what needs does an ob have to satisfy?

[lostinspace]

severall weeks ago i comitted to building an ob on land we have away from our house where we keep our horses. after long talks with tracey (my partner) weve come to an unussuall compromise. tracey`s interest being that the family as a whole should benifit from whatever structure i erect up at the land. cant argue with that. So, this is what we`ve come up with, whitch is a little short of an ob, a mongolian Yurt. 16ft diameter round canvass tent, it has a wood burner and day beds, carpet and furniture. i have 12ft of land outside to the left allocated to me for an ob of sorts. I obviously dont need a full ob as equipment can be stored in the yurt. I will be putting a concrete footing in and am wondering, wou;d a shoulder high enclosure protect the scope from wind wobble. and should i invest in a permanent mount or will the concrete offer enough stability for my eq mount? i`ve heared the concrete can take hours to release its heat from the day and can ruin a night under the stars? is there truth to this, if so, can anyone think of a way to get stability of the concrete without the said problem of heat wobble?

thanks to all that answer, i will be taking photo`s of every step and posting them here if anyone is interested to see how it all goes, and will attribute credits to the source of any ideas used on the project.... once agian thanks to all, i will attach photos of site latter today as im off to feed the horses so ill take the first snaps.

john

[kev 102 42]

Good Luck John.................kev. I think ill pull up a chair and watch this build.

[AndyH]

A Yurt !!

Looking forward to seeing pictures of that.

Sounds like an exciting project.

Cheers,

Andy.

[lostinspace]

ha, me too. as its me building it! i am a sculptor by trade and to keep costs down i will be doing the lot with the odd friend.......

john

[yeti monster]

Instead of a solid concrete base, you could set an area of those concrete lattice blocks, which will give a stable foundation for a fairly hefty mount without the mass of a concrete "patio". I've seen them in carparks etc. in the lake district and they seem to be sound enough. the also allow the turf to grow through then, so are not as unsightly.

[lostinspace]

nice thought yeti, i`ll look into them, thanks,

john

[Chris H]

They are called 'grass cell' I use them on my caravan park to create roadways for for people to drive on in winter to stop them churning up the ground.

Is this building going to require planning permission? If so you may have to comply with building regs which might mean having and have a concrete floor.

[lostinspace]

They are called 'grass cell' I use them on my caravan park to create roadways for for people to drive on in winter to stop them churning up the ground.

Is this building going to require planning permission? If so you may have to comply with building regs which might mean having and have a concrete floor.

no its a none permenant structure, other than the concrete, that shouldnt be a problem though. thanks for the info,

john

[Chris H]

I've just googled 'Yurts' and obviously you won't need planning permission. With regard to the floor you could just have an earth floor and fix a pier in concrete for you to mount you scope on. This would reduce the amount of concrete to a minimum and still provide a solid location for your scope.

[xyz]

Yes, to reduce thermal storage, mount the scope on a concrete pier base and surround this with a low thermal inertia flooring - wood might be ideal (slippery when wet - maybe topped with artificial grass). As long as the floor is not in physical contact with the pier there will be no vibration transmission. By the way, it sounds as though you are in an enviable location away from the dreaded light pollution. Good luck and I look forward to the unfolding story. - Richard

[lostinspace]

i agree, it is enviably situated. i will possition the scope outside the yurt so a pier sounds perfect. are they all interchangable? should i get a new scope and mount will it fit?

as promised i will now attempt to post pics of the site . .....

cant do it!!!! i dont even know how to find my http address if thats what i need?!

[Jupiter Martin]

In this months S@N mag theres a article on a simple pier build you could copy that or you can buy preformed and set in concrete

[michaelmorris]

If I were you I'd look at the fundamental reasons behand why you want an observatory. It not a matter of what should it do? - it should be more a matter of what do you want it to do?

I built an observatory because I wanted to have the scope permanently set up (bad back) and because I did wanted to avoid the hassle of setting up and breaking down the set up every time the clouds rolled in. As a result, I now observe far more often and for longer.

As an aside, it also gave me better protection from the glare from local 'security' lights and from the wind.

[lostinspace]

thanks martin i`ll look into that.

why do i want an ob.....? i guess for the obvious reasons of protection from the weather, and not having to drag everything out each time i want a quick look, and to enable better viewing. less obviously.... with the extra peace,quiet and solitude i find it far easier to enjoy the night sky.

i`m very lucky to have a site well away from any local light pollution and in an eleveted position. when i`ve found out how to, i`ll post some pics as i go along if anyones interested in slap stick comedy.

thanks for all the advise guys,

john

[Jupiter Martin]

Im sure it a be a good job look forward to seeing your progress John

[yeti monster]

Hic..........