Are Home Observatory UK still in business ?

[SimonIRE]

This thread makes sad reading. HOUK built my observatory right at the end of 2019 and completed it the first week of January 2020. Gareth and Nathan were nothing but gentlemen and did a really excellent job. Electronic communications were definitely an obstacle for them though. I fully understand the frustrations expressed here as well as the concern about losses. I doubt there is anything shady going on - it sounds like they are simply having a very tough time. I hope things start to improve for them. 

[Graham Beamson]

I agree, I think they must be having a difficult time, as have many small companies during the covid pandemic. I'll just wait patiently and try not to hassle them. I've got a few concerns about the concrete base for my observatory (it's slightly concave so gathers water when it rains and the extra thick section where the pier bolts down is flush with the rest of the base, whereas I think HOUK might be expecting it to sit 3 inches above) which I need to discuss with Gareth before he begins fabrication.

[Keith Dutton]

Hello Graham/KY Cygni/Malcolm

Not sure if this is of any help?

We have finished the concrete plinth now as to Gareth's specifications. It is 24" x 24" x 29" deep, that includes the 3" above the flag level.

Gareth said he will start the erection again after the concrete has had time to set/age properley after 3 weeks, so hopefully he will arrive to finish it.

I am assuming he will be mounting the pier using substantial Rawl Bolts - he has not said otherwise?

All the best 

Keith

[Graham Beamson]

Hi Keith,

That's very impressive. It should be a nice base for your pier and observatory.

Tom, another of the HOUK customers waiting for an observatory, has suggested Ardex K301 as a self levelling concrete resurfacing and levelling compound to fill in my concave concrete base and prevent water gathering underneath the observatory. Nathan recommended it to him for his concrete base and it has worked well, so I'll look into it.

Regards, Graham.

[Keith Dutton]

Graham

At this time of speaking - Gareth has just called us out of the blue so to speak ( Saturday morning).

He asked if it would be OK to arrive tomorrow, Sunday, to complete the building!

And guess what - we said YES!

Quite exiting really!

Will keep you posted on what happens.

They seem to be getting back on track.

Also I have noticed that a guy named Chris Woodhouse, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, had one of their buildings installed July 2020.

He says it is one of the best investments he has ever made?

Chris does many YouTube videos on Astro Imaging, and uses a program called PIXINSIGHT, dedicated to Astronomical image processing, unlike Phototshop for instance.

For him to recommend HOUK, to me, this says a lot for HOUK.

All the best

Keith

 

 

[Tomatobro]

exciting stuff . Glad its working out for you.

[KY Cygni]

Good news Keith, that is reassuring.

[Graham Beamson]

Yes, very exciting Keith !

Regards, Graham.

[Keith Dutton]

Hi folks - just another update regarding HOUK.

Graham and his friend Harry arrived this morning at 9am after a 3 1/2 hour drive.

They worked all day without a break in really hot weather and as you can see from the pictures - what a job they have done!

Not quite finished yet, as the concrete plinth has to set much harder yet for the pier to be mounted. Also the out-riggers for the sliding roof, the guttering, the electric distribution board and the electric roof mechanism.

He will be installing soon.

I have to say without any shadow of a doubt - the workmanship, the construction and materials used are of the utmost finest quality.

I had an expensive wooden workshop/garden shed installed in my own garden recently, and it does not compare to the craftmanship and materials that Graham has done - period!

The entrance door is about 4" thick with hidden hinges, re-enforced wood on the lock side, etc etc etc!

With hindsight taken in mind, it was easy to complain etc - but I never judged anyway.

I am glad we made the decision to wait longer - and in my mind, one of the best decisions my friend Gerard and I have made.

And lastly on this bit of post - what a fine polite and actually, clever man, Graham is - a true Craftsman!

Not sure if HOUK or Graham and Co. look at or use this forum but I hope they do?

Hope people dont mind me keep posting - I know your observatory(s) will be built!

Regards

Keith

 

 

 

 

[JeremyS]

That looks really good @Keith Dutton 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
When do you anticipate first light?

[Neil27]

They are indeed a top company @Keith Dutton, I have had mine for 4 years now and it is a pleasure to use. Some things are worth waiting for, including these guys and their products.

Clear skies my friend 🔭👍💫

[CraigT82]

That does look like a top notch obsy... Great workmanship like you say. 

[Graham Beamson]

Wonderful, it looks really good !

Graham.

[malc-c]

Nice looking observatory you have there, very solid indeed.

As far as complaining, personally I think you have every right to... but then you gave them the benefit of the doubt, excepted what you were told were the reasons for the delay, and granted it's not been a smooth installation with several return visits which inconvenient to both parties, but at least you are now happier seeing the progress made and the response from HOUK.  How much of that was a result of you going public with your original concerns by posting this thread, and any subsequent posts form other HOUK customers or forum members we'll never know.  At least any other HOUK customers in similar position can see that the company is still trading, and still fulfilling orders, albeit with some delay which they are doing their best to address (working Sundays !!)

Keith, keep us updated with the observatory build. If HOUK do read this thread (and lets face it they know about it) then hopefully they can take on board some of the comments regarding customer care, but I would also like to thank them for responding to you and giving you a really nice functional building.  I agree the quality is very high, and with the additional metal work certainly takes this out of the converted shed category.    

Trust me, with all that automation you are having fitted, it takes imaging / observing to a new level of convenience.... you'll love it  

Edited June 13, 2021 by malc-c

[KY Cygni]

Great stuff that looks the part. What size is yours 7x7 or 8x8 ?

