kit, the garden observatory will be denuded of the majority of the gear. As soo as I can I will get photos of the inside and a panorama of what sky I can see .

Jim

[The Sailor]

The horizon:

Beginning North to South thru East

Jim

[ollypenrice]

I've never tried such an arrangement but the point that usually comes up when this is mooted is the effect that heat from the house might have on the seeing. As I say, I can't comment from experience, though.

Olly

[The Sailor]

Yes I understand that issue and I have done is quarter the attic and the observatory is in one quarter which has been isolated from the rest of the house through sound and heat, this I hope will take care of heat rising through the floor and stop any sound going down. As the rest of the attic is well insulated I hope this will be negligble and will have little affect on seeing. I am happy with it at present, if, and I hope not, does not work out I have a nice office and still have the garden observatory.

Jim

[ampleamp]

What about vibrations from walking around (assuming your floor is wooden). I have no solution as I am looking at putting an obs above an unheated shed and this is what is giving me the biggest headache.

[Fordos Moon]

Sounds a great idea to me, I look forward to seeing the results!

[The Sailor]

What about vibrations from walking around (assuming your floor is wooden).

Yes the floor is wooden but the builder put in an extra strut and is now double strength with soundproofing, the flooring is the highest grade and on top of that I will have rubber flooring .

Sounds a great idea to me, I look forward to seeing the results!

I will get photos done as soon as I have sorted all out. I was up there earlier and opened the window to look at the sky, great view .

Jim

[Gina]

Good luck and I hope it all works out for you

[The Sailor]

Thanks Gina

Jim

[davo]

Wow what a great idea!

[The Sailor]

Thanks, Davo but this to be proved

Ring main went in today and tomorrow I will divert one of the broadband cables from the outside observatory, all is going well.

Jim

[laser_jock99]

Sounds like an interesting project- goes against all the vibration and thermals advice but hey look at the horizon you've gain compared to garden level obsy!

Could work okay for visual stuff at least, just remeber to open the hatch a few hours before observing and let the room temperature equalize with the outside.

[The Sailor]

Sounds like an interesting project- goes against all the vibration and thermals advice but hey look at the horizon you've gain compared to garden level obsy!

Could work okay for visual stuff at least, just remeber to open the hatch a few hours before observing and let the room temperature equalize with the outside.

Regarding the vibrations, the floor has been reinforced and feels quite strong, not the slightest hint of vibration, also the floor will be covered in rubber matting. As for the therrmal, the observatory is isolated from the rest of the attic and that from the house with an overabundance of insulation.

I think I will be doing AP, once I have got everything sorted the window will be removed and a new shield installed which will be easier to remove but also will keep the temp down. Still quite a bit of work to do and I don't want to rush things

Jim

[swag72]

Your obsy project sounds very interesting and it is flying in the face of thermals and vibration advice, but so what?

I say so what as my obs build is very similar in flying in the face of general advice. It is make of brick, in full spanish sun all of the day, is on a flat root of another building and is surrounded by contrete and slabs. I was worried about thermals definitely and vibration less so, as it's on a 4-6 inch concrete base. Last summer was my first summer using it, and boy was it hot!! But no thermal issues in sight!! So sometimes its good to be aware of the general consensus, but we have to make do with what we have. I wasted many needless hours worrying about it all!!!

[The Sailor]

Thank you Sara, thing is if it don't work out I still have a nice garden observatory but I believe it will. The reasons I am doing this is age, health and security, I want a hobby and I am making it easy for myself, once I lock up at night I still have the sky to look at in peace without the problem of having to stay still on hearing any noise over the fence. The only problem I have is the window but that has been sorted with a hoist and I just have to make an emergency temporary cover when I take it off .

Jim

[laser_jock99]

How are you intending to mount the scope, just the tripod on the rubber matting? I'm trying to think of some other ways that you might damp any vibrations.

The most obvious idea is to increase the mass of the mount by slinging a heavy weight (within reason!!) under the tripod. I wonderd if it's also possible to isolate the 'observers floor' in any way from the 'tripod floor'?

