Hello everyone. I'm building a new roll off roof obsy. I am very lucky because one neighbour has a bobcat and the other is a builder who will be doing most of the hard work and technical designs.
I'm going to add to this thread as the process unfolds in the next couple of months. The bobcat and digger are coming on Wednesday.
The location is on the Darling Downs in QLD, about 1/2 hour south of Toowoomba. I live on 5 acres with no street lights. Bortle 3-4.
It will be a 3.5 x 4m roll off roof gable obsy, around 2m tall, with a 4x4m outdoor platform for viewing. It will have a 2 x 1.2m deep concrete footings, independent of the flooring to reduce vibrations. I will only be using one pier for now but I'm thinking about the future. I may want to have 2 telescopes going at the same time.
The main structural strength will come from a set of 2 very heavy rails which I got from Admerch. I got 4 solid brass track wheels, each one able to take 1500kg of force in every direction (most bearing systems are only designed for downwards gravitational force, but these ones can resist a lot of wind, in particular lift from updrafts).
I am totally new to this, and so is the builder (but he is extremely clever and and very well known in our region). I hope that anyone who is planning on going down the same path as I sees and learns from my mistakes and successes (I'm sure there will be plenty of both!)
I am so excited, a little scared, but I know this will be one of the best things I've ever decided to do.
Wish me luck!
See photos attached of the site. It will be in the old fenced area
https://imgur.com/a/ep9HaLv