From Micro Obsy to Dual Pier Observatory - via Hard Work, RSI, Back Ache & Melting Credit Card!

[ArmyAirForce]

I haven't done anything regarding the light, or on the observatory over the last few days. Since Friday, we've been away at a World War 2 event at Stannington village in Northumberland for the weekend, with my 1944 Dodge truck. I need to compose an email today.

[ArmyAirForce]

I had an email back this morning and the council are going to try better shielding and also reduce the angle of the lamp to 0 degrees. Currently the light is angled towards the road, exposing more of the underside of the lamp towards my property. Fingers crossed that this makes a difference. The lady at the council who has been emailing me has been most helpful so far and said they will look into other measures if these don't improve the situation. So far, five stars for Durham Council for effort in resolving this.

[Alan White]

3 minutes ago, ArmyAirForce said:

I had an email back this morning and the council are going to try better shielding and also reduce the angle of the lamp to 0 degrees. Currently the light is angled towards the road, exposing more of the underside of the lamp towards my property. Fingers crossed that this makes a difference. The lady at the council who has been emailing me has been most helpful so far and said they will look into other measures if these don't improve the situation. So far, five stars for Durham Council for effort in resolving this.

Council folks can often pull out the stops and be most helpful, it's how you ask and how well you make the issue understandable.
10/10 to Durham Council.

[Swoop1]

Well done to the council for stepping up and trying to sort things out for you. Good luck!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Genuinely impressed with their response.  Goes to show a bit of courtesy and professionalism goes a very long way indeed - in both directions.

[ArmyAirForce]

June 21st -

It's been a slower week on the build front. I was recovering from the trip away on Monday and got back to building on Tuesday. The other end roof wall was completed, though neither have rollers fitted yet.

June 22nd - With the smaller bits out of the way, the long rear wall was cut for the top rail and joined together.

Edited June 24, 2022 by ArmyAirForce

[ArmyAirForce]

On Wednesday and Thursday, I was struck down with a cold. I thought it was hay fever to start with; but no. I don't know, for two and a half years I've dodged covid successfully, even though my daughter brought it home, but now I can't fight off a normal cold!! I took a covid test which came up clear, so it really is just an annoying bog standard, snotty, sneezy cold.

The council engineer was back out on the 22nd and turned the small shield around, closing up the gap between it and the front shield. It looked better and there has been another marginal improvement, but the piercing white light is still insufficiently shielded to block it completely. I don't know whether to keep pushing on this?

I saw the engineer while he was working and went to chat with him. Unfortunately, the light design was already set at 0 degrees and can't be tilted further towards the horizontal ( which is probably all it really needs ). The angle of the bracket is dictating the tilt and that isn't adjustable. Depressingly, when I was chatting to him, he said I was unusual and that most people were complaining that LEDs weren't bright enough!! The pictures show the unshielded light on the 9th, poor shielding on the 16th, the comparison between the moved side shield and the most recent picture on the 23rd. All the night shots were around midnight with 30 second, f14, ISO100 exposures. Each RAW image was given the same processing to better represent reality.

June 24th - This morning, I still have cold, but late morning, dragged myself to the workshop to get the top rail attached to the rear wall. I was only in the workshop about half an hour or so, but came out completely wrecked and dripping with sweat. Something tells me I'm not well yet!

[AstroNebulee]

9 minutes ago, ArmyAirForce said:

On Wednesday and Thursday, I was struck down with a cold. I thought it was hay fever to start with; but no. I don't know, for two and a half years I've dodged covid successfully, even though my daughter brought it home, but now I can't fight off a normal cold!! I took a covid test which came up clear, so it really is just an annoying bog standard, snotty, sneezy cold.

The council engineer was back out on the 22nd and turned the small shield around, closing up the gap between it and the front shield. It looked better and there has been another marginal improvement, but the piercing white light is still insufficiently shielded to block it completely. I don't know whether to keep pushing on this?

I saw the engineer while he was working and went to chat with him. Unfortunately, the light design was already set at 0 degrees and can't be tilted further towards the horizontal ( which is probably all it really needs ). The angle of the bracket is dictating the tilt and that isn't adjustable. Depressingly, when I was chatting to him, he said I was unusual and that most people were complaining that LEDs weren't bright enough!! The pictures show the unshielded light on the 9th, poor shielding on the 16th, the comparison between the moved side shield and the most recent picture on the 23rd. All the night shots were around midnight with 30 second, f14, ISO100 exposures. Each RAW image was given the same processing to better represent reality.