I'll be curious to see how this project pans out because I once had plans to stick some Velux windows in our roof space. It would give me a good view of the Southern horizon if I ever got round to it....

Some rooftop observatory links

http://www.makingplans-architecture.co.uk/work.html

http://davespages.99k.org/astro/scopes/loft/loft.html

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/21489-attic-room-observatory/

[The Sailor]

The mount will be attached to the tripod via an extension tube, this will get it out of the opening quite well, I best not say too much on what I am doing till I get it all set up as it is an akward project and will include some unusual features . Suffice to say the mount will not be on the rubber matting as I don't want my movement to disturb any AP work. I am about to install the comms cable, am halfway through that.

Jim

[The Sailor]

This is an update of what I have done so far, still a long way to go but I have set the mount up to see any problems I may have. The gist of the operation to bring the mount into action is to take the windown out with hoist, swing the head to enable me to put the OTAs on and then lifting the trailing leg move the mount forward out of the window, turn the head back to the normal position. The extension has gained me a good height out of the window and will enable almost an allround vision.

I have placed the fronf two legs on platforms with wheels underneath, this will move alond a track, the trailing leg will drop into a hole when the tripod is in position and prevent movement. The floor will be covered in rubber matting to prevent downward noise, shelves to the right hold all electrical, laptop, monitor and anything else I will add, the shelves to the left hold the telescope and other equipment.

I still have a lot to do

Jim

[ollypenrice]

Celestron used to market rubber anti-vibration pads which were highly rated by users if I remember. Quite honestly, just being very careful about how you move will be the key. You won't be clog dancing after all.

I think the thermals would be more of an issue at long focal length. At short FL I'd be far less concerned about it. Worth noting that many very serious observatories are built on raised structures to get above the 'ground seeing.'

http://www.tivoli-astrofarm.de/htm_e/e_astronomie/e_astelco_robotic.php

Olly

[The Sailor]

Worth noting that many very serious observatories are built on raised structures to get above the 'ground seeing.'

http://www.tivoli-as...lco_robotic.php

Olly

That Olly was why I done this, I believe it will work out in the end but still a long way to go.

Regarding the tripod dampers, yes I have thought about them, as this is still an ongoing project they may well be used but I want to spend the money on getting the attic sorted before I do the little things. Today I have a load of building material arriving, this will be to turn the rear of where I took the photo into an office/storage area with less insulation than the observatory, it could be a warm room if I get my finger out .

Jim

[laser_jock99]

How will your Velux roof window 'hinge'? The only ones I can find are middle or top hinged.

[Gina]

Very interesting project

[The Sailor]

How will your Velux roof window 'hinge'? The only ones I can find are middle or top hinged.

And there Jock lies the problem, I have a middle hinge window. Now I probably could have just had a hole put in the roof with some sort of cover but if all this goes pear shaped I have to fill that hole so I opted for a Velux, the biggest I could get, I will have a window there if it don't work out. I have placed two pieces of wood on the floor, in between I will put a DIY hoist and when I take the window out it will help, it also avoids the window falling out of my hands when I am taking it out so a safety factor.

Part of the material comming today will be pieces to make a temporary cover, marine ply an so forth. If the weather turns nasty I can move the mount in and put the cover on in seconds where the window will take forever. When the observing session is finished I will put the temporary cover on till the next morning or when the weather turns. Hope you can understand that .

Jim

[Nibor]

An interesting thread!!

Take a look at these Velux Juliet Roof Space Balconies which form a walk out balcony with railings.!!

I came across them by accident when my wife and I checked out a new housing development in the area.

They may have observing potential but some thought may need to be given to observing towards and at the zenith - perhaps the window could be modified to swing right over and lay against the roof??

http://www.velux.co.uk/Private/Products/VELUX_Roof_Windows/Roof-Balcony_and_-Terrace

Good luck with the project!!

[The Sailor]

Thanks Nibor, before I started all this I had a long chat with the planning office as to what I could do without planning and what you see is what I can do. What I can't do I have any protrusions over 6" so a Juliet Balcony was out, and anyway was not really what I wanted .

The window I have explained above, it comes out and if waether changes a cover is put in place as a quick subsititute .

Jim