What can I do?

[RobertI]

I have always dreamed of an observatory. Ever since I had a run-off shed obsy as a teenager, I have wanted a ‘proper’ one with a dome and everything. Well, now into my late fifties and with a young child (I started late!) I find myself with a small but relatively dark back garden, a little bit of spare cash, and zero time! My visual observing sessions are limited to one to two hours max every couple of weeks. I used to enjoy EAA, particularly for the Spring galaxies, but I simply don’t have time for the setup, tear down and fettling required of imaging - my EAA equipment is lying dormant in a cupboard. I have a visual setup which is quick to setup and tear down and I don’t have any massive problems with neighbours lights at the moment….although I live in fear of that first security searchlight. Also my garden really isn’t big enough for a large observatory - I could probably shoe horn something in there, but i’d have to make sure I don’t lose enjoyment of the garden, and it would have to really ‘add value’ to my astronomy. Also there is only one place in the garden where an obsy could go, which is not a bad location (can see Polaris through a gap, can see South, West and overhead, but not very low to the west), but of course the obligatory street light is visible from that location, so not really ideal for visual but probably ok for EAA. 

So what could I do? My thinking at the moment is for a ‘low profile’ run-off shed and a permanently setup EAA rig. This would probably involve creating some hard standing (eg: patio slabs), a permanent pier, electrical ducting to the nearby garage and the run off shed itself. Hmm sounds quite straight forward! 😆 And it would probably be something I plan over a period of time. 

But what have I missed? Is there something better/gooder that I could do to get my observatory? 

Sorry it’s been a bit of a ramble! 😉

 

 

[adyj1]

What do you have in mind as 'low profile run-off shed'? What size floor plan? Something high enough to stand in? 

 

 

[RobertI]

56 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

What do you have in mind as 'low profile run-off shed'? What size floor plan? Something high enough to stand in? 

 

 

Thanks for the response. I guess I was thinking of something similar to what I had in my youth, which was 4ft x 4ft x 4ft - ie: big enough to store a pier mounted SCT but not big enough to stand in. Possibly doesn’t even need to be that big? I would go and sit in the garage or kitchen to control the scope/mount/camera. 

[M40]

What you could do is start with a pier plus a local power supply in an adjacent weatherproof enclosure, that's where I am at the moment. I leave the mount in place with a TG365 cover; I also have cables installed between the power supply and a smaller enclosure mounted very close to the pier, this enables me to just open the smaller enclosure, pull out the wiring and connect to mount and camera to suit. With the laptop local to the pier the time from uncovering the mount, polar align, star align, pick on a couple of doubles to make sure all is lining up well then to the first galaxy all sorted in about an hour. Strip down followed by cup of tea about 10 minutes. 

You could follow on with a roll on/off roof at a later date, the pier saves lumping the heavy stuff around so all you have to think on is choosing and sticking the telescope on.

I currently have a very simple software setup and I must admit that I am not one for multiple targets, I just try my best on a single target. 

My thoughts are to make the most of limited opportunities by making life as simple as possible. 

My future plan is to create a removeable enclosure for the mount only and continue to install the telescope on the night, I do enjoy the setting up and getting it all ready, after that my next step is to have the laptop in the warm, I already have the cable in place for that.

Hope it gives you food for thought.

[RobertI]

9 hours ago, M40 said:

What you could do is start with a pier plus a local power supply in an adjacent weatherproof enclosure, that's where I am at the moment. I leave the mount in place with a TG365 cover; I also have cables installed between the power supply and a smaller enclosure mounted very close to the pier, this enables me to just open the smaller enclosure, pull out the wiring and connect to mount and camera to suit. With the laptop local to the pier the time from uncovering the mount, polar align, star align, pick on a couple of doubles to make sure all is lining up well then to the first galaxy all sorted in about an hour. Strip down followed by cup of tea about 10 minutes. 

You could follow on with a roll on/off roof at a later date, the pier saves lumping the heavy stuff around so all you have to think on is choosing and sticking the telescope on.

I currently have a very simple software setup and I must admit that I am not one for multiple targets, I just try my best on a single target. 

My thoughts are to make the most of limited opportunities by making life as simple as possible. 

My future plan is to create a removeable enclosure for the mount only and continue to install the telescope on the night, I do enjoy the setting up and getting it all ready, after that my next step is to have the laptop in the warm, I already have the cable in place for that.

Hope it gives you food for thought.

