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Rough and ready observatory build Quatermass

Quatermass

By Quatermass
in DIY Observatories

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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I have decided to rip apart my old garden shed and turn it into an observatory. Its going to be rough and its going to be possibly the worst bit of DIY you have seen but who cares I dont want to freeze again this winter so need must.

This is the shed that is going to be taken apart.

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Its a very old shed with many rotten parts but I am sure I can do something with it..

Ok next stage was to dismantle it again and get ready to move it. The spiders where HUGE!

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Ok I am whacked out now.. and its starting to rain a bit so going to leave it for today and next stage will be moving the base and putting that in the right position. My chickens are loving all the bugs from lifting the base up.

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Paul M

Paul M

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Nice!

I like "rough and ready" :) I'm just not so ready these days!

Your project reminds me of one of my boring stories...

Back at school I got a pal of mine interested in astronomy. He had no scope and no idea but his gran did have an old shed in her garden.

We set about converting it into an observatory with her consent. Actually, she didn't have a clue what it involved.

We employed all the right tools and best practice (not!) to make a 4ft wide hole in the roof. This is where the dome was going to sit....apparently.

After 2 days of graft and funny looks from the neighbours we'd chewed a hole in the roof of the shed, broke all the tools at our disposal, gashed heads and fingers and abandoned it.

My mate lost interest in astronomy the very next week.

Just as well because the dome was just pure fantasy.

Hope your shed conversion goes better! :)

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Thank you very much for the comments and encouragement everyone. :smiley: I could not resist going back out again after lunch and became an observatory obsessed nutter! :blob8:

I removed all the gravel from the base and carted it over to the new area I then positioned the base and thought, oh what the heck lets keep going. With my enthusiasm taking over, put the sides up and then cut the roof to bits and repositioned it all. I now have it all in place the next job will be to build a cover for the area above the telescope and put some roofing felt over the seating comfy area. Beer fridge and desk area of course as standard.

It was dark by the time I had worn my self out so going to post some more pictures tomorrow to show the progress that was made in one day. Phew I am zonked :coffee: but getting very excited at the prospects of having a fully functioning observatory of my very own. :grin:

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Stargazer33

Stargazer33

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People can tell you as much as they like that you need an observatory, but until you actually admit it to yourself, you won't do anything about it. Just admitting that you need an observatory is half the problem solved! :grin:

Good luck with the build and don't be too hard on those spiders. They keep the nasty flying things down! :confused5:

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Lol yes they were rather horrible I picked up one side of the shed and started heaving it across the garden when a rather nasty black and hairy variety decided to park itself on the back of my hand, I could not drop the side of the shed as it had glass in the windows so was franticly blowing on it to get it off my hand :eek: phroowwwaaaa horrible.

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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People can tell you as much as they like that you need an observatory, but until you actually admit it to yourself, you won't do anything about it. Just admitting that you need an observatory is half the problem solved! :grin:

Good luck with the build and don't be too hard on those spiders. They keep the nasty flying things down! :confused5:

I quite like spiders and think they are rather amazing creatures but can't stand having one me, noooo way.

But they have all been brushed away now and tomorrow I will be giving it all a good coating of wood preservative and some major fittings.

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Ok more pics showing the progress made in two days.

First pic is the shed in its new position you can see where it was moved from in the far right corner of my garden behind the chicken house. After taking it to bits I had to shovel all the gravel under the base in a wheel barrow and shift it over to the new area. Base went on then the sides and a make shift roof just to keep the rain out. Its still raining so wont be able to sort the roof out till it stops.

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Next picture shows the position of the shed/observatory its giving me a nice view of the east south and west region of the sky. The back of my garden is just endless fields and most of my imaging is done in the area directly above those trees at the back.

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Next picture shows the inside of the observatory shed conversion this is looking up where the telescope will be, I am going to have a simple frame covering the 5ft by 6ft areas that the telescope will be in and this will be easy to lift off ready to do my imaging and observing.

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Next picture shows you how it looks from the front very rough but its getting there..

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And a final picture of the whole thing from the front. The door area will be sectioned off to become my sitting area and the next section will house my skywatcher 200p with the lift off roof.

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Told you it was rough and ready :grin: but better then nothing and cheap as chips. Now just waiting for the rain to go away and then I can get on with the repairs to the roof and rotten boards. After that is done I am going to fit out the seating area and move everything in. Should have done this when the weather was nice but better late then never I guess..

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tich

tich

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Good luck with the build Mark I've thought about one for myself but the LP is terrible here plus there's to many obstacles like trees & other buildings, my garden has a shared access pathway too so any Tom [removed word] or Harry an walk through so I'd be worried to death that someone would be pilfering my kit.

Guess I'll just have to live with freezing off my extremities!! :p

Love the thread :grin:

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Quatermass

Quatermass

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Thank you Chris rich and Gina yes seeing Chrises lovely observatory made my mind up. This shed is a poor old thing but if it gets me through this winter then it will have been worth it. I believe in using what I have got so rough and ready but better then Being out there in my fishing bivvy again just need some dry weather:D

cloud cloud go away come again another day

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