OK.. I need an observatory..

[smudgeball]

It's on four rollers but I added some I guess you would call stabilisers inside (you can see one in the picture inside) just helps it run true as it does move a little as you open up. But just a typical roller

[powerlord]

I will clarify that I don't need to fit in mine - it's purely for imaging. So It just needs to be big/high enough for the mounts, and occasionally the OTAs if left one (though mostly I intend to bring those in the next day)

It will be ... unique... lets say. And As I said at start... I very much doubt anyone will want to copy it.. but I will share the 'build' pics. over today/tomorrow. IF I get my finger out I might get it finished this afternoon - looks imagable tonight.

[smudgeball]

2 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Oh and one more question, you're using the GT102 and 7x5 is enough room I guess? I was thinking about 10x6 for my GT81 but now I see this I could clearly get away with smaller. I don't need to put much else in mine but do you ever wish you'd gone bigger????

This season I've got a Megrez 72mm, so 102 is back in it's case. But with 102, PARK was horizontal to close roof. With 72mm it parks to normal position. I went with 7x5, could have fitted 8x6 but wanted minimum to retain some garden space down side. Oh and it's definately filling up with junk !! Must have a tidy up at some point.

[scotty38]

2 minutes ago, powerlord said:

I will clarify that I don't need to fit in mine - it's purely for imaging. So It just needs to be big/high enough for the mounts, and occasionally the OTAs if left one (though mostly I intend to bring those in the next day)

It will be ... unique... lets say. And As I said at start... I very much doubt anyone will want to copy it.. but I will share the 'build' pics. over today/tomorrow. IF I get my finger out I might get it finished this afternoon - looks imagable tonight.

Speedy Gonzales!

[powerlord]

23 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

100 quid! well now we need details, I think I could even get that past the boss at that price 🤣

Believe me when I say you would NOT get this part the boss. One of the (many) benefits of being single is that there is no one to tell me I 'don't need it', 'am being stupid',"am wastimg mytime'.

Saying that... the downside is that I spend a fortune on useless mince and ages building nonsense.

swings and roundabouts ?

🤪

stu

Edited February 4, 2022 by powerlord

[scotty38]

2 minutes ago, smudgeball said:

This season I've got a Megrez 72mm, so 102 is back in it's case. But with 102, PARK was horizontal to close roof. With 72mm it parks to normal position. I went with 7x5, could have fitted 8x6 but wanted minimum to retain some garden space down side. Oh and it's definately filling up with junk !! Must have a tidy up at some point.

Great thanks, I decided on a horizontal park just to give me a touch more height anyway.

[adyj1]

13 minutes ago, powerlord said:

I will clarify that I don't need to fit in mine - it's purely for imaging. So It just needs to be big/high enough for the mounts, and occasionally the OTAs if left one (though mostly I intend to bring those in the next day)

Well, you've only got to build what you need, and if you have the advantage of not getting it past domestic build control then you're on to a winner!  I particularly like the idea of 'if I get a shift on I'll be imaging from it tonight' - can't wait to see your unique take on it 🙂

 

[scotty38]

Just now, adyj1 said:

Well, you've only got to build what you need, and if you have the advantage of not getting it past domestic build control then you're on to a winner!  I particularly like the idea of 'if I get a shift on I'll be imaging from it tonight' - can't wait to see your unique take on it 🙂

 

I hope it's not the Emperor's New Observatory.... I don't want to be the one pointing 🙂

[Pixies]

I'm inspired! This is in our back garden:

The kids' old playhouse, now a rabbit house with attached run. It's only 4'x6', but the paving it stands upon is 4' x 8'

That conduit down the wall is 240v down to the shed. The wall and trees are towards the south and west - local light pollution means those aren't the best directions anyway.

Now.... we just need the rabbits to have a little accident!

 

PS. Apologies for the state of the grass. The rabbits and dog have seen to that!

[smudgeball]

7 minutes ago, Pixies said:

The wall and trees are towards the south and west - local light pollution means those aren't the best directions anyway.

It's a challenge (why my OSC has an Optolong L-Extreme fitted !)

[scotty38]

Always amazes me these pictures with lights etc and the results folk get. I am very lucky that my nearest neighbour is 1/2 mile away and yet I still look at my images and think "what the heck".....

[Shibby]

I absolutely love using my "shedservatory". Like you, I got sick of setting up and packing away every night - as well as having nowhere to properly store the kit. Now, I can start an imaging run within a few minutes - and most of that time is just waiting for the laptop to boot up!