June 24th - This morning, I still have cold, but late morning, dragged myself to the workshop to get the top rail attached to the rear wall. I was only in the workshop about half an hour or so, but came out completely wrecked and dripping with sweat. Something tells me I'm not well yet!

Get well soon 👍

[Swoop1]

Good to see more progress Stephen. Be careful you don't overdo it whilst not 100%.

Re the street light, it looks like the council have done everything they can, which is a pain for you.

[malc-c]

Just pop out one night with a ladder and stick a bit of card around the light so it's less of a problem    I'm sure no one will notice

Hope you get over your cold soon.  I too am suffering, thought hay fever, but anti-histamine had no effect, CV test was clear so just a nasty summer code.  I'm sure we can wait until you are back up and firing on all cylinders  

Edited June 24, 2022 by malc-c

[ArmyAirForce]

Another weekend away, still got cold, but made a little progress anyway. This morning, the rear wall had the top edge planed down to the proper height. The top rail timber had either warped or had been machined badly, leaving the cross section a parallelogram shape. As a result, I attached the timber slightly proud of the needed height and planed it. The panel was then laid flat and all the nail and screw holes were filled and left to dry. The rest of the day was spent gardening.

On the light pollution front, I had planned to write back to the lady at the council this morning, to send her the latest pictures. When I turned my laptop on this morning, I got a mail in from her, saying the engineer had been out and had it helped? So I wrote straight back with three different views around the property, each showing four pictures of the improvements and woes and said that I'd had a chat with the engineer when he came out.

Overall, the general light levels have fallen, but due to the angle of the lamp, the piercing LED array can still be seen directly. She wrote back later in the day to say they were sending someone out to inspect the light to see what could be done, as several other lights in the county haven't been installed straight, allowing stray light to spill beyond the roads they are meant to illuminate. So now I'm waiting to hear back from this site visit to see what other steps can be taken.

[ArmyAirForce]

June 29th - The council were back out today, having another fiddle with the light. I spotted the vans mid afternoon. The lamp head has now been tilted down to what looks approximtely horizontal. Hopefully this tilt will minimise or eliminate the direct view of the LED array and so cut down or prevent the piercing glow coming directly from the light. Overall, the general light ingress into the garden has dropped significantly. Unfortunately, I don't have any good comparison pictures of the garden from before the LEDs were fitted with the same exposures as I have been using. I do however have a 2 second widefield shot over the garage. I may try and recreate those settings tonight and see how it compares to the December widefield image. I'll also take some comparisons with the more recent 30 sec, f14, ISO100 settings. More news after midnight!

[M40]

Hope it's worked 🤞 good luck with the weather, it's been throwing it down on and off all day here.

[ArmyAirForce]

June 30th - I went outside just after 11pm yesterday to check the illumination of the road with the new lamp orientation. The speed chicane was still well illuminated, so no safety issue there. I sent the council that picture this morning, as they only fit lights in daylight and never know if they really are correctly illuminating the area.

There was still quite a bit of daylight as it was partially cloudy, so I waited until near midnight to take some comparison pictures around the garden. By that time, it had clouded over. The pictures are shown below, from June 10th, just after the LEDs were installed, then the 16th with the first shields, 24th with the adjusted shields and 29th with the tilted lamp head. As before, all pictures were 30 second, f14, ISO100 images, given the same processing. The processing doesn't reflect the actual brightness of the garden, which actually appears darker to the eye. Of course that brightness changes as your eyes dark adapt!

Overall, the general brightness in the garden has reduced dramatically and the strong daytime shadows cast by the LEDs have gone. That can be seen clearly in the first four images. The next four from the patio show the glare reduction when looking straight at the light. The last four are a view from next to the deepsky pier, looking towards the street light with the lawn brightly illuminated in the first picture. The garden doesn't look much different in the last three pictures, but the halo around the lamp has reduced significantly. I'll have to try and process a picture to show the apparent darkness to the eye.

The council are having a batch of larger shieds made, so in time, these may be fitted, but for now, I think we can call this a win for astronomy and a 10 out of 10 for the assistance from the lady in the council office.

Edited June 30, 2022 by ArmyAirForce

[malc-c]

10/10 for an understanding and considerate council.  Not only did they listen to your complaint they acted quickly to implement a solution that accommodates the needs of the council to illuminate the road, but reduce the spillage of light into areas that would have seriously impacted the enjoyment of your hobby.   Makes a change compared to some of the stories we read on here where other councils are less sympathetic to their constituents.   

