My Observatory - Finally (almost) finished

[TechnoViking]

Well after almost 6 months my observatory is almost finished, here are some photos of my progress, I have put the colourbond on the roof (which i forgot to take a picture of lol) All i have left to do now is some minor cosmetic painting, and some side flashing.
Just wish the clouds would go away! :sadeyes:

[blink138]

nice james...... love the pier, what is it?
pat

[TechnoViking]

Hi Pat, home made Pier, from 230mm od 6mm wall pipe, 12mm top plates. The pier is filled with sand, which has amazing vibration dampening abilities!

[pvelez]

Looks great - I particularly like the aircraft lighting along the floor.

Pete

[Larryp]

That looks great!:thumbsup:

[04Stefan07]

Looks fantastic mate!

[Ric]

Looks great James.

A job well done. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[TechnoViking]

A few more pictures, of Pier and PC setup.

Im still new to astronomy, ive only been looking at the stars for a few years with a very under powered celestron 114EQ (which you can see in one of the photos) I decided at the beginning of the year to invest in something with abit more grunt (excuse the expression). now its setup i cant use it due to the horrid weather we have had with cloud cover just about every night! aparently its murphys law when you buy a scope and use it for the first time... but geeze come on 1 week of clouds at night! ...sigh:sadeyes:

[scagman]

Great job, looks very neat