Excitement levels are building, I bought a very un-portable rig last year prior to a house move and it hasn't seen 1st light yet 

[Stuart1971]

Superb build, really solid and well built….and I am sure you will many enjoyable nights in there….

I had a quote from them six months ago, and would love to have gone ahead, but just could not stretch to the cost…☹️
so I made do with my home built one costing £450 all in, it’s just to house the mount / scope no warm room was needed….

and a picture of set up inside

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Stuart1971

[Keith Dutton]

It is a 7 x 7 Steve.

Hoping see first light in about 6 or 7 weeks when pier is fitted and we decide whether to mount the LX200 (on a mega wedge) or mount the EQ6 onto it.

We have a 90mm Ha Scope that we want to use a lot and 6" wide field Achromat. They both have Vixen dovetails that will fit onto the EQ6 fine.

We  are very reluctant to mount the 12" LX200, not one of the best scopes for imaging on an EQ mount,

 And f10 anyway?

We are thinking whether or not to try and sell the scopes we have and put it towards a good Apo Triplet about 5 or 6", but still keep the Ha Scope.

I agree Malcolm - A lot  automation is good but the best is not having to drag the whole set up outside each night, spend ages trying to align it, then have 3 hours if lucky, touring the Sky!

k

 

 

[Keith Dutton]

That is one fantastic looking set up you have there Stuart!

Looks like you have a lot of automation going on there and remote control?

What is your opinion on the mount that you have?

We were considering upgrading ours?

K

 

[Stuart1971]

15 minutes ago, Keith Dutton said:

That is one fantastic looking set up you have there Stuart!

Looks like you have a lot of automation going on there and remote control?

What is your opinion on the mount that you have?

We were considering upgrading ours?

K

 

Thanks very much…appreciated…👍🏼
its fully remote controlled wirelessly from in my conservatory just six feet away.

Its all run with the superb free Astroberry software from a little £50 raspberry PI on the mount, and then I VNC into that from indoors, all using Linux based PC

As for the mount, it’s a skywatcher EQ8 pro with 50kg payload, (not including CW), I bout it second hand and was in mint condition and the price was too good to miss, it works very well and is a beast of a mount, and works flawlessly

The scope are a Takahashi FSQ85 and the little Tak FS60cb, I have the Pegasus UPB V2 running all the power, dew and focus control…the pier is from Astro engineering and is a few years old, but again works very well.

The shed has a roof that opens up in two parts see video here…it works well for me..

https://youtu.be/6wH2FlGyobk

 

[Graham Beamson]

Very impressive video Stuart - I especially liked the soundtrack !

Regards, Graham.

[Stuart1971]

1 minute ago, Graham Beamson said:

Very impressive video Stuart - I especially liked the soundtrack !

Regards, Graham.

Thanks….appreciated…..👍🏼

[malc-c]

Stuart that is a neat solution for housing a remote imaging rig...  very nice, and extremely good quality for the money.  Love it

[malc-c]

Keith, I was just looking at the pictures again and I have a concern that you may want to discuss with the guys when the return.  The two sprung loaded bolts on the drop down section IMO should be on the inside not the outside.  Having them on the outside is IMO a security issue as its a simple matter for any yob to pull the bold and lower the section to gain access to the expensive kit inside, even if the door is locked and protected by a traditional magnetic shed lock.

Granted where our observatories are concerned the are not as secure as a conservatory or some other buildings, but we don't want to make it easy for opportunistic late night visitor.

Edited June 14, 2021 by malc-c

[Stuart1971]

11 minutes ago, malc-c said:

Stuart that is a neat solution for housing a remote imaging rig...  very nice, and extremely good quality for the money.  Love it

Thanks 👍🏼👍🏼 Appreciated

Yes, the shed is a 5’ square design and as it was being discontinued from B&Q it was reduced from £550 to £300…so with the rubber EDPM and a few other bits it came to £450 the total build, as I had most of the wood I needed from a previous job I had done here at home…

The felt that came with it was not that good hence using EDPM, so I sold that locally for £15

[Keith Dutton]

Malcolm

Well spotted!

I looked at other buildings they have made and some of them are built like this.

To have the spring bolts on the other side of the hatch door, would I assume,  having to make the hatch open inwards, because otherwise  releasing the bolts would mean the door dropping down and hiting the shed wall?

However there is probably an easier answer I suppose, is to have two locking bolts on the inside as well?

There is very little crime here, and maybe I should not have said that! - But it makes sense to make it secure.

The building is in my friend Gerrard's garden and he intends to alarm it and connect it to his internet/wireless security as well.

We have a rather expensive Double Etalon Ha scope that we intend using this coming few years, and once it is on the mount we dont want to continually remove it from the mount each night.

Our aim is to do a month or two Sun observing, (lots of activity starting on Sun at moment - looking forward to that!), then remove it and start our night time deep sky stuff, and then repeating.

I will mention to Gareth.

Thanks Malcolm.

Stuart

I have an older Rasberry Pi lying round some where - never used it, or done any coding.

I also have never used Linux.

Your setup makes good sense.

You have got me thinking now!

Graham

Hi Graham - have you managed to speak to Gareth?

I am going to speak to Gareth and ask him if he ever needs any help, and as long as he is within reasonable distance, then I have no problems volunteering some help to him.

Its just about managing your own time/constraints etc. as Gerard and I need to get this set up going at least for the winter and hopefully dark skies, well darker anyway! - we live in a bortle class 5, maybe 6 zone?

Not the very best atall, so will be experimenting with Narrow Band stuff. (Hubble Pallete Hello!)

All the best Graham, Please lets know how you get on?

k