JEN'S DREAM R.O.R. OBS - finally becoming a reality

[Jen]

Gday everyone :hi:
Woohoo yes dreams can come true if you want them bad enough :D
I have spent many years in the these observatory threads cursing and admiring all you lucky buggers and I kept saying im going to have my very own observatory one day. And guess what that day has finally come :D:D

For those who know me in here (if not then why the hell not hahahaha) know all the blood, sweat and tears and many temper tantrums that I had to go through to get this far has been no easy task. Being in a country town no one wanted to look outside the box and take responsibility of doing a roll off roof for me, but two years ago I finally found someone that would yayy, but we have only one civil engineer in town (who is an absolute @#"*) gave me hell to draw my plans up for me which dragged on well over a year, I finally gave up with him and found an engineer in Shepparton who had them completed and in my hands within 3 weeks woohoo
So a month in now, so far I have a concrete slab & wall & roof frame completed :D Yes things don't happen quickly in country towns but things are finally happening.
Its totally overly engineered but it most certainly wont blow over anytime soon hahahaha..... I cant wait till its finished ;):P;):D:)
Check out the pics of the progress so far :thanx:
Size: 5.5meters x 7.9meters
Placement for two piers and a visual scope or two and plenty of room for a fridge to keep those UDL cans cool hehehehe :P

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[Oddity]

Wow, congratulations! Wish I could fit something like that in our inner-suburban townhouse! :lol:

[byronpaul]

Hey Jen,

Next camp is in your observatory ...... it’s big enough 😄

Congrats, I know you’ve been through the ringer getting this far.

Shortly there will be no more Ensuite tents in the backyard

Paul

[h0ughy]

i am in awe and with twin piers you should be an imaging dynamo

[JA]

I'm happy for you Jen

Best
JA

[Allan]

I like looking at construction photos, and yours is looking good so far Jen. Can you tell me the specs of the RHS you have used to make the roof? It looks solid, and heavy. Are you automating the roof, or using muscle power? Thanks

[Jen]

Thanks guys its getting pretty exciting now :D Lol Paul astro camps at Jens house for sure hehehe :D
Allan here are some plans of the roof if that helps, yes it will be motorized, I'm just not sure which way to go with that yet, just to shut the council up and tell them little as possible it will be manual to begin with ;):P

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[Jen]

I picked up my two piers on Friday they have been nicely powder coated, they came out great coming from some old water pipes ;)

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oops I have no idea why they have come out sideways grrrr

[gts055]

Very nice. Will make us using your telescope gear so much easier. You will enjoy setting the observatory up too. Mark

[FlashDrive]

How good is that ....coming on nicely :thumbsup:

Fixed photo for you and I get 3 months free use of the ORB. :D

Col....:D

[Jen]

Hahaha :lol: thanks buddy :thanx:
As long as it's clear the roof will always be open 😈😈

[erick]

Jen wants? Jen gets!!

Congratulations Jen! I'm back in Oz for good in September - will I be in time for the grand opening?

[Allan]

Thanks for the drawings and specs Jen. I’m doing my roof very similarly, just not quite so “over engineered” as you say. :D

[Nico]

Look great Jen, is the roof going to be motorised, or mandraulic?

[Jen]

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 😍😍

[Jen]

:thumbsup: cool Allan I will look forward to watching your progress too 🤗🤗

[Jen]

Yes John it will be motorised, 😍😜 there is no way I could move that on my own 😱

[leon]

Wow Jen that is just brilliant, :eyepop:you will never leave home again, :lol:congratulations.
All good things come to those who wait, and ask, and beg, and, and , and, you get the picture.;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

Congratulations Jen.
Hope completion happens soon.
Keep the photos coming.
Alex

[Jen]

:thanx:
Thanks Alex and Leon 🤗🤗
No works were done today 😬
I think the crane is booked in to lift the roof up on Friday 😱
Woohooo :D:D

[Bart]

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?

[erick]

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! :thumbsup:

[Jen]

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 😜😜

[Ric]

That's looking like a ripper Obs Jen.

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

Congrats

[RickS]

Congrats, Jen! Sounds like it has been a tough project but the end is in sight.

[Jen]

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 👽

[Gnat]

Jen, What sized scopes are you mounting on your piers?

[Jen]

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 😈😈

[Gnat]

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.

[Jen]

G'day Gnat they are nearly 6" in diameter and they are 5mm in thickness and weigh around 28kilos.

[Jen]

:hi: gday everyone the obs is coming along nicely now ;):D:P
The crane arrived on Friday to lift the roof on and yes it moves side to side nicely woohoo :thumbsup: and I now have walls :D

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[h0ughy]

how nice is that

[alan meehan]

very nice Jen you will be enjoying yourself now ,how come the piers arent purple

[Jen]

:thanx:
The powder coating company didn't have purple lol 😈 But my internal walls will be purple 😜😜

[Spookyer]

Wow, looks epic!

