My Balcony Micro Observatory

[astrovirus]

So, I think it's time to open an observatory topic on the planning and build of my balcony observatory, so I can finally leave my gear setup and also have much beter views of the sky from east/south/west and missing only the northern skies, which are also the worst as that's where most of the city is situated with its accompanying light polution. I have made a 3D sketch in Google Sketchup outlining how my equipment will be sheltered. It will be a very minimalistic observatory, with the only goal to shelter my stuff from weather when it's not clear. My warm room will be inside the house, although I am considering including the control PC into the structure. One of the problems is that I can't fix my pier into the balcony deck, as it is covered with bitumen roofing, and I don't want to risk any leakage issues along the road. So that's way I have opted to secure the pier into the side wall of the balcony in a similar way as 2 Spanish astrophotographers have done here and here. The structure will be 110 cm x 50 cm and something like 165 cm tall. Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome as ther is a lot of expertise around here.

[Carbon]

I like the mounting methods. Brilliant. I would probably do the same if I were in your situation.....and probably way less vibration inducing compared to a simple heavy tripod on the deck.

[laser_jock99]

Looks like an interesting project for your situation. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[Steve Ward]

Looks good ...

I'd be very concerned about copying the first guys set-up , all that wonderful looking engineering totally undone by the array of 'flimsy' studding , it's far too long and far too small to prevent twisting on a scale large enough to ruin photography in my opinion.

The second set-up looks better in as much as the studding is much bigger but it's still too long I feel , one only needs enough free play to adjust minutely the level of the top plate , and this in itself is unnecessary with a GEM anyway ...

It would also be a good idea to fix the pier to the wall at a low position as well so as to eliminate any tendency for things to try and rotate around the top fixing point as the foot of the pier will not be fixed to the decking and could possibly move when everything is loaded .

[astrovirus]

Thanks everyone for the comments, I'll keep you posted in this topic, although progress may be a little slow, as I am in the planning stages and also have to aqcuire premissions from the owners commitee of the appartment complex our house is situated in (but this should not be a problem, as I already posted a request last year to the board and they all agreed that it would not be expected to cause any problems). I am planning to keep studding as short as possible, to get as much stability as I can from this structure. I will contact a local metal worker in the next week or so, to discuss the final design of the pier and keep an extra fixing point below the current ones in the design in mind to maximize stability.

[astrovirus]

So a little update on this project. Next week I'll receive a nice pier (see photo) that I'll have modified to be secured the the side wall of the balcony. Now I have to look into a pier adapter for my NEQ6. Now I have seen that some of you use brake disks for a Nissan Micra or VW Golf 97 as they seem to be a near perfect fit for my mount. Now my question with regard to these break disks is, do I have to order them for a specific type/model Micra/Golf or are they all the same size?

[Toymaster]

Interesting.....

Keep us posted Tim.

Ade

[ollypenrice]

A bit off topic but why do mount makers insist on tightening their mounts down onto adapters from below? This means we have to have these darned threaded bar extensions. Only one of my mounts, the Mesu, tightens from on top. There is absolutely no need to level a GEM as Steve has already pointed out.

I think your idea is good. I have a couple of roll-off sentry box designs and this is, I think, the smallest possible cover and very effective. There are at least two other balcony imagers around with seriously serious kit in play, what is more!

Olly

[happy-kat]

Is there any weight limitations for your balcony?

I bet it becomes a very relaxing space

[astrovirus]

You're absolutely right Olly, I have questioned myself many times why these mounts need to be tightened from the bottom. At the moment I am testing on the spot where the observatory is planned to see if there are any issues that hadn't come to mind, but everything looks OK, althought the moving space for the OTA is spot on, so a future upgrade would need to be an RC and not a bigger newt.

With regard to the weight limitations, the balcony should be constructed to be able to cope with 250 kg/m2 and the structure will stand on 1,80 m2, so that adds up to a maximal weight of 450 kg. So far the steel frame, pier and my equipment will add up to around 150 kg, which gives more than enough room for the remaining structure. Space isn't an issue (well for free movement of the equipmentit is off course), as we only use the balcony for drying the laundry on Sunny days, and I will be operating the observatory from inside the house.

[astrovirus]

Just a quick update with some pictures of a small test to establish if everything will fit as planned and how polar aligning with Alignmaster works out. This will also give an idea on what scale it will all be situated on my balcony. Also included is the test shot of M95&96, exposed for 6 hrs 40 min in 10 min subs. There was a lot of high clouds on those 2 nights, so the color version is giving me a headache to get right, so for now just the greyscale version I use as synthetic L in my DSLR-LRGB method.