Thanks for suggesting that, sounds like a good option to start with a pier plus soft cover first. It would certainly be less obtrusive than a full run off shed and much easier to construct. I think I would want to leave my scope and camera setup, and ideally not have to polar align or star align each time, as these are the time consuming and ‘awkward’ bits that I want to try and eliminate for EAA! Fortunately EAA only uses short exposures of five to thirty seconds so super-accurate polar alignment is not required. I guess live plate solving could eliminate the star alignment aspect. And thinking about it, many people use altaz mounts for EAA, so polar alignment not required either. Perhaps they are options…..

The downside of pier plus soft cover is children in the garden - my 7 year old sometimes invites friends round and footballs start flying! 

Edited June 19, 2022 by RobertI

[RobertI]

10 hours ago, adyj1 said:

What do you have in mind as 'low profile run-off shed'? What size floor plan? Something high enough to stand in? 

 

 

Just to confirm, by “run off” shed I mean a small shed or box on wheels, rather than a sliding roof observatory ….. just in case I am using the wrong terminology! 

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

8 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Just to confirm, by “run off” shed I mean a small shed or box on wheels, rather than a sliding roof observatory ….. just in case I am using the wrong terminology! 

 

... or if I'm not paying attention 😉 

Would you have such a thing running on rails, or some sort of castor arrangement.?

I've no practical experience of this kind of scope cover, so I will sit at the back and watch. 😁 

[RobertI]

23 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

... or if I'm not paying attention 😉 

Would you have such a thing running on rails, or some sort of castor arrangement.?

I've no practical experience of this kind of scope cover, so I will sit at the back and watch. 😁 

No problem! 🙂 My old run off shed many years ago had wheels and castors and I just wheeled it over the grass, so I wouldn’t think I need anything more complicated than that. 

[Peter Drew]

Might be worth considering one of the small plastic sheds as a "run-off" rather than an observatory.       🙂 

[M40]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

 I think I would want to leave my scope and camera setup, and ideally not have to polar align or star align each time, as these are the time consuming and ‘awkward’ bits that I want to try and eliminate for EAA! Fortunately EAA only uses short exposures of five to thirty seconds so super-accurate polar alignment is not required. I guess live plate solving could eliminate the star alignment aspect. And thinking about it, many people use altaz mounts for EAA, so polar alignment not required either. Perhaps they are options…..

The downside of pier plus soft cover is children in the garden - my 7 year old sometimes invites friends round and footballs start flying! 

My first thoughts were to leave the telescope in place but as I swap telescopes and I had a few concerns over moisture I changed tack and just started thinking about a permanent cover for the mount and pier only. I also spent a few pennies on the ioptron-ipolar, this was a good decision on my part as it made polar alignment very easy particularly with the mount staying in position.

Never tried plate solving, but it is on the list. 

All the best 

[A320Flyer]

This is what I ended up doing. It might give you some ideas. 

[Guest]

Before you do anything I would recommend reading this rather lengthy thread.  While it isn't the same set up as you are looking considering it will give you a good idea at the level of planning it takes and how the process unfolds and evolves along the way.  

 

I have seen more then a few roll away buildings made within the DYI observatory forum and if you nose around I am sure that there is one out there that would fit the bill.  No sense reinventing the wheel.

 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/338193-the-observing-area-build/

[Guest]

 

[RobertI]

Thanks for the information everyone - some useful links and great ideas. Having digested this information and thought some more,  I am moving towards the idea of starting with just a pier, possibly even a ‘Todmorden’ style pier, as a starting point, with the mount and possibly the scope permanently attached under a Telegizmos cover.  I could then add a run off shed at some point in the future if feel the need. Although I never fancied the idea of a Telegizmos cover due to moisture, etc, I discovered that Damien Peach has used this arrangement for years for his C14 and has never had an observatory! So if it’s good enough for him…….

[catburglar]

+1 for the telegizmos 365.

I’ve had my AltAz SCT permanently mounted on a pier with a TG365 for almost 2 years. I’ll wipe the scope down after each observing session to remove the worst of any dew before covering it up and occasionally in the winter I remove the cover every few weeks on a clear/crisp day just to make sure that it gets a good airing for a couple of hours.

No problems so far.

[RobertI]

16 minutes ago, catburglar said:

+1 for the telegizmos 365.