I've also developed a new-found fondness of DIY and carpentry since building it.

Do it!

I deliberately tried to make it look shed-like as possible, so designed the roof to roll back over the warm room, rather than having extra supports sticking out in to the garden.

Here's my build thread:

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

I'm inspired! This is in our back garden:

The kids' old playhouse, now a rabbit house with attached run. It's only 4'x6', but the paving it stands upon is 4' x 8'

That conduit down the wall is 240v down to the shed. The wall and trees are towards the south and west - local light pollution means those aren't the best directions anyway.

Now.... we just need the rabbits to have a little accident!

 

PS. Apologies for the state of the grass. The rabbits and dog have seen to that!

You're halfway there..just eat the rabbits.

[Padraic M]

3 hours ago, Pixies said:

I'm inspired! This is in our back garden:

The kids' old playhouse, now a rabbit house with attached run. It's only 4'x6', but the paving it stands upon is 4' x 8'

That conduit down the wall is 240v down to the shed. The wall and trees are towards the south and west - local light pollution means those aren't the best directions anyway.

Now.... we just need the rabbits to have a little accident!

 

PS. Apologies for the state of the grass. The rabbits and dog have seen to that!

I think Canis Major already has his eye on it!

[powerlord]

4 hours ago, Shibby said:

I absolutely love using my "shedservatory". Like you, I got sick of setting up and packing away every night - as well as having nowhere to properly store the kit. Now, I can start an imaging run within a few minutes - and most of that time is just waiting for the laptop to boot up!

I've also developed a new-found fondness of DIY and carpentry since building it.

Do it!

I deliberately tried to make it look shed-like as possible, so designed the roof to roll back over the warm room, rather than having extra supports sticking out in to the garden.

Here's my build thread:

yer not in ipswich are you ? its just, the houses in the background look the same as mine.

[powerlord]

Right... don't laugh....

before viewing the pictures let me outline my aims and reasoning:

- I am not ready to commit to a permanent observatory yet for a fee reasons:

1. it would go on right side of garden half way up at the fence, and I'm not sure I want a big shed there.
2. with a 6 foot high fence, and a 6 foot+ high shed, I'd NEED big long piers to see over them. In the present position, I use the mounts on the tripods unextended and they work great. big piers would be a lot of work to install, etc.
3. I'd struggle to fit room for 3 mounts over on that side, whereas where i use just now I can easily.
4. Last year I fitted a round slab feature for astrophotography. It feels like that works well, BUT again, not really sure I want a permanent observatory there.

So aims:

- To cover the existing concrete circle so that I can leave all my mounts outside most of the time.
- High enough that I could occasionally leave OTAs, etc out there.e.g. if expect to image the next night also.
- Needs to be reasonably solid, waterproof.
- Can leave all power cables, etc all connected rather than fiddling with 100 connections every night
- Be temporary and cause no damage/changes to garden.
- Be resilient enough that it should last many years if I decide not to go further

So lets get the elephant in the room fed and watered - I've built it out of plastic sheeting. Specifically - Correx. This is basically cardboard, made out of plastic. 3mm thick roll, 1m high. It's tough, waterproof, doesn't deteriorate in sunlight/UV, and cheap.

And the elephant is saying - SECURITY SECURITY !!

Well - firstly I don't think any shed is secure. A pair of bolt cutters and you are in. 10 seconds. I don't think mine is any9 worse tbh. AND, I will be fitting wireless PIR siren alarm, AND a motion sensitive camera alarm (BLINK) which notifies my phone if there is any movement inside the observatory when armed. I feel comfortable that it is as secure/insecure as any other outside shed frankly. Plus I don't got out much. If I was going away for a week, etc - I'd take the stuff in.

Right, with that out the way let me explain what I've built:

The bottom section is the 1m correx as a cylinder around the slabs. the slaps sit level with the grass. I have cut a 1in deep channel around the slabs, and the correct fits in that groove.

Around the correx, and supporting the weight of the obsy is ABS plastic 'slab/grass edging'. It's 'L' shaped plastic. This would usually be used along a path of slabs to seperate the slabs from the grass. It is very tough and quite rigid. By glueing this around the bottom edge of the correx, about 1in up, it sits on the slabs all the way around, taking all the weight, AND ensuring that no rain, etc can get into the obsy, since the correx is now lower than the top of the slabs.

The edging is held in place all the way around with concrete bricks.

At the top of this bottom layer, is another rings of the L edging, but facing up. This provides extra rigidity, but also provides the 'shelf' which the top part/roof sits on.

