New build started - a roll-off roof Keter shed

[FenlandPaul]

30 years ago, I got hooked on this astronomy game after my aunt gave me The Beginner's Guide to Astronomy by Brian Jones.  In that book, there were two pages that I loved - one that that showed different kinds of amateur observatory and another that gave outline plans for building your own roll off roof shed.  I have been looking forward to building my own observatory ever since then!

We've had the good fortune recently of being able to buy a parcel of land from a neighbour, which has, for the first time, opened up the possibility of making that 30-year dream a reality.  Inspired by @Glennbloke (see his fantastic AstroBloke YouTube channel), I have decided to modify a 6' x 8' Keter Factor Apex shed like this one.  Glenn's build comprised a 6' by 6' version, which has a slightly different apex design.  But I have opted for a slightly larger version as otherwise the space would be "dead space" anyway, and I'd like the option to store a decent sized dob in there too.

So far I've cleared the ground (doesn't look like much, but it was choc full of conifers, a large but diseased silver birch tree, and a lot of roots!) and laid a gravel base.  I've also concreted in the four support posts for the roll-off-roof structure (which shouldn't need to be especially heavy-duty as the plastic roof should be reasonably light).  Once the shed arrives (this evening!) I plan to think through the detail of how it will all work.  Glenn's videos have a lot of useful pointers but there may be some design differences between the 6'x8' and the 6'x6' that require a different approach in some areas.  I'm not the world's most competent DIYer, but I'll give things a go.

One important decision I've made so far is that I will not yet be building a pier.  I am banking on the floor structure being robust enough for unattended imaging and potentially visual.  Ultimately if / when I upgrade to a pier, or if the structure just isn't up to it, it's a fairly simple job to disassemble the shed, lift the base and retro-build one.  Simple, but probably hard work!

I may be a little different to other builds here in that I don't actually know what I'm going to be putting in the observatory once it's built!  12 months ago I sold my entire visual kit to build out my photography kit for nightscapes and widefield stuff, which is where my passion lies.  I have retained a little Altair Astro Starwave 70ED and have a Star Adventurer mount.  I'll likely look to buy a decent imaging mount (HEQ5-Pro or EQ6R-Pro) in the new year and start my "more serious" imaging journey from there.  Very much a "see how it goes" methodology.  This might seem odd, but there are other garden projects that are contingent on first completing this build, so I know I'll be using it for something and I don't want to pass up on the opportunity!

So this thread will simply document my build, problems and solutions etc.  I suspect if you want to learn how it should be done properly, look elsewhere.  But this will be my journey!

In the meantime, here are a few pics of the site and the aspect, which isn't too shabby.  The tree on the left would be around ESE and the house on the right is around NNW.  The clouds, I hope, aren't a permanent fixture.

 

[FenlandPaul]

Well, after a few months and several challenges, I’ve finally managed to get this (all but) completed.

I decided the easiest way to explain the build was via a video. Hope this helps someone!!

 

[M40]

Great video, very informative and helpful 👌 and on the flip side, if you need any help with your telescope decision making, please just ask, nothing better than helping people spend their money 😜

[FenlandPaul]

3 hours ago, M40 said:

Great video, very informative and helpful 👌 and on the flip side, if you need any help with your telescope decision making, please just ask, nothing better than helping people spend their money 😜

😂 that’s very kind - thank you. 😊

[Sinik]

Nice one Paul - watched your video with interest having recently built a Keter Factor 6x6 and now past the point of no return, having taken a jigsaw to the side walls at the weekend. Also inspired by Astrobloke Glenn (do Keter have an affiliate program?).

Like yourself, I wouldn’t describe myself as an expert DIYer. The Keter instructions make assembly of the shed straight forward enough, but from there  the best thing I found was to take one’s time to figure stuff out. My build’s not perfect, but is functional, and pleasingly withstood the mother of all thunderstorms that passed through Sydney this evening without any signs of water ingress. Next for me is to add some insulation - got up to mid 30’s this afternoon (not unheard of to reach 40c), so definitely want to take measures to reduce the temperature inside, before leaving gear in place. Definitely frustrating and yet a satisfying project. Look forward to seeing your progress from here. 

 

 

 

 

[FenlandPaul]

5 hours ago, Sinik said:

Nice one Paul - watched your video with interest having recently built a Keter Factor 6x6 and now past the point of no return, having taken a jigsaw to the side walls at the weekend. Also inspired by Astrobloke Glenn (do Keter have an affiliate program?).

