Anth's Observatory

[Anth10]

Hi all,
Hope everyone is well.

I have all the time in the world of late as this year has presented due to the restrictions imposed to curb this nasty pandemic. Work is slow and most of us particularly here in the state of Vic are confined to home as a base to ride it out. And so my labor of love has begun - building my shed/observatory!

I've hand drafted the plans last June and permits cleared for a start around when Covid hit the news back in the early months. The design is based on a rustic homestead I noticed watching a program on the Warwick homestead rebuild in Queensland which I was inspired and also from a similar homestead in Casterton whilst participating in the annual Kelpie show (my one year old pup did well in the sprint mind you).

I knocked down the old existing rusty shed and began my new attempt at it whilst incorporating a roll off roof design for my obsy.

When finished it will have weatherboard cladding, clay pavers for the floor with sand and scoria subgrade, mudbrick internal walls for insulation and stable temp with old californian bungalow doors/windows I've collected over time for flavour. The roof sheets will utilse my existing shed old corrugated rusted iron for a touch of nostalgia.
The roll off roof design is a mix of elements I have noticed in other similar roofs with brass castors and turnbuckles for lock down and also for added safety some heavy duty steel brackets designed to prevent uplift with a right angle steel angle.

The steel pillar was an old surveying pier we had at work that was sitting around doing nothing from a previous project. It'll be poured/installed after completion of the roof to maximise space for the 10" Newt.

Should be cool when its finished and I can get back to imaging - with a bit more luxury knowing that the scope will be permanently setup and ready to go...

Anyhow with 6 weeks lock-down here working from home I'll get pretty close to having it almost ready.

Stay tuned.

Stay safe,
Anthony

[multiweb]

:eyepop: Far out! Looks like a house extension. Huge. :thumbsup:

[FrancoRodriguez]

What an awesome obsy you're building! How tall is it at the wall? Are you making it so you need to move the scope to horizontal position in order to close the roof? And how many square meters is it? I'm making one too, and it's more than 10 square meters which means I should get council approval, but I'm taking the risk and not doing that. It's a massive bother and they'd make me jump through all sorts of hoops;)

[Mickoid]

That's looking great Anthony, will be nice when the roof goes on and the frame is protected from the weather. Good to get all the council approvals out of the way so it's all legit and they won't be making you pull it down after all your hard work. It's certainly going to be a feature of your backyard! :D

[Anth10]

Yeh Marc, I guess if you’ve got the space use it. It’s multipurpose and the shed is a major part of the build- the obs is off to one half and will work well together. Nice to half shelter on the cold nights and everything in its place.

CheerS.
Anth

[Anth10]

Thanks Mickoid. Its certainly an upgrade on the old rat infested shed that once filled that space. It was ready to come down anyway - always prone to flooding in heavy rain and the roof clearance never suited my height- it served its purpose but now it’ll be replaced by something I’ve dreamed of building with a nostalgic farm style abode.

All good things take time.
And as mentioned plenty of that these days...

Anth

[Anth10]

Franco
I’m glad that you are embarking on your ROR build. It’s certainly a challenge I’ve found with plenty to consider. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s consumed me but when you’re hell bent on achieving a goal nothing really gets in your way!
My overall work space internally is 6mx3.5m
With the actual observatory being just under half that at 2.8mx3.5m.
To answer your question on the roof height well this was a bit of a compromise having to accommodate telescope height and head clearance. I went for a wall height of 2.1m giving around 35deg min view to the sky. I can see from the east through to the west only a short distance past the meridian. I can see a large portion of the south too.
My Newtonian is 1250mm focal length so quite long and when it’s parked to the South Pole it will sit 100mm clear of the ceiling. This I will have to see when it’s finished as I am still uncertain what roof insulation to put in and this may drop the ceiling a little more depending.

In any case it’ll be practical enough to maintain decent clearance even if I place it on a slight tilt. The sky will be unobstructed for the best part.

Look forward to seeing your progress and feel free to ask any questions as I would equally be keeping an eye out for any last minute tips...

All the best:thumbsup:
Anth

[Imme]

Bloody hell anth.....that thing is a monster. Looks very well thought out and can’t wait to see the finished product.

I may need to come to your place now!

Well done mate - looks great

[dikman]

Anth, looks great, should be very nice when finished.:thumbsup:


Franco, it's always risky trying to avoid council approval. I don't know about yours but I believe ours uses aerial photos to keep an eye on what's being built! I recently wanted to build a shed for my sewing machines and reloading gear. I was limited to 15 sq.m without council approval so went with that because I knew it was going to be an (expensive) pain building anything bigger. This way I didn't need to involve the council.

[FrancoRodriguez]

Yes, I know it's a bit risky in some areas, particularly in the city, but I'm in the country, about 1/2 hour away from Toowoomba on the Darling Downs in QLD. Everyone in my neighbourhood builds sheds and stables without approval. If it comes down to the crunch, all that needs to be done is to pay a builder or engineer to draw up the designs that have already been done....I hope!