The top part is the same idea, but on the bottom, the L edging is 30cm up from its bottom. This provides a nice amount of overlap for rigidity.

The top is carved into a sinusoidal shape. When rolled into a cylinder that then provides a flat top of the 'wall', with the front 65cm higher than the back. The front is north facing. The idea here, is that it allows room for the mounts to be parked in home position with the OTAs on and still fit with the roof on.

Correx is made from Polypropylene. Which is a great tough material, but tricky to glue. However there is a specialist technical type of hot glue stick that works well. I got loads of these. Everything is glued together with this:

- the L edging is glued to the correx
- the correx joints are glued
- the roof sheets are glued

The roof is joined to the top sinusoidal cylinder with 2" clipped off bits of L edging - one over 6" or so all the way around. And then sealed inside and out with T-REX waterproof duct tape.

The idea is that the top part+roof sits on the bottom part. And remains there because it is supported all the way round with opposing rings of L edging, plus the 30cm lip. It can therefore, be simply lifted off, from the back to the front.

At least that is the plan. Like a lot of stupid stuff I design and built I won't know if it works till I've built it.

What remains to be done is the internal strengthening. This is going to be via fibreglass poles, staked into the grass around the slabs and attached to the correx with glue all the way around, PLUS
thinner fibreglass rods, which will be glued and taped primarily on the underside of the roof, stopping it sagging, and giving it far more rigidity. Once that has been done, the theory is that it SHOULD be possible to lift/pry the roof off and on. It may be the easiest way to do this will be to lift it from the centre from underneath. Time will tell.

Entry/Exit is made through a flap at the back in the correx. This has an internal flange all the way round made by another part of correx glued to it, larger on each side by 1". This seals it when the door is closed, keeping it rain proof. It is latched with magnets all the way around.

I can get in and out there reasonably easily.

Mounts can be dragged through there, or lifted in with the roof off.

Inside I have power, and will be installing lighting, PIR alarm, PIR camera, wifi network switch.

Right now, tonight it's empty and being tested. The forecast tonight is for 50mph winds and tons of rain. If it survives that with no fibreglass strengthening then I know it's up to the job.

Getting a reliable way of removing and replacing the roof if definitely the unknown at present, but I feel reasonably positive that once sufficiently made rigid it should lift off ok.

So - there you go - one observatory, built in 2 days.. out of plastic.

Now I am prepared for the laughing - wire in.

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by powerlord

[scotty38]

Certainly different so well done! If you're not fetching it off your neighbour's lawn tomorrow morning I'd call it a result....

[adyj1]

Hats off to you - an excellent piece of lateral thinking. I don't quite understand what is keeping the 'lid' on, but know whatever you've done has a good chance of working.

Fingers crossed for tonight. 

If it does let go in 50mph winds, rather than the next-door's garden I think you'll need to check your local facebook page to find out where it went... 😉 1

Ady

[powerlord]

lid is like this cross section with bottom:

 

[ShrewView]

Very Ingenious. When you started this thread and said you had a novel idea costing less than £100 i imagined you'd bought a caravan from a scrap yard and cut a hole in the floor and roof for the pier to run through but this looks pretty good. Just hoping it stands up to the windy weather this weekend; we once had a polycarbonate 8x6 greenhouse blown across the garden! Let us know how it goes.

[AstroNebulee]

I'm impressed, I really like it Stu. When the rods are in the ground it stands a good chance. Really like your ingenuity in the obsy construction. Good luck and look forward to first light with it kitted out 👍

[powerlord]

Well, it was 50mph winds all night and heavy rain. I did check on it a few times through the window, but come morning - all is well, and it's still there, undamaged, solid and dry inside 🙂

[MikeP]

I'd have bet against that roof staying on in strong winds.  Hats off to you for coming up with that solution - I love it.

By the way, your kitchen is a lot tidier than mine would be if I was single.

Mike

[scotty38]

1 hour ago, powerlord said:

Well, it was 50mph winds all night and heavy rain. I did check on it a few times through the window, but come morning - all is well, and it's still there, undamaged, solid and dry inside 🙂

Brilliant, as I said a result nice one!

[tomato]

Nice one, pleased it passed the storm test which is where I thought it would be vulnerable. I take your point about security, I wouldn’t leave my kit in the observatory if I was away for any length of time.

It also doesn’t scream “Astro kit inside”, it looks more like an emergency water storage tank to irrigate your lawn.