Like yourself, I wouldn’t describe myself as an expert DIYer. The Keter instructions make assembly of the shed straight forward enough, but from there  the best thing I found was to take one’s time to figure stuff out. My build’s not perfect, but is functional, and pleasingly withstood the mother of all thunderstorms that passed through Sydney this evening without any signs of water ingress. Next for me is to add some insulation - got up to mid 30’s this afternoon (not unheard of to reach 40c), so definitely want to take measures to reduce the temperature inside, before leaving gear in place. Definitely frustrating and yet a satisfying project. Look forward to seeing your progress from here. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for the feedback.  Your build sounds interesting and it sounds like it's passed the weather-proofing test!  We've got 80mph winds coming through here tomorrow, so that'll be my first real test!  I expect to add insulation in due course too.

[Alan White]

Paul, what a great end or is that middle of a 30 year dream

A dream commonly shared by many

Nice build, I hope it stands up to this weeks storms ok

Thanks for the video, also interesting to see your face after just your SGL name in posts 

[FenlandPaul]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Paul, what a great end or is that middle of a 30 year dream

A dream commonly shared by many

Nice build, I hope it stands up to this weeks storms ok

Thanks for the video, also interesting to see your face after just your SGL name in posts 

Very kind, Alan. Thank you. Yep, I went out this evening to double check the hasps holding the roof were all attached properly. I’ve also tied the roof framework to the wall framework to hopefully add some extra rigidity. I certainly wasn’t expecting 85mph forecast gusts so early in its life!!

[Alan White]

9 minutes ago, FenlandPaul said:

I certainly wasn’t expecting 85mph forecast gusts so early in its life!!

Somehow neither were many of us,
then again,
Michael Fish says no wind is due tonight 😉

Fingers crossed for tonight and tomorrows test, better than a wind tunel.

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Alan White

[AstroNebulee]

On 13/02/2022 at 14:41, FenlandPaul said:

Well, after a few months and several challenges, I’ve finally managed to get this (all but) completed.

I decided the easiest way to explain the build was via a video. Hope this helps someone!!

 

Late to the party here Paul. 

Great video and really informative. Your build is impressive. Something I can only dream about as not having my own back garden. 

What an achievement in having your own observatory now. Wishing you all the best and clear skies with it 👍

Cheers 

Lee 

[FenlandPaul]

Thanks Lee - I feel very fortunate, and thank you for your kind comments. 👍

[FenlandPaul]

I prepared an update video now that I’ve been using this for a few months. Hope it helps anyone looking to build one of these!

 

[AstroNebulee]

Brilliant to see your observatory kitted out now Paul. It's a lovely scope and mount 👌. What camera are you using to image with? I'll look forward to seeing your images from your new observatory when conditions allow. Top work again 👍

Cheers 

Lee 

[FenlandPaul]

57 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Brilliant to see your observatory kitted out now Paul. It's a lovely scope and mount 👌. What camera are you using to image with? I'll look forward to seeing your images from your new observatory when conditions allow. Top work again 👍

Cheers 

Lee 

Thanks Lee, mate. I’m using a Canon 6D at the moment, to keep things simple (and cost down!), as that’s the camera I use for all my nightscape stuff. I have an Astro-modded version too. I’ve been struggling to get good stars so far, which I think might be a product of being unguided, but it’s still very early days.

I suspect I’ll start guiding before I upgrade camera, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be someone who has the patience to shoot mono and combine RGB etc. But maybe a cooler one shot colour camera at some point if I can justify the outlay.

Hope all’s well with you. ☺️

[AstroNebulee]

3 minutes ago, FenlandPaul said:

Thanks Lee, mate. I’m using a Canon 6D at the moment, to keep things simple (and cost down!), as that’s the camera I use for all my nightscape stuff. I have an Astro-modded version too. I’ve been struggling to get good stars so far, which I think might be a product of being unguided, but it’s still very early days.

I suspect I’ll start guiding before I upgrade camera, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be someone who has the patience to shoot mono and combine RGB etc. But maybe a cooler one shot colour camera at some point if I can justify the outlay.

Hope all’s well with you. ☺️

You will get some great images with your Canon 6D. As you know guiding will definitely help but I expect your eq 6 r  mount can go somewhat well with unguided subs (someone with more knowledge will be along shortly, I'm still baffooning my way with astrophotography) Guiding will definitely be the best but at least with your scope permanently set up now you aren't wasting time there and can experiment and trial run things much easier and for longer 😊

Your scope images will look as amazing as your nightscape ones do, so no worries there. 

I'm ok ty, take care and excited to see the images when you get them. 

 

Cheers 

Lee 

[M40]

Thanks for all the info 👍 I was rather pleased to hear you say that you had no challenges with condensation inside your build with the air gap at the top; I have something in mind and knowing that there would be a likely temperature build up, I was thinking along the lines of an airgap at the top and bottom for ventilation. 

14 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

I suspect I’ll start guiding before I upgrade camera, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be someone who has the patience to shoot mono and combine RGB etc.

With you on that, I am a few steps away yet but my plan is to have a go at platesolving then see if I actually need to guide.

All the best