Niharika Observatory

[sadia]

After a long wait our POD arrived few weeks back and few rainless weekends allowed us finish (almost) the main things. There are still few things left and I still need to set it all up.

A lot of things that i did was directly influenced by the DIY designs that i have seen here so definitely a big thank you from me to all for sharing all those ideas.

[sadia]

Few more pic

[Dennis]

Wow – what a fantastic set up, you must be really pleased with the result. Thanks for the photos illustrating the time line!

Does Niharika mean “Milky Way” in Sanskrit?

Cheers

Dennis

[netwolf]

Great work, BTW what is the Pier you have is it from Skypod?

I am so tempted to get a POD and your not helping matters.


Regards
Fahim

[h0ughy]

ahhh great looking gear, well done. So what bad designs did you pickup from whom LOL?

[sadia]

Dennis i believe you are right that niharika is sanskrit word, we use it for nebula in Bangla language.

[sadia]

It's from Ron, Sirius Optics.

[marc4darkskies]

Very exciting! ... and very nicely done Sadia! Keep us posted as you get things set up!

Cheers, Marcus

[mozzie]

nice job sadia you will be happy with the pod the best money ive ever spent:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[ChrisM]

Sadia,
A neat looking job, and you will find having your telescope in an observatory makes a world of difference. Keep the pictures coming.

Best of luck,
Chris

[allan gould]

Sadia
nice looking setup and I hope you have as much pleasure from yours as I do from mine. It looks really well thought out and the pier looks really sturdy.
Allan

[spearo]

Beauty!
frank

[sadia]

All the bad decisions so far has all been my own fault :), luckily none of them is a show stopper. I should have ordered the pod with a pod bay or two, this is something i will have to live with for a while. Attached are the last few pics.

First one shows TSA102, FS60 and finder on G11. Need to tidy up the cables. Probably an odd way to mount the guide scope this way but I found that it helps me to balance the the scope more easily. If the STL filter wheel is hanging on the left making the scope left heavy I can rotate the guide scope and push it on the right to achieve a better balance.

Second one is the first light from the Obs. Still a bit far from being polar aligned but i didn't want to miss the little opportunity i had between the clouds. CCD wasn't square as well so had to crop a bit and there is gradient issue visible. All together 9x 5min Lum.