[OneCosmos]

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!:lol:

[FlashDrive]

There's enough room in there for a ' barn dance ' :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Wow!...now THAT'S an observatory! :eyepop:

Excellent Jen :thumbsup:

Mike

[Imme]

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.

[Jen]

Hahaha this made me giggle 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Jen]

Thanks everyone it's getting pretty exciting now 😜😜 bring it on woohooo 🤗

Jon what mechanism did you use to open your roof ? I haven't decided which way to go with that yet, but I better make up my mind real soon hahaha 😬

[Imme]

I didn’t build it Jen but I sure am using it!!!
My obs is the old Macedon Ranges Observatory site....closed down a few years ago after the lost an overseas contract apparently.

The opening mechanism is basically a 1/4hp motor, wire rope and pulleys. Very simple but bloody hard to explain! I’ll try and get some pics tomorrow which should give some ideas.
Basically motor turns on, rolls roof until it hits a stop switch. All done via a relay setup so it can easily be controlled remotely if needed.

Here’s a link to it operating for the first time in a few years......much quieter now it’s all greased up! https://youtu.be/IfTshNIecfI

[cometcatcher]

Looks fabulous Jen! Bet you can't wait to move in!

[Jen]

Thanks everyone I’m getting pretty excited now 👌
just a quick update for any of you that would like to see a video of the roof sliding 😍😍 there’s a video on my Facebook page 👍👍🤪🤪 Cheers
https://www.facebook.com/jenny.bryent

[Jen]

I now have a roof woohoo 🤩🤩


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[FlashDrive]

Looking good Jen .... you putting up curtains at all ...:P ... purple ones of course.

Col...:)

[Jen]

Absolutely Col hehehe yes a few windows need to be put in, so purple curtains sound pretty good to me lol 😈😈😈

[astronobob]

Woowhoo, That is totally awesome, Congrats and very much the Envy of most about the astro-community, Jen, Well done :thumbsup:

Looking forward to more :work:

[Jen]

G'day everyone ���� It's been a long slow process but there's not much left to do now woohoo (I'm so fricken excited right now - you couldn't wipe the grin off my face if you tried) ��the plumber has completed his job, the insulation and the plaster is nearly complete in the warm room/office and my windows have arrived ��
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Grrr I don't know why the pics get turned sideways ����

[pfitzgerald]

...sooooo close now Jen - am absolutely green with envy here!

Paul

[cometcatcher]

Coming along nicely! I'm thinking I should have made mine a bit bigger so I could put a 12" in it. Although there are ways of getting one in there. :D

[Ric]

Looking awesome Jen

Well done.

[Jen]

:D:D hehe thanks guys I can't wait to move in 😈😈💜💜🔭🔭👽👽

[Jen]

The windows are in woohoo 🤗🤗🤗💜💜

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[Bart]

Man, that is looking soooo goood! :thumbsup:

I'm really jelly, even though I have my own and operate it remotely, mine is like the poor cousin! :sadeyes:

Can I come over your house? :D

[strongmanmike]

Really niiiice Jen.....:thumbsup:

Mike

[Jen]

🤣🤣🤣 lol Bart your welcome anytime, there will be prince pics everywhere hehehe 💜💜😈😈

[Jen]

:thanx::thanx:

[leon]

Jen you are making me sick with envy, :) you are so lucky, and girl I know you will enjoy every moment, bugger hubby. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[kinetic]

So good Jen!

Steve

[Goschencat]

Now.....about the clouds you're causing ... :rofl:

[TwistedRider]

Exactly, clouds each time I want to set things up. :(

Or it could be I'm still in the "new scope" phase. :)

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol:

[Allan]

Jen, could you tell me what insulation you used for the roof. Thanks

[Jen]

Hi Allan I got some of this stuff from Bunnings ����
Jen deleted the pic as it was the wrong one lol

[Paul Haese]

Hey Jen,

that is sarking which acts as a moisture barrier and not insulation. You use sarking in conjunction with insulation. The sarking keeps the insulation dry.

I note that aircell has been mentioned on IIS a few times. This is an insulation but not designed for use in roof structures. It adds to thermal impact in walls where there is tilt up panels.

I would recommend either glass wool with sarking or polyester insulation (more expensive but lasts forever and is made from recycles drink bottles) with sarking. You would need something like R2.5-R4 for effective reduction in summer temps.

[Jen]

Oh oops thanks Paul I didn't realise there is different types I just grabbed the first pic I seen on the Bunnings page hahaha oops sorry Allan ignore that pic lol

[Allan]

Ok, thanks for the insulation suggestions.