[andy fearn]

5 hours ago, malc-c said:

10/10 for an understanding and considerate council.  Not only did they listen to your complaint they acted quickly to implement a solution that accommodates the needs of the council to illuminate the road, but reduce the spillage of light into areas that would have seriously impacted the enjoyment of your hobby.   Makes a change compared to some of the stories we read on here where other councils are less sympathetic to their constituents.   

 

8 hours ago, ArmyAirForce said:

June 30th - I went outside just after 11pm yesterday to check the illumination of the road with the new lamp orientation. The speed chicane was still well illuminated, so no safety issue there. I sent the council that picture this morning, as they only fit lights in daylight and never know if they really are correctly illuminating the area.

There was still quite a bit of daylight as it was partially cloudy, so I waited until near midnight to take some comparison pictures around the garden. By that time, it had clouded over. The pictures are shown below, from June 10th, just after the LEDs were installed, then the 16th with the first shields, 24th with the adjusted shields and 29th with the tilted lamp head. As before, all pictures were 30 second, f14, ISO100 images, given the same processing. The processing doesn't reflect the actual brightness of the garden, which actually appears darker to the eye. Of course that brightness changes as your eyes dark adapt!

Overall, the general brightness in the garden has reduced dramatically and the strong daytime shadows cast by the LEDs have gone. That can be seen clearly in the first four images. The next four from the patio show the glare reduction when looking straight at the light. The last four are a view from next to the deepsky pier, looking towards the street light with the lawn brightly illuminated in the first picture. The garden doesn't look much different in the last three pictures, but the halo around the lamp has reduced significantly. I'll have to try and process a picture to show the apparent darkness to the eye.

The council are having a batch of larger shieds made, so in time, these may be fitted, but for now, I think we can call this a win for astronomy and a 10 out of 10 for the assistance from the lady in the council office.

congrats on getting a positive result. onwards and upwards. how long do you antisipate the build until finished. ??

[ArmyAirForce]

9 minutes ago, andy fearn said:

.....how long..... until finished. ??

The walls and roof panels aren't far off being completed in my workshop, so after paint, they'll be able to be assembled on site soon ( pending my cold clearing ). After that, I need to do some more groundworks - the foundations for the roof runner supports and concrete edging between the obsy and new lawn area. Then I'll be able to install the extended runners that support the roof when open. As soon as the walls are up, I hope to drill the piers to be able to mount the scopes. As for being able to roll the roof off and use it, it would be nice to think of it operable by August. I really want it up and running by September at the latest, though the internal fit out may not happen immediately. I have an outside power socket on the garage wall, so even as a temporary measure, I can get power out there easily.

[ArmyAirForce]

July 1st - Still full of cold, but I forced myself out to the workshop today and sanded the filler on the rear wall. It was then given a couple of coats of paint, with around two hours drying time between them. The first coat is always quite streaky, but gets a much better coverage with coat two.

[Alan White]

Progress all round, great result on the lighting, you have a wonderful council team in your area.

 

[ArmyAirForce]

July 2nd - Still fighting the cold, but forced myself to do something useful today. I don't have any photos of this, but the job today was the looking at the four inch tall roof front wall. This will be the fixed part on the roof to help to provide rigidity. Two of the three panels looked ok, but one had a serious warp.

I ended up sawing through one of the wooden stiffeners ( which was warped ), adding some glue between the stiffener and cladding and clamping it to a straight edge. Due to the way it was warped, the saw cuts opened up and had small wooden wedges glued in. The two tapered sides of the roof were then given a first coat of paint.

I then had to drop little legs off in Washington, getting back about 2:30pm. It was a nice day, so I went outside and vacuumed the tree stump chippings out of the observatory base. I decided I could cope with my running nose and would try to get the floor fitted. It took around an hour to vacuum the base and carry all the floor panels and tools outside. It was about 130 feet from the spare room where the floor was stacked up to the lawn beside the observatory. I was getting fit and I hadn't even started work yet!

[ArmyAirForce]

The short floor joiners were attached and all the panels laid out in place on the observatory base. I knew this was going to be awkward, as not all the floor panels had measured up square when I last had them out. I decided to start by lining up the front edges, using one of the aluminium angles as a straight edge. I started screwing those panels down, working around to the back.

It was clear things weren't quite right, as I have a tapered gap between two panels next to the deepsky pier. The edge shown below would need a tapered strip cutting off to make the front and rear lengths the same and I'd also had to cut the height down to match the floor height! Some of the floor panel stiffening pieces were a little longer than the planks, so a few of these needed trimming to get the panels to but up against each other.

