The start of the Backyard Obs.

[technofetishism]

I've finally got the opportunity to build a backyard obs. So I've spent a little time lately contemplating what to put up that is both within budget, and small enough to avoid requiring planning approval. That is, under 3x3x2.5m

I thought about a Roll of Roof, but the yard logistics preclude easy placement of the rails. I thought about a dome, but the cost just is a bit high. So after a bit of looking around I went for a design based off of both Harry's Astroshed design and EorEquis's TinyObs. A size between the two.

Now I just had to work out a model to make sure I had the mechanical logic right in my head. So I spent a focused few hours this afternoon doing my first scratch built architectural model.

I'm glad I did this as I caught one design aspect that I forgot about that would interfere with operation of the full scale design so I need to remember to tweak that.

But here it is, the <un-named obs> 1:24 scale model.

Now i Just need to build a scale model of the pier, mount and scope....

[glend]

Nice model Nick. How do you plan on sealing the roof ridge joint? Did you consider sliding it off to the side? I have seen a couple like that.

[technofetishism]

thanks glend

to seal the top, ill have a ridge cap over it. just means i have to make sure it gets closed the right order, but thats not hard really. Ill combine that with some rubber strip to help seal it even more though.

problem with sliding to a side is one direction there is a childs cubbyhouse, and the other direction is claimed for a greenhouse structure. the folding roof design lets me keep it in all a pretty contained space.

[cometcatcher]

Some fold / swing roofs can be on the heavy side, whereas a roll off roof is a one finger job. Do you know how much effort the roof will take to open / close?

[technofetishism]

havent quite done the maths yet, but its a design thats able to be counterweighted to offset.