Go Back   IceInSpace > Equipment > DIY Observatories

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #21  
Old 22-05-2018, 08:29 PM
Bart's Avatar
Bart
Don't have a cow, Man!

Bart is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 1,088
Very nice, Jen. Looks like a ripper and you have put a lot of thought into it. I hope it gives you many great years of service.
Curious, why the secrecy re the automated roof with the council?

Last edited by Bart; 23-05-2018 at 07:58 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 23-05-2018, 04:40 AM
erick's Avatar
erick (Eric)
Starcatcher

erick is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Gerringong
Posts: 8,532
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen View Post
Aww awesome Eric you will be back in time for the snake valley Astro camp hehehe...
Hopefully my obs will be ready way before September 😱 Do you still have your beautiful SDM I fell in love with that scope 😍😍
Great re your obs - I'll watch your progress reports.

Snake Valley in November - thinking seriously about it - probably at short notice if everything falls into place in time. I might have only binoculars to bring - everything else will be packed in boxes waiting for our new house to come into existence.

Yep, baby SDM#039 has been living in the northern hemisphere for five years, occasionally getting out at night and is dying to be under glorious southern skies again!
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 23-05-2018, 07:33 AM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart View Post
Very nice, Jen. Looks like a ripper and you have put a lot of thought into it. I hope it gives you man great years of service.
Curious, why the secrecy re the automated roof with the council?
Thanks Bart 🤗🤗
The council was giving me a bit of grief 😡 So the less information I give them the better, and well.... I havnt finally decided what motor etc to use for the roof yet 😜😜
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 23-05-2018, 10:10 AM
Ric's Avatar
Ric
Support your local RFS

Ric is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Wamboin NSW
Posts: 12,405
That's looking like a ripper Obs Jen.

Looking forward to seeing the photo's when it's finished.

Congrats
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 23-05-2018, 10:13 AM
RickS's Avatar
RickS (Rick)
PI cult recruiter

RickS is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 10,584
Congrats, Jen! Sounds like it has been a tough project but the end is in sight.
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 23-05-2018, 12:07 PM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Thanks guys I'm one happy Astro girl right now 🤗🤗🤗
I will keep the updates flowing when I can 😜
It's been another slow week waiting for the colorbond to arrive 👽
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 24-05-2018, 07:56 PM
Gnat (Natalie)
Registered User

Gnat is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Roma, Australia
Posts: 60
piers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen View Post
I picked up my two piers on Friday they have been nicely powder coated, they came out great coming from some old water pipes

Attachment 228431


oops I have no idea why they have come out sideways grrrr
Jen, What sized scopes are you mounting on your piers?
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 25-05-2018, 01:34 AM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Hi Gnat 🤗 one of the piers I will have heq5 pro mount with a skywatcher ED/120 and the other one will be for friends to use until I decide to put another/bigger scope on there hehehe 😈😈
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 26-05-2018, 07:15 AM
Gnat (Natalie)
Registered User

Gnat is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Roma, Australia
Posts: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen View Post
Hi Gnat �� one of the piers I will have heq5 pro mount with a skywatcher ED/120 and the other one will be for friends to use until I decide to put another/bigger scope on there hehehe ����
What are the dimensions of the pipe (wall thickness and diameter)? I am still trying to decide on steel or concrete pier. My scope is much bigger- 10 inch Schmidt Newtonian so the pier steel will need to be bigger.
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 26-05-2018, 09:30 PM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnat View Post
What are the dimensions of the pipe (wall thickness and diameter)? I am still trying to decide on steel or concrete pier. My scope is much bigger- 10 inch Schmidt Newtonian so the pier steel will need to be bigger.
G'day Gnat they are nearly 6" in diameter and they are 5mm in thickness and weigh around 28kilos.
Reply With Quote
  #31  
Old 26-05-2018, 10:31 PM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
gday everyone the obs is coming along nicely now
The crane arrived on Friday to lift the roof on and yes it moves side to side nicely woohoo and I now have walls