There was lots of jiggling, knocking with a hammer and measuring to get everything looking straight, square and parallel. Once the outer edge screws were in place, I added additional screws at various points on the panels where they intersected the base floor joists and also around the pier cutouts.

[ArmyAirForce]

This is picture 200, looking south and the floor is down ( at last! ). The three floor hatches have also been fitted. Just behind is my hawthorn hedge, which needs a big haircut to keep my low southern view clear. It hasn't been done this year yet.

This view is looking off to the East South East. I'm very tired, but pleased I pushed myself to get on today. The freshly cut edges were painted with bitumen before I came in but probably need a second coat. I've decided to get the lower walls up next for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I need the workshop space! The roof is going to take a bit of faffing to get it made.

I could do with the roof runners completing so that the roof can be measured up and made to fit. Being able to open and close it while I'm working on it and its fixings will be helpful. To do the roof runners, I need the walls assembled, so that I can project back for the foundation points and to be able to get them parallel when installed.

The roof's front wall of course has to open to clear the scopes as the roof slides off. For this I need the walls and runners in place, but also the scopes mounted so the opening section can be made big enough, while leaving enough front wall roof to give strength to the front section so the roof doesn't sag. I may need to add some steel work to the fixed part of this front panel to keep it all in its proper place.

[ArmyAirForce]

July 3rd - I got the bitumen painted again this morning and a little while later, it started raining, stopping any further work outside. I think some of the new top rails on the walls need some trimming at the ends, to allow the front and rear walls to butt up against the end walls. All the tools from yesterday got dumped on the workshop floor and the rear wall is filling the rest of the space right now. I need to have a big tidy up before I go any further, but don't have the energy today. My cold appears to be passing, as I'm not coughing as much and my nose isn't leaking quite so frequently, so hopefully I'll get my strength back.

I'm going to need wifey to help carry the walls out and to hold them while they are assembled, so I may have to wait for an evening when she's free from work. Even the smaller 8 feet panels are borderline on being able to carry them easily. I'm away with the Dodge truck again next weekend, so I'll not get anything done then. So if I can get the corners trimmed to fit properly this week, perhaps Thursday evening I could get the walls assembled.

[ArmyAirForce]

July 4th - I started today by cutting, chisling and sanding the four corner cut-outs on the end walls. These will now allow the front and rear walls to sit flush up against the wall framing, so they can be screwed together.

Next, I pulled out the last three sections of the original front walls. All of these had small slit windows, as the shed I bought was the more secure version with minimal windows. I didn't want or need the window sections, just 12 inches of the cladded part of the walls. The upper window section was cut free, leaving three planks of each panel which will make up the rear wall of the sliding roof section. There's still a few other offcuts of wall which will make the opening flap on the front of the roof.

The vertical framing was cut down to allow a new top rail to be fitted, which is what I'm in the middle of now. The upper cladding is warping a little, trying to turn a flat plank into a channel, so I've been gluing and clamping the top edge of the cladding to the new top rail. I don't have enough large clamps, so I'm having to work along each section, leaving them to dry. I'll put some screws through from the other side once the clamps and straight edge come off. So despite it being a warm day, the glue isn't drying fast enough to move on yet!

Once that's done, it needs trimming down in height a little to 12 inches and a new bottom rail adding in a similar manner. This 12 inch section needs to stop the rear of the roof from sagging. Due to the opening panel on the front of the roof, I may need to add some steel reinforcing and/or diagonal bracing to keep the roof from sagging at the front or mid-span. If it sags too much, the roof side walls will twist outwards, pushing the wheels towards the edge, or off the runners.

 

[ArmyAirForce]

July 5th - More progress on the rear roof panel today. I got the bottom rail cut and fitted. The uprights all needed trimming to the correct height first. Both the top and bottom rails are made from 8 feet lengths. Since the panel is 12 feet long, both needed a half lap joint cutting to splice in the extra length. The joints on both are staggered, one towards the left end and one to the right, so the joints don't line up, forming a weak point.

A couple of screws were added at each end while the rest was glued and clamped. On the other side of the panel, there's one of the aluminium angle roof runners to help hold it all straight while the glue dries. Tomorrow, the clamps can come off and can be replaced by some screws, which will need filling. The excess cladding sticking up by the clamps also needs planing off.

After the panel was left to dry, I painted the two end roof panels a second coat of paint and they were left to dry. The aluminium angle can be seen clamped on the rear panel in this view. It's not quite as long as the panel, which allowed me to use screws to hold it all together at the ends, as all my clamps were used.