Observatory is looking fantastic Jen.

[leon]

Ya know I hate you now Jen, :scared3: na just kidding, love the whole set up, :thumbsup: you are so lucky:)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Jen]

Hehehe thanks guys it's getting really exciting now 😱😱😜I now have power woohoo 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 and the warm room is now full of gorgeous different shades of purple and the piers are now bolted in 😍

[Jen]

Oops I forgot to add the latest pics 🤩🤩🤩
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[Bart]

Aaaaaaaggghhh......my...eyees... everything is purple! ;):P:rofl::rofl:

Seriously, you should be very proud, it is a fine observatroy! Congrats!

[Jen]

Hahaha thanks Bart 🤗🤗

[Lee]

Looks great.... Gee I'd love to have that much space! :)

[strongmanmike]

Why the purple Jen? :question:...don't get it, do you like that colour or something :shrug: :D

Showed my wife this setup and said "see?? if she can have one, so can I"

Mike

[multiweb]

I like the Prince purple rain logo. Nice touch. :thumbsup:

[Jen]

Hahaha and how did that go down Mike lol

[Jen]

Thank you 😍😍😍💜💜

[strongmanmike]

Meah, to be honest, my wife is pretty cool, we have been looking for a rural property for a year now and I already have another observatory approved for the relocation :D...but her seeing yours and you being a woman, helps decrazify my passion in her eyes a little :lol:...oh and by the way, look at the colour of the inside walls of my first observatory (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/55621708/original) I built back in 2004 :D

Mike

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[75BC]

Wow is all I can say.
That is just too good not to comment at all though. :thumbsup:
I've honestly lived in far worse "accommodation" than that.

[Jen]

Hehehe thanks Brandon 🤗

[Jen]

:eyepop: woohoo the roof now opens with just a push of a button
( Jens doing her happy dance) 🤗🤗💜💜😜😜
check out the video on my facey page 🤗
Thanks for looking 😀😀
Cheers

https://www.facebook.com/580666724/posts/10156228201856725/

[Nikolas]

Oh to have some land to do the same without neoghbour's trees right on the fence line..... Lovely to see that

[Jen]

It’s an awesome feeling and I haven’t even moved in yet hehe 😈😈🤣🤣

[Imme]

You wont know yourself Jen......some of my best pics have come from unplanned imaging sessions that happened after looking up at the sky and seeing it was clear when forecasts told me it wasn't going to be.....a quick hour here and there will now be so easy for you.

[Allan_L]

Very cool Jen!
That's Brilliant! :thumbsup:

I attended a commercial observatory at Maidenwell a few years back. He had a setup like yours.
But when he hit the button, apart from opening the slide off roof, a stereo system started up with the Sprach Zarathustra Opening fanfare.
It was awesome.
Just saying … ;)

[sharpiel]

Oh I really want that...

[RickS]

Wow, very cool Jen :thumbsup:

[Jen]

Woohoo thanks guys it’s getting really exciting now I had first light in the obs with Eddy on Saturday night.
I pulled an all nighter and it felt so good just to push one button and go straight to bed 😜😜
It doesn’t take long to fill the obs I need more room already. 🤣
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[gts055]

Thats a fantastic setup. Is it your "Pandora" , I like the sound of Purple in Pandora :) Mark

[cometcatcher]

Looks fantastic! You'll get way more sky time with an obs.

[ChrisM]

Just seen your obs project Jen and it's wonderful - such a solid construction and very smooth roof operation. Keep up the good work and look forward to 'first light' for the obs.
Cheers, Chris

[Jen]

:thanx::thanx:
Thanks everyone :D I just love it :)
Its filling up very quickly, I think i need a bigger obs already :lol::lol:

But... a bit of sad news after 1 week in, I think the motor has already failing or has died :sadeyes::sadeyes: Its taken me so long to get this far I just want to cry :(:( It keep stopping in random spots then decides it doesn't want to move at all :sadeyes: it just sounds very tired already.
So motor is now off and getting looked at, i think i might have to get the next motor size up.
Oh well.... all trial and error i guess :rolleyes:
The builder is now on two weeks holidays grrrr and I've got two astro camps coming up next month so now i have to pull these scopes down to load these toys in my car (i don't want to) need another scope for travelling now hahaha
Anyway here are a few pics of it filling up very quickly :D

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[ChrisM]

Jen, if the motor opened the roof satisfactorily when first installed, then it's proved that it can do that. Motors don't typically 'lose power', unless there is something wrong with the cabling or connections, or the power supply itself. Having said that, it is possible that an under-sized motor could have got hot and damaged internally if overloaded. (Does it have a fuse or circuit breaker in the circuit?)

