Last summer I started to build my own roll of roof -observatory. Now Ive continued making the building more remote controllable and making it to work more reliable. We have lots of snow and very low temperatures at winter and it makes things a bit harder
Here are links to construction stories in my blog:
Based on my thirty years in Canada, insulation is not going to be much use when the roof is rolled off, and with it closed it will be very difficult to seal against -30C temps. It would appear from the last photo that the roof may have foam planks or insulation batts layed lengthwise but i can't see that being very effective in winter when any little opening, like the roof track one will allow cold to pour in. Snow load shedding will be an issue for roof design as well. Full remote control is a necessity, you'll die standing around out there without artic clothing. Power systems will need to be reliable and batteries are out of the question at those temperaures. Will you be heating the mount in some way or going to low temperature full synthetic grease? Mount tolerances can also be an issue and heating the mount maybe necessary. Suggest you get operating temperature specs for all your equipment, especially the EQ8, filter wheels, focuser motors, etc if your imaging. Most mounts makers that publish operating temperature ranges don't go below -20C due to bearing grease seizing, differental expansion rates of the metals etc. Finally, do not move telescopes, eye pieces, cameras, etc from warm houses to very cold observatories, the swing from +20C to -30C will cause thermal shock and potentially damage the equipment - leave it at ambient in the observatory.
Jussi I suggest you post this thread up on the Cloudy Nights Forum as well as here, as they will have many more members experienced in extreme cold astronomy and observatory operation in extreme cold.
Last winter went quite well. Equipment worked as low as -35 Celsius. I needed to make some adjustments to roof rails, so the roof would move more easily.
Glend:The EQ8 mount haven`t needed better grease yet. I used to have Eq6 which stalled few times, when temperature was below -30C, after adding better grease it worked well.
Everything is powered all time (except camera).
I check amount of snow in the roof from cameras. And when there is too much weight I will drop them of.
All equipment are at ambient temperature all the time.
I captured some Time-lapse with DIY All sky camera, based on QHY 5 L II.
I made small writing about driver issues with this camera and how to manage with them.
I captured some Time-lapse with DIY All sky camera, based on QHY 5 L II.
I made small writing about driver issues with this camera and how to manage with them.
Jussi - this may seem like a dumb question, but why so many windows - don't they just make the whole structure less rigid?
Dean
It was an land owners wish to add two windows. I would not add any.
Structures are easily rigid enough, windows won't affect. Corners are made from double 2x4" planks and on top goes 2x4"+2x6". Both windows have 2x4" frames. every major joint has 5 large nails and 2-3 long screws.
There has been very large snow cargos on roof and everything works nicely. A professional has checked those structures and given green light.
Astronomical darkness is over. I made small write-up about GSO RC 12" image quality and how its evolved from 2013 to 2016. Also Messier 81 image on same topic.*http://astro.galleria.fi/blog/32/M81+Season+Finale/
Last winter went quite well. Equipment worked as low as -35 Celsius. I needed to make some adjustments to roof rails, so the roof would move more easily.
Glend:The EQ8 mount haven`t needed better grease yet. I used to have Eq6 which stalled few times, when temperature was below -30C, after adding better grease it worked well.
Everything is powered all time (except camera).
I check amount of snow in the roof from cameras. And when there is too much weight I will drop them of.
All equipment are at ambient temperature all the time.
Hej!
I was in Finland for my student exchange last year and it was the most memorable time, especially going up to Lapland to see the Northern Lights!
I did a series of presentations on aurora chasing when I came back, and got asked a lot of questions about amateur astronomers cope with the cold weather there, and light from the aurora interfering with images. Unfortunately I didn't know enough to lead a discussion about it.