[C7tsj]

Very nice setup and great picture. Not sure about your red watering can though.....?

Mark

[astrovirus]

So, the owners council has now also given the green light for the observatory build. The time has come to start building very soon now.

[astrovirus]

So, just another small update on the project. A co-worker from my good friend's dad has agreed to weld me an aluminium frame that will serve as the foundation of the observatory. It will hold the pier, which will also be fixed to the wall for stability, and will also support the observatory structure. In return, the good man and his 2 sons will be invited to come over for a night of stargazing when the observatory is finished. In addition, my pier adaptor, based on a salvaged used break disk from my local garage, will be ready next week, after a metal worker from a local agricultural enginering firm will have the center hole enlarged from 59 to 66 mm to fit the NEQ6 head. All is starting come together now, so it won't be long before I can start building and provide updates along with pictures. First job will be to clear and clean to balcony and remove the tiles where the observatory will be build. Maybe next weekend if weather permits.

[astrovirus]

So with nice sunny weather, I decided to clean up the balcony today. Removed al the tiles and cleaned the rooving of the entire balcony. The tiles where LOMO is to be situated have been left out so the aluminium frame that is gonna be welded up for me over the comming weeks can be placed and after that the pier mounted. After that construction of the micro observatory can begin.

So shots of the situation as it is now.

First the cleaned side of the balcony with the tiles back in place. Also the removed tiles from the LOMO side are stored there for the time being.

The LOMO side with the tiles removed. Still needs a little cleaning, but the dirt was a little wet, although I removed it this evening.

Everything is ready for placing the support frame in the coming weeks. Three rows of tiles will be put back in their place as the stucture will stop at the support beam of the glass balcony side.

[Gonzo]

Good progress, do you know when you'll get it finished?

[astrovirus]

No hard time plans on construction, but I expect to finish before the summer holidays. I'm waiting on welding of an aluminium frame and after that my pier needs to be modified for anchoring to the side wall of the balcony. After that things should speed up as I can do most of it myself, weather permitting off-course.

[astrovirus]

Some more progress today. I received the adapted used brake disk back from the agricultural enginering firm yesterday and it's now a perfect fit to the NEQ6 pedestral. Only needs some Hamerite, AZ adustment pin and mounting holes, but another part nearly finished and for only 10 euros. And some photos to illustrate.

Adapted brake disk with central hole enlarged from 59 to 66 mm.

NEQ6 pedestral fits perfectly.

Overview of the mount on the adapter.

[Nibor]

A very interesting project - as a "balcony" observer I shall look forward to following your progress!!

[astrovirus]

And another small bit of progress to report today. This morning I visited a local metal company to buy me the Aluminium  for the frame which will be the base of the observatory and also hold the pier (which will also be fixed to the side well for stability as well). The frame will be made from 1,50 m and 1,20 m sides (60x40x3 mm) and will have 2 support beams along the long side at 1/3 and 2/3 of the frame made up of 80x40x3 mm beams, which will also be fabricated into a mounting place for the pier. The beams will be of to the helpfull welder later this week.

[astrovirus]

Two more images showing how the frame will be placed when welded together.

[Gonzo]

Progress

Do you know what the overall weight will be of the all structure + scope and accessories ?

[astrovirus]

The pier is 50 kg, but the mounting gear for the side wall needs to be added, which I estimate at some 15-20 kg, and mount + equipment will add another 50 kg. The original steel frame that would hold everything, was estimated at 50 kg, but this aluminium will cut a lot on that weight. So without the wooden shelter I guess to be around 150 kg, and I hope the shelter will be somewhere between 50-100 kg, making the total weight somewhere around 250 kg. According to building regulations a balcony should be able to cope with 225 kg/m2, so that ends up with about 480 kg on the space that the frame will be occupying. So there should be more than enough safety room included from the weight point of view, especially considering that the specified weight limit does not include an extra 1.6x safety factor that constructors add, which would mean that it should be able to cope with some 750 kg.

Should the balcony be constructed to lower specifications that are in use for concrete ceilings/floors, it should cope with 175 kg/m2, which adds up to 375 kg (and 600 kg with the added 1.6x safety factor) on the space used, so I should still be OK with that as well.

[Gonzo]

thanks, as you might know I'm also building an observatory on a balcony and weight is/could be an issue.

[astrovirus]

I have indeed seen and and are following your build with great interrest. Especially since your remote control adds some aditional challenges. As mine will be on my own balcony, I will offcourse have the oppertunity to do my trouble shooting on site.