I’ve had my AltAz SCT permanently mounted on a pier with a TG365 for almost 2 years. I’ll wipe the scope down after each observing session to remove the worst of any dew before covering it up and occasionally in the winter I remove the cover every few weeks on a clear/crisp day just to make sure that it gets a good airing for a couple of hours.

No problems so far.

Well that sounds like a ringing endorsement! Gods to know it works. Fortunately none of my EAA equipment is terribly expensive, so not the risk that some might have . 

[Alan White]

I have my observing area, with a fixed pier, works well.
Mount under a cover and ready to go for visual in moments,
just carry out a scope and eyepieces.

I ponder a push away so the scope can sit out, but it would onky save a minute or two,
only advantage is the scope is aclimatised straight off or near enough.
But with a doublet refractor at 103mm not reasone enough to do the build,
but a bigger scope or reflector, things would differ for me.

Whatever you do, it will or should make things easier to observe, so if you can go for it my friend.

[M40]

Excellent 👌 keep us up to speed. One other thing I do is that I found, on only one occasion I might add but it was enough, that the pier adapter was sweating. I now chuck a builders bucket over the mount to create an air gap between TG cover and mount and it has cleared that little challenge up perfectly.

[Swoop1]

2 hours ago, M40 said:

Excellent 👌 keep us up to speed. One other thing I do is that I found, on only one occasion I might add but it was enough, that the pier adapter was sweating. I now chuck a builders bucket over the mount to create an air gap between TG cover and mount and it has cleared that little challenge up perfectly.

I have done similar, purchasing a plastic dustbin which goes over the mount, resting on the pier plate before the cover goes on. Also protects the cover from abrasion on corners and edges.

[RobertI]

Thanks all for the good ideas and encouragement. Does anyone use any anti-damp measures like desiccant or de-humidifier (or heated pet blanket!)?

[iapa]

+1 for Telegizmos 365

My CGX-L has been unused and under one of these since May 2020. Minimum temperatures -9C, max 26C

All i did today was demolish some arachnid housing just under the top plate.

all knobs move freely. One hex head bolts has slight rust, and there is a small flake of paint missing.

A second mount was also under a Telegizmos, it also survived well.

 

[Alan White]

So have you pondered and come up with a plan yet Rob?

Curious to which way you will go, I have a feeling I can guess, but you never know.

 

[RobertI]

On 17/07/2022 at 15:08, iapa said:

+1 for Telegizmos 365

My CGX-L has been unused and under one of these since May 2020. Minimum temperatures -9C, max 26C

All i did today was demolish some arachnid housing just under the top plate.

all knobs move freely. One hex head bolts has slight rust, and there is a small flake of paint missing.

A second mount was also under a Telegizmos, it also survived well.

 

Impressive. It’s amazing to see how well these mounts survive under these protective covers. 👍

[iapa]

44 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Impressive. It’s amazing to see how well these mounts survive under these protective covers. 👍

I am very pleased with the TeleGizmos, have two just now, and looking to get more.

[RobertI]

4 hours ago, Alan White said:

So have you pondered and come up with a plan yet Rob?

Curious to which way you will go, I have a feeling I can guess, but you never know.

 

Hi Alan, thanks for asking! I think a pier is definitely the way to go, and I think it is the EAA that would really benefit, rather than visual. For visual, I think it will always be really useful to be able to move around the garden to find the best location (one corner is best for planets/moon, one side is best for viewing east, etc) so will probably stick with a portable setup for visual. 

There was an interesting development in July though. I suddenly realised that for EAA, I already have the makings of a super-quick ‘plonk and play’ setup. I attached my EAA cam to my 66mm frac and popped it on my little SkyProdigy mount, plonked the whole thing in the middle of the garden, switched on and bingo, it self-aligned, did reasonably good gotos, tracked well and gave some lovely ‘live’ views. No faffing with polar-alignment, 3-star alignment, calibration, etc. See results here.

I think it’s scratched an EAA itch and given me a way of doing some EAA with limited time and without the need for a pier. Although, I should add that since that good session, my camera has started playing up, and last time out I had some issues with the mount, so EAA will end up stealing your time, one way or the other! 

At some point I will want to use my ‘serious’ EAA kit which is double the focal length of the above - I think this is the setup that will really benefit from a pier - unless I am willing to spend £££ on a heavy duty ‘plonk and play’ setup using an AZ-EQ5/6 with Starsense…. which I’m not! 🙂

So a pier is on the cards, but ironically, it will probably have to wait until a time when I have MORE free time, so I can make make the most of it!