[Imme]

I work for a council in central Victoria and can confirm comparisons are done annually of pre/post high res images using intramaps data.

[Anth10]

Cheers Jon,
Well it’s rather well spaced out, but nothin on your mega shed we’d agree.
Started the weatherboards today- light work very cruisey under the late winter sunshine.
I can see why you’d take the chance Franco and really there shouldn’t be much concern for the council but as both Jon and Richard spelt out you know the regs it’s just a matter of personal choice - and let me tell you I’ve jumped through plenty of those hoops you’re talking about- quite stressful.

Anth;)

[dikman]

Franco, in that situation I'd probably do the same thing. If it's not a huge construction the chances are the council won't worry, being in a rural area.

[Anth10]

Hi all,
Melbourne is dishing up some Antarctic chill but the observatory build must go on...
Weatherboards nailed, Roof sheets half done...
Can see it finally taking shape.

Next will be the paved floor and wiring then last but not least the pier footing dig and pour..

Stay warm , bring on Spring!
Anth

[FrancoRodriguez]

Are you going to motorise and control your obsy? I was thinking about the pros and cons of automation. On the one hand, it would give huge peace of mind knowing that if a big wind picked up or it started drizzling then it would protect my gear. It's not a cheap endeavour though, with a cloud sensor needed too. The Boltwood ones are pretty expensive. Have you put thoughts into that? There are some companies, including Scopedome in Australia offering a turnkey solution. SOunds pretty seductive not to have to do it all one's self!

[Anth10]

Hi everyone,

Latest update -
Paving has been laid out and elec cables being roughed in as we speak.
If the rainbow is any indication then my dream is starting to come true...

Happy days,
Anth

PS now I have to dig this Pier Footing. Not looking forward to this - I have been avoiding it to say the least...

[Anth10]

Hi Franco,
Mate I am fairly old school for a young bloke ( tongue in cheek),
I am happy to use my long arm reach and drag the roof along myself. Sounds like I'm a gluten for punishment but the less automation the less than can go wrong I recon.
Incidently, the early hours of Saturday morning the wind was gusting pretty darn wildly and I had to get outta bed to use the turnbuckles to lock it down juuust in case... It was a real test and this month of September is always heart in mouth stuff with the trade winds getting up there. I'm on a hill so the wind races straight up the valley and shakes the gum trees around like you wouldn't want to see.
I have a secondary system to prevent the chance of the roof flying off even if I were to forget securing the turnbuckles and that is my engineered brackets with a lip to overlock the angle tracks to prevent uplift wherever the roof may be sitting at any particular position along the rails..
I'm comfortable this will hold it all down in good stead.

Getting closer now and I will need to insulate the roof which is my next decision to make on what is best...
Cheers and hope your design is coming along well too..
Anth

[Anth10]

Franco,
Here is a close up of the bracket to safeguard the roof from uplift.
Anth

[FrancoRodriguez]

I kind of agree with the less automation idea. sometimes things are needlessly complex. For example, I got a new induction oven with electronic touch panel in January and it's busted already. Seems like water got in or something. I long for the days that things were made robust with physical knobs and switches. Drives me insane. As for the structure itself, you should probably be pretty careful with winds. The wheels look pretty small and don't appear to have protection against a shear/lateral forces. I don't know anything about construction but after much discussion with my builder we went for some pretty tough wheels and tracks. They were not cheap, costing about 5k including the tracks. I got 4 wheels and 3 tracks (one will be halved and welded to increase length). You can see in the link below that the bearings have protection against lateral forces with an extra wheel at right angles. It also has a cantilever. Each one is almost 1/2m long and is surprisingly heavy. If you feel you will need something stronger than what you've got I'm sure you can upgrade without too much hassle. I went for the larger ones but they come in smaller sizes. Maybe I'm being paranoid but I had to go with the expert advice I was given. Check them out...
https://admerch.com.au/product/gtr028-5-wheel-cantilever-gate-wheel-set/
https://admerch.com.au/product/cantilever-gate-channel-heavy-series/

[Anth10]

Franco,
You have certainly covered your butt purchasing these wheels! The expense to me seems excessive for what I'm trying to achieve - your design may be different and warrants this decision however. In the attached image you will see what I went with. They are rated to carry 250kg each and with 4 wheels each side spanning the 4m skilion roof (8 in total therefore) I believe it should suffice. The design of my ROR is protected from the prevailing westerly wind by the pitched shed roof and in terms of lateral movement I don't think shear would enter the equation enough to worry about. The 50mm heavy duty steel angle contains the wheels bordered by the hardwood beams and there is little slack sideways for it to buckle over. Basically they are all contained in a straight line and should be right(I'm not an engineer but reason holds up I hope :D).

With all four turnbuckles holding the roof down and contained by 6 uplift heavy duty brackets it ain't going to move too much...

