Batten down the hatches!

[lukebl]

Well, my soft-top observatory (converted from a child's playhouse) is facing its first real storm and seems to be bearing up well to the current winds. Here's an animation of it from this morning (I've fixed the flapping door since I took the pics!):

And here's a pic of the interior from last night during a welcome break in the autumnal cloud cover:

[cgarry]

Wow, what a fantastic set up! It looks positively cosy in there.

[oldfruit]

Nice setup and good animation.

[Astrokev]

Crikey, I'm amazed the whole shed (sorry, obsy!) didn't blow away, let alone the roof!

Fantastic interior shot - agree with cgarry, very cosy!

How big is the observatory?

Thanks

Kev

[Ben Ritchie]

Was touching 55kts here earlier in the day, and the neighbours are wondering where their fence went (literally, they haven't found all of it yet). The Obsy's pretty solid though

[lukebl]

Cheers all. The building is 1.8m x 2.4m. Bit of a squeeze at times with a 250mm Newt, but having two doors makes it a bit more manageable!

[Astrokev]

Cheers all. The building is 1.8m x 2.4m. Bit of a squeeze at times with a 250mm Newt, but having two doors makes it a bit more manageable!

Great, thanks Luke.

[ollypenrice]

Cor blimey! The obsy looked remarkably unruffled but I might worry about an uprooted tree dropping from low earth orbit onto your scope!

Olly

PS really does look inviting in there. Great stuff.

[lukebl]

Thanks for the comments all. Yes, it does look inviting with the warm glow of the desktop lamp, but the lack of a warm room and space to move around means that I bloomin' froze in there on Wednesday night!

[Earl]

Where did you get the roof cover from?

Im planning on that style roof for at 6 x 6.

[lukebl]

Where did you get the roof cover from?

Im planning on that style roof for at 6 x 6.

Hi Earl. Been watching your thread with interest!

I got my roof cover from Under Cover. Very helpful guy there called Mick Withers. The product is basically the same as the PVC sheets you get on the sides of lorries. 100% waterproof and very heavy-duty. They are made to order to your own specification. Mine was a 2.2 x 2.2m sheet, with eyelets at 200mm intervals, and cost me £69.50 all-in.

This is it in action. Takes no more than 5 minutes to open up, and less than 1 minute to close!

[Earl]

Cheers Luke,

I always prefer a recommendation over a google search

[philj]

I like that a real Q Observatory. Totally disguised great stuff.

Philj

[Pete Presland]

nice set up never seen a soft top obsy before i was thinking 6x6 for mine but wondered if it might be a bit tight, how tall is it at its highest point?

[jasonp]

Genius , love it

[lukebl]

nice set up never seen a soft top obsy before i was thinking 6x6 for mine but wondered if it might be a bit tight, how tall is it at its highest point?

Ridge ridge height is 2.1m. The lowest wall at the front is 1m. It's cosy, but I can manage fine with a 250mm Newt and EQ6 mount. I have to put up with no visibilty to the NW, N & NE, but I can live with that.

[jwallis]

Oh MY. Really nice set up.

I was toying at buying a shed and converting it into a ob. After seeing this set up, i am definately going to now.

The scope which will be in the ob is a 12 inch flextube.

Anyone got any idea if which size i would need to accomadate it with a bit of room to spare?

[Astrokev]

How long is the tube, and how will it be mounted?

[jwallis]

Hi.

It is 144cm when set up, and will be on the skyliner dob base.

Cheers,jon

[lukebl]

I think you have a lot more leeway with a dob, and can get away with a bigger scope than one on an EQ mount. It is a heck of a squeeze in my obsy with the 10" when the counterweights are horizontal and you have to squeeze under them to get round!

Sure beats having to set up and align each observation session, though.