Another possibility is that the roof is not running as smoothly as it should, and therefore has placed more load on the motor. In that case, getting a 'bigger' motor is not necessarily the right answer. The supplier / installer needs to sort it out for you.

Best of luck, Chris

[stefang]

We initially used a sliding gate opener for our RoR and that died pretty quickly, not to mention the 100amps it draws on start up when the could spin up.

We then bought a replacement as found here with a reduction hear, and machined a brass gear foe the track. Draws little power and is rock solid.

http://www.crestmi.com.au/DC_precision_gearmotors.php#Z55D300-24GU

Stefan

[multiweb]

Love the tak! :eyepop: Cool observatory. I'm sure you'll sort out the roof in no time. Just a bump in the road. So the next star party is at Jen's house right? ;)

[leon]

Jen it is defiantly a dream ;) and it was yours, :thumbsup:an exceptional set up, your passion for astronomy showed the first time i met you at Snake Valley, :) you should be so proud of your self, well done girl. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Jen]

:thanx::thanx:
Thanks guys 🤗🤗😍😍
Yes it sure is a dream come true 💜💜
My builder should be back in town today so hopefully we can get back to it 🥴🥴

[RickS]

Looks fabulous, Jen! I'm sure you'll get the motor/roof sorted.

[Jen]

Hi guys :hi::hi: just a quick update ;);) my upgraded motor is finally in woohoo (its been a very long wait) :rolleyes: but she moves much easier now :thumbsup::thumbsup:

SIZE DOES MATTER :eyepop::lol:

More pics coming soon ;);)

cheers
Jen

[Jen]

Teething problems number two 😭😭😭
Another month in and the cog on the motor has totally stripped the teeth off the railings 😡😡 - feeling shattered :sadeyes:

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[Paul Haese]

Hi Jen,

when ASSA built our the new turret at Stockport, we used a steel rack which is 7mm thick and mode 8 tooth spacing. Using plastic or cast racks will not survive if the load of the roof is too high. I suspect your roof is very heavy as the shutter on our roof is 400kg and it is flat, 5 metres long and only 2 metres wide. The rack we used was the minimum calculated by our engineer to bear that load.

I am sure you will get this sorted but thick steel is the way to go in this instance. You can get them cut via engineering firms which laser and computer cutting.

[Jen]

:thanx: thanks Paul hopefully the builder will get it right eventually :confused2:

[BadSean]

This has been a most informative thread. What an exciting build. I hope you got the gear rack sorted out.

[Jen]

Hey thanks Sean, yes i have finally got the roof sorted (three motors later) :eyepop:
I will post update pics soon ;);)

[Jen]

G’day everyone 🤗🤗 Warm room is now complete woohoo 💜💜 just gotta make my curtains and put a few pics on the walls 😍🤩
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[carlstronomy]

Love the warm room, really well set up :)

[multiweb]

That looks terrific Jen. Love the purple carpet. You just need a prince poster for the wall.

[appiice]

Hello Jen

I'm really impressed with your Obs, great build.

I google map'd your location, how do you go with direct light from your neighbours and the town you are in? I have one neighbour who when I built my Obs thought it a good idea to install multiple flood lights.

A couple of general comments, great to see your builder / concretor knew how to place the plastic under the slab, most do it wrong and carry it up the inner side of the formwork.

The idea of it being " overbuilt " is often brought up, I don't want to live next to a structure that could blow away in a stiff breeze and I don't want to be in one when the thing is blown over nor do I want to be thing about repairs to the slab because it failed or the walls failed when the roof opened. Yours " looks " overbuilt but it looks right to me.

Also happy you got the roof sorted, I had a few early problems with mine and was always worried it would open then decide to stop when I was finished.

I hope you have many happy years in there.

Ed

[strongmanmike]

Excellent!....and I see you have already had a shag in there :P

Mike

[FlashDrive]

Where's the ' PURPLE ' Curtains .... ;)

Col....

[Jen]

🤣🤣🤣😈😈

[Jen]

The purple curtains are measured up ready to go 🤪🤪💜

[Jen]

Oh Marc I have already done up a collage of over 100 prince pics to go on the walls 🤣 but I think I’m going to need a bigger obs 🤣🤣
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[multiweb]

:eyepop: :lol::lol::lol: Well, you still have the outside walls too and under the roof. :P

[Jen]

🤣🤣🤣

[Goschencat]

This explains the crappy Weather then :rofl:

[I.C.D]

Hi Jen
Oh dear we can only dream of what you are doing .Can't wait to see the finish result ,and as far for the first engineer, lets hope the back wheels fall if his car one day
Ian

[Jen]

🤣🤣🤣 thanks Ian

[DavidU]

How awesome:thumbsup: is this !!!

[Jen]

Thanks Dave 😍😍 it feels like it has taken forever, it’s nearly finished woohoo