Franco - I do support your line of thinking however and peace of mind is paramount, and with your choice of rolling stock you will undoubtably have zero issues to be concerned about. Thanks for your input and sharing your ideas , will be keeping an eye with your progress.
Anth:thumbsup:

[Astronovice]

I used a rotary post hole digger to bore a circular hole and then squared it off with a long handled spade, much easier than trying to hack it all out with the spade.

[Anth10]

Cal,
Your suggestion was considered and I was fortunate enough to have a plumber lend me his jack hammer to do the heavy work. I'm feeling a bit tingly in the arms and hands from using it though - it really bounces around!
Made short work of digging a 1m deep X600 square hole that's for sure.

The actual footing was 500m deep and the 1.3 m tall gal steel pillar sits also 500m below the paving level leaving it standing at 800mm above the floor to take my Neq6 mount and scope. I poured the template holding the four 300mm M12 bolts in-situ and aligned it square to fit the base plate of the pillar and once the concrete went almost off I was able (with the help of my Son) to drop the pillar in place over the bolts and propped it level and plumb using the ladder and some blocks of timber to set it in place.

Was a big job but was satisfying to rest on Fathers Day and soak up the achievement along with all the pampering from my fam.

Look forward to spray painting the pillar and fitting out the walls internally...

Anth

[Anth10]

Hi all,
Well the front doors are on and its time to get started setting up.
I was keen to try out the obs with a test setup (using the tripod) to see what it was like and I was very pleased. The fact that the walls surround you gives a whole new feel to astronomy - a bit of comfort from the outdoor chill I guess and sheltered from the ambient light and shifting air. Having a desk right by is very convenient to have all the astro gear off the ground and the computer setup. This will all be wired in soon with cables tucked under the paving to keep it neat and tidy. I'm now over the hard work with this build and the rain this weekend will give it a good test (its been water tight so far so I'm confident it'll hold up) The last touches will be the internal wall finishes and some shed stuff to hang up and to bring it to life (the beer fridge mainly).

In case you are wondering what the survey gear is setup for is because I am going to establish a meridian line (Greenwich inspired) out the front of the obs for a point of interest while marking out the anelemma pattern to work as a sundial (I've done the computations for my location - I have one already out the front garden I made 5 or so years ago . Watch this space...

[Anth10]

Hi everyone on this snowy cold Sep day!

Today was a milestone moment having rigged up the mount and scope on the awaiting pier. Unbolted the Neq6 Pro mount from its tripod legs and re-bolted it using the central locking bolt to the pier. Here it is...

I have to say its worked out just as I thought it would with enough clearance from the rafters as planned. I have also rigged up a block and tackle my father gave me and attached a rope connecting the front beam of the ROR. It's made things smooth and simple enough to slide off now. I like it.

Now, Question : If anybody would care to suggest - Is it bad to leave the scope fully assembled with all the counter weights on the extention rod for lengthy periods or is it better to take it all down after each session leaving just the mount on the pier?
The reason I ask is I'm not sure if it is good to have all that weight straining the damn thing and would flexure creep in over time in the OTA. Also would the mirror suffer from being in the Parked home position? Up until now I have always stood my Newtonian up straight to keep its shape...

Any thoughts welcome and appreciated.

Cheers,
Anthony

[multiweb]

Personally I don't have a permanent observatory so all my gear is stored indoors most of the time.

I store my scopes vertically, so the primaries are facing up or down. Mainly easier to store this way but also heavy mirrors sit flat with gravity. No long term sagging or flexure.

The mount I treat it like a precision instrument not a work horse. So I dry it after each session, I never have a load out of balance on it (e.g counter weights on shaft without scope on) and I service it every 12 months. Strip it, clean it, regrease it and fix or change what needs to be like bearings or shaft wear marks needing sanding, worms, couplings, gearboxes, clutches, etc... It's now over 20 years old.

If a had a permanent set up and ceiling room I'd park the scope vertically up or down and work out some kind of rig to take the weight off the mount to support. If it's for long periods of time I'd take everything apart and put in dry storage.

[Anth10]

Practical advice given Marc.
I’ve given it much thought and although it’s nice to have it setup at the ready I do tend to believe it’s far wiser to take it down(my Son has echoed your idea too). This way the nephew and nieces aren’t tempted to hang off it it too!
As for your comment on the workhorse well I’d like to one day be able to take up the challenge of servicing the mount. It looks like a daunting task but hats off to you for maintaining it. The belt mod is something I have on the things to do list one of these days.

Cheers.
Anthony

[multiweb]

The Losmandy mounts have very few moving parts so are easy to strip and maintain. I believe skywatchers EQs are more of a challenge but when you've done it once I think it gets easier. Understanding what's under the hood with your mount also helps greatly in tuning it and get results.

[Anth10]

Hi all,

Here are a few pics with the gal pillar painted in stark white with the scope all setup. I've had a test run or two in the observatory and enjoying it very much - well worth the hard yakka.:)
Anth

[multiweb]

That looks so good mate. Green with envy. :lol:

[xelasnave]

It has been a real pleasure seeing this get done and very motivating for me to keep at my project.
Alex