Observatory from a Shipping Container?

[Alan White]

Has anyone on here built a home observatory from a shipping container at all?

I know wooden shed and metal sheds converted have been done.

Just thinking out aloud about shipping containers,
I work next to a container yard and look at them far too often wondering how easy a conversion would be?

Lots of folks here build an observatory and then move etc. 
If its a containerised one, then it could shift with you.

Your thoughts please.

[ollypenrice]

Many UK amateurs have only the roof rolling off because their horizons are not useful due to obstructions and light pollution. If this is the case for you then why not, if the containers are about the right size? (Are they not a bit big??)

In our case we want to image down almost to the horizon so we have both the upper sides and the roof rolling off. I don't think containers would lend themselves to this construction.

Olly

[nightfisher]

I dont think this would be a very good idea, i guess you are looking at 10ft container, being metal condensation would be a big issue, it would need craning into place and cutting and working with it would be trouble, better to build from wood and weather proof it

[Alan White]

37 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Being metal condensation would be a big issue

It might, but many have built observatories from metal sheds, so it may not be much of a problem.

38 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

It would need craning into place

Indeed it would, could be craned back out again to reloacte rather than leave or demolish.
Is this perhaps a double edged answer.

Jules, thanks for the above points you raise, food for thought.
 

[saac]

I think the main thing to consider is would there be any advantage over a more traditional approach.  First consider the initial purchase, then cost of craning in.  I'm a bit pressed at the moment to see any major advantage and a real big disadvantage when attempting to relocate or dispose of it. Aesthetics may also be a concern if sited in a residential location (garden etc).  Now if it were to be used on  a remote unmanned site then security would be one advantage perhaps.

Jim

 

[JonC]

I had a friend that had a 40ft sea freight container as his shed. He worked as a crane operator at the time so lifted it over his house ( midd terrace), then cut it up and hauled it up the garden. The base was the heaviest bit, massively reinforced. Once it was in place he put it back together, then insulated and boarded it out. He was ex REME so was very handy! Probably the best shed I have ever seen, very warm once insulated and heating installed. Also worth noting that they can be made pretty secure.

[ollypenrice]

Simply bonding insulation board onto the inside using contact adhesive (or whatever) will nail condesation completely.

Olly

[ampleamp]

And i thought i was alone in thinking about containers. Our neighbouring business is using multiple containers coming straight from Liverpool docks and bolting them together to make cheap shed space, in fact we are having one ourselves mostly for the secure storage aspect. This got me thinking about my own shed/obs at home and just how secure the contents might be especially as i want to relocate the scopes into a field as my own local/remote observatory. All the containers i am seeing come ready sprayed internally as they have been used to transport televisions, presumably from China,  so no condensation issues at all. A 10' container would be ideal size and could manage two piers, but there is the pier height to consider as the container walls are around 8' high. The big problem is what to do with the roof and making it roll off, but whilst maintaining security and weather proofing.

I am all ears if you have a solution to the roof as I do think a container could suit my needs very well with the big advantage that i could site my kit to minimise light pollution but still have it secure as it would no longer be under my nose in the garden  

Regards moving home, I don't see this as a problem unless i am booted out(!) which hopefully is not likely at the moment, but I would take it with me, or sell it as a ready-made obs.

[Magnus_e]

Hi Alan. I'm not sure how your skill set in working with metal is, but mine is none!

To be honest it does depend a lot on size, etc. I f you have good drawings then it almost sounds cheaper to rebuild the structure, than to move a large shipping container if you were to move? I know I have kept my drawings with all measurements, so if I where to move location I could order the timber pre cut at what I would suspect will be a lower price than to hire a crane operator and a truck to relocate a container. It would result in some more work, but I don't relocate so often that it's a big / likely issue.

I'm sure it could be done, but not 100% sure how much there is to gain?

Good luck on your research / desition, Magnus.

[ollypenrice]

If running remotely with an automated weather system the big decision in pier height is whether or not roof-scope collision will be possible or not. You can make a system in which the scopes have to park before the roof shuts or one in which it can shut with all scopes in any position. In my opinion it is pure madness to consider a system in which collision is possible at all. One day it will happen.

This has a considerable impact on pier height and/or whether the roof and upper sides or just the roof roll off.

I think a rolling roof can be pretty secure when shut but, obviously, not when open. You could have heavy steel horizontal bars (like bolts) on the roof rolling into heavy steel hoops or tubes on the walls in the shut position. You need something like that for anti-lift anyway.

Olly

[Uranium235]

Not sure its a good idea, a shipping container would get incredibly hot during the summer daytime (not good for your equipment - and deadly for you), and at night it would never cool down enough to elimiate thermals. Think about it.... its a massive lump of metal thats just going to soak up and store the heat.

[Alan White]

On 2/18/2017 at 14:07, Uranium235 said:

Think about it.... its a massive lump of metal thats just going to soak up and store the heat.

Interesting point.

What about the metal shed observatories folks have,
are they a heat sink as well?

Micahel Morris, what are your thoughts on this?

[Uranium235]

The difference would be in the amount of metal used. A shed obsy would use a lot less (and thinner) steel and so cool off a lot quicker, a 20' shipping container is about 2 1/2 tons of steel.

[Alan White]

Fully agree about the volumes od steel and the heat sink effect.
But out of interest, why are some of the smaller Las Palmas observatories in steel shipping containers?

[Uranium235]

You can probably guess it cools off quite quickly up there, and a nice breeze to help take away some of that heat. Perhaps that (and logistical restrictions) might explain the use of containers (which may be of a special design).

[ollypenrice]

I hadn't realized they were made of so much steel. It probably would be an issue. 

Olly

[Alan White]

Thanks guys, much what my own thoughts were really.

I just wanted a free running input to see what got said to be honest.

The other thing is they are quite expensive in good condition as well.

 

I can see why other structures are better and in reality better value.