Wazza Observatory

[Wazza]

Hi All,

The last few weeks I have been building a Roll of roof Observatory.
It is based around a 3m x 3m garden shed with a "Unistrut" internal structure to support the roll off roof.
The pier is a 250nb steel pipe 10mm wall thickness 1.6m long and is imbeded in concrete. The floor is a timber structure which is covered by yellow tongue board and secondhand carpet tiles.
The telescopes are an ED80 and an AOE 102 acromat on an EQ6 mount. They are mounted side by side on a Ken's Rings heavy duty mounting bar.
There is also enough room to have the 18"dob stored fully assembled and ready to roll out through the double doors to use.

I have just finished it to this basic operational stage and will be using the current full moon time to align the mount ready for the next dark and try for the first images.

Hopefully I have attached the images correctly to give you a view of the observatory.

Regards

Wazza

[RB]

Awesome looking setup/observatory Wazza.
Thanks for the pics.

[stephenmcnelley]

I love it wazza, it looks real cozy in there and the work station looks practical and essentially laid out.
Gives me the inspiration to work on my old Obs. plans again for the umpteenth time.

[iceman]

Wow, that's excellent!

Do you still have your 18" truss? Are you coming to Lostock?

[erick]

Hi Wazza

I have land in Gerringong (Elambra) and plan to move there one day and contribute to the increasing light pollution :rolleyes:

What are the skies like around the area - reasonably dark? Light glow from Kiama and Nowra??

ps. nice set-up you have there! :)

Thanks
Eric

[Wazza]

Hi Mike,

Yes I still have my 18" Dob, I hope to be comming, with work comitments I am having to shuffle time off but so far looks promising. I will be bring the 18 if all works out.

Wazza

[Wazza]

Eric,

The sky is quite good here except when there is a strong NE wind, then the humitiy is very high and that realy spoils things.
As Gerringong is only a small village the light polution is not bad.
I have positioned my shed so that there are no direct lines of sight to any street lights.

Regards

Wazza

PS Drop me an email if you are in town.

[h0ughy]

TOP STUFF THATS EXACTLY WHAT i WANT TO DO.

some more photos please of the rails, roof support and posts if possible

[Wazza]

Attached are a series of images that generally depict how the shed is assembled.

The Shed is an ABSCO REGENT Colorbond shed. It is important to select a shed that has a gable that is part of the roof.

The basic structure is 41mm x 41mm Unstrut it has a 2.5mm wall thickness and comes in 6 meter lengths, very strong.
The Unistrut is a "C" section that allows a special nut to be positioned and held captive whilst the unistrut is bolted together.
Prefabricated brackets are used (from Bunnings) and 10 mm hex head set screws to bolt it together.

The shed was then assembled around the structure and tech screwed to it. (you can actually get tech screws with heads painted to match the colorbond)

The wheels are 50mm dia hard nylon and were cut from casters ( from Bunnings) 1/4 in bolts were then installed through the unistrut as axils for the wheels.

The whole structure is screwed down to the wood floor with 90mm coach bolts

The roof is built on a unistrut frame work that contains the 6 wheels and then lifted into position. It rolls open and closed very easily with just 2 fingers.
The roof is held in closed position by the 4 turn buckles, very securely.

Very easy, with the unistrut there is no welding and each joint is adjustable to make the frame square.

Also the whole shed can easily be dismantled and relocated. (except for the pier, it would become the strongest bird bath ever built)

Hope this helps

Wazza

[ving]

that looks really flash!!!

[Orion]

Great to see that you have been keeping busy Wazza, just like your 18" the observatory is in the same class. Congatulations

Hope to see you again at Lostock.

[snowyskiesau]

There's a gap between roof and wall, any problems with rain getting in?

[Striker]

How does the roof stay on the track.

Wouldn't the wind and moisture get in with that gap.

Otherwise it looks like a really nice set up.

You have strengthened the shed well.

[Wazza]

The roof is held in place by 4 high density polypropelene slides, you may be just able to see them in some of the images (hard to see)
The gap will be covered on 3 side by a strip of wood which will create a type of labayinth to prevent all but the most extremem weather getting in.
On the 4th sode it has to be a flexible rubber seal as it has to slide over the top of the wall. Hopefully to be installed this weekend. Good observation!!

The wall are quite strong when fixed to the unistrut, you have to do that because most of the strength for a garden shed comes from the roof holding the walls together.




Wazza

[Striker]

yeah I know what you mean regarding the 4th side.

here is how I fixed the problem

[h0ughy]

Wazza, how much did the unistrut stuff cost. also the 6m length hold the roof up, are there outdoor posts?