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3722 [800x600].JPG
Views:	134
Size:	113.7 KB
ID:	228700

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3717 [800x600].JPG
Views:	140
Size:	119.4 KB
ID:	228701

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3718 [800x600].JPG
Views:	135
Size:	100.0 KB
ID:	228702

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3707 [800x600].JPG
Views:	147
Size:	88.2 KB
ID:	228703

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3702 [800x600].JPG
Views:	136
Size:	89.4 KB
ID:	228704

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3696 [800x600].JPG
Views:	132
Size:	97.1 KB
ID:	228705

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3692 [800x600].JPG
Views:	152
Size:	139.3 KB
ID:	228706

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3724 [800x600].JPG
Views:	176
Size:	75.1 KB
ID:	228707
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 27-05-2018, 01:22 AM
h0ughy's Avatar
h0ughy (David)
Moderator

h0ughy is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NEWCASTLE NSW Australia
Posts: 33,156
how nice is that
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 27-05-2018, 06:21 AM
alan meehan's Avatar
alan meehan (Alan)
Registered User

alan meehan is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: maryland newcastle AUSTRALIA
Posts: 1,812
very nice Jen you will be enjoying yourself now ,how come the piers arent purple
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 27-05-2018, 10:43 AM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by alan meehan View Post
very nice Jen you will be enjoying yourself now ,how come the piers arent purple

The powder coating company didn't have purple lol 😈 But my internal walls will be purple 😜😜
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 27-05-2018, 12:25 PM
Spookyer's Avatar
Spookyer (Brett)
Brett P

Spookyer is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Dayboro
Posts: 567
Wow, looks epic!
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 28-05-2018, 12:58 PM
OneCosmos's Avatar
OneCosmos (Chris)
Registered User

OneCosmos is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 537
That's looking fantastic. I'm envious, firstly you have a dark sky (presumably) and second with an observatory that size you can walk around without bashing your head on the mount or the scope. One day my family will find me unconscious in my 2.3m observatory felled by a bash to the head of the counterweight shaft!
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old 28-05-2018, 03:10 PM
FlashDrive's Avatar
FlashDrive (Poppy)
Senior Citizen

FlashDrive is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bribie Island
Posts: 5,055
There's enough room in there for a ' barn dance '
Reply With Quote
  #38  
Old 29-05-2018, 12:31 PM
strongmanmike's Avatar
strongmanmike (Michael)
Highest Observatory in Oz

strongmanmike is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Canberra
Posts: 17,142
Wow!...now THAT'S an observatory!

Excellent Jen

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #39  
Old 29-05-2018, 02:02 PM
Imme (Jon)
Registered User

Imme is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Kyneton
Posts: 840
Hi Jen,
My ob is 9x6 and appears to have a very similar structural design as yours.
What I did was installed some 'dropped' rafters (meaning the rolling roof goes over the top of them) between the two rails the roof slides on to when opened and then roofed them in tinted laserlight (lightweight compared to tin). I also put in an extra post either side to deal with the additional weight and put a color matched colorbond fence along one side to reduce wind/weather ingress.
This effectively gave me a dry area which I store lawnmowers and other bits and bobs in......seemed such a waste to have those 2 x rails sitting there holding up nothing most of the time.

The rails are engineered to hold the weight of the rolling roof and you would never have the roof open in heavy wind anyway so structurally it is fine.

It survived a 100km wind storm that tore down a heap of trees around my property last year so I'm guessing my calculations/assumptions on strength are right.
Reply With Quote
  #40  
Old 29-05-2018, 07:18 PM
Jen's Avatar
Jen
Moving to Pandora

Jen is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Swan Hill
Posts: 7,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneCosmos View Post
That's looking fantastic. I'm envious, firstly you have a dark sky (presumably) and second with an observatory that size you can walk around without bashing your head on the mount or the scope. One day my family will find me unconscious in my 2.3m observatory felled by a bash to the head of the counterweight shaft!
Hahaha this made me giggle 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 02:28 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement