turbo_pascale
23-11-2007, 12:46 AM
Thought I might share the construction photos of my shed-cum-observatory now that it has been up and running for a month or so.
The original plan was quite limited because I live in a townhouse with a tiny little courtyard. The shed was purchased as a shed (ie pre-telescope), and was full of the usual junk. A year and a half of my constant moaning about the weather and how long it was taking to setup/tear-down was enough to finally get permission from the wife to allow me to do it.
The fundamental problem was how to roll the roof off without going over the fence. I had considered a "flip-top" hinge design, but this was going to cause more problems than it solved. So, in the end, there was only one feasible plan.
I recruited AndrewJ from here (after whining incessantly for months about having no mechanical skills), and his engineering skills were to be critical to the process.
I purchased rails and wheels from a garage door place in Campbellfield.
Then, Andrew came over to see the "lay of the land", and come up with the shopping list.
Total outlay was:
Shed itself - can't remember - it was years ago - somewhere between $400-$800
$250 for the rails and wheels - could have probably found cheaper.
$200 or so in brackets, wood, screws and assorted bits from Bunnings.
Food, drink and cajoling of the helpers costs nothing but a big favour in return at some point in the future. If you're handy, you only need a friend for some of the awkward lifting.
$200 or so to get power in there (optional of you are willing to run off 12V for your gear, but it is very, very convenient).
$50 for the red rope lights (cool, but not really well implemented yet!)
I had the scope mounted on the tripod for a while, but frankly, the 2x3m size, plus all the stuff that was living in the shed made it very, very cramped. I ordered a pier from Bert at Macedon Ranges Observatory (he'd made up 9 of them for his remote observing facility, and was able to get one made up for me to the same spec, and had the top-plate made to fit my wedge exactly too - damned solid which is GREAT!)
I did the hole for the pier (about 50 cubic centimeters) and concrete pour for the pier one weekend, and then put the pier in the next weekend. Then
I completely pulled everything out of the shed (on a 30 degree day just to make it hard!), and put in underlay and carpet rescued from when we re-did the carpet in the house 6 months earlier (I had plans for the shed for a long time!!)
To my amazement, I had to only throw away a bit of stuff that was in the shed - managed to get most of it back in quite a bit neater than before, and found new places for some stuff that wasn't going to be touched for ages.
In the 3 weeks or so that it has been "functional", I've only missed one clear night (was sleep deprived from all-night sessions for 2 days in a row prior). This actually isn't all that much really, as Melbourne weather has been crud for quite some time now.
The biggest single advantage is that I can go out, be setup in 10 minutes, and do something simple like do a PEC train or refine my drift alignment, and it it clouds over 1 hour later, packup takes 10 minutes, and you're ready to go next time. I have taken more images in the last few weeks than I have in the past 2.5 years since I got started in this hobby.
The point of this entire post though, is that even in a tiny courtyard, you CAN have an observatory (sky views are limited by my house, but you can't have it all!). It is well worth the effort if you can convince the significant other to comply. I recommend it highly!
Turbo
The original plan was quite limited because I live in a townhouse with a tiny little courtyard. The shed was purchased as a shed (ie pre-telescope), and was full of the usual junk. A year and a half of my constant moaning about the weather and how long it was taking to setup/tear-down was enough to finally get permission from the wife to allow me to do it.
The fundamental problem was how to roll the roof off without going over the fence. I had considered a "flip-top" hinge design, but this was going to cause more problems than it solved. So, in the end, there was only one feasible plan.
I recruited AndrewJ from here (after whining incessantly for months about having no mechanical skills), and his engineering skills were to be critical to the process.
I purchased rails and wheels from a garage door place in Campbellfield.
Then, Andrew came over to see the "lay of the land", and come up with the shopping list.
Total outlay was:
Shed itself - can't remember - it was years ago - somewhere between $400-$800
$250 for the rails and wheels - could have probably found cheaper.
$200 or so in brackets, wood, screws and assorted bits from Bunnings.
Food, drink and cajoling of the helpers costs nothing but a big favour in return at some point in the future. If you're handy, you only need a friend for some of the awkward lifting.
$200 or so to get power in there (optional of you are willing to run off 12V for your gear, but it is very, very convenient).
$50 for the red rope lights (cool, but not really well implemented yet!)
I had the scope mounted on the tripod for a while, but frankly, the 2x3m size, plus all the stuff that was living in the shed made it very, very cramped. I ordered a pier from Bert at Macedon Ranges Observatory (he'd made up 9 of them for his remote observing facility, and was able to get one made up for me to the same spec, and had the top-plate made to fit my wedge exactly too - damned solid which is GREAT!)
I did the hole for the pier (about 50 cubic centimeters) and concrete pour for the pier one weekend, and then put the pier in the next weekend. Then
I completely pulled everything out of the shed (on a 30 degree day just to make it hard!), and put in underlay and carpet rescued from when we re-did the carpet in the house 6 months earlier (I had plans for the shed for a long time!!)
To my amazement, I had to only throw away a bit of stuff that was in the shed - managed to get most of it back in quite a bit neater than before, and found new places for some stuff that wasn't going to be touched for ages.
In the 3 weeks or so that it has been "functional", I've only missed one clear night (was sleep deprived from all-night sessions for 2 days in a row prior). This actually isn't all that much really, as Melbourne weather has been crud for quite some time now.
The biggest single advantage is that I can go out, be setup in 10 minutes, and do something simple like do a PEC train or refine my drift alignment, and it it clouds over 1 hour later, packup takes 10 minutes, and you're ready to go next time. I have taken more images in the last few weeks than I have in the past 2.5 years since I got started in this hobby.
The point of this entire post though, is that even in a tiny courtyard, you CAN have an observatory (sky views are limited by my house, but you can't have it all!). It is well worth the effort if you can convince the significant other to comply. I recommend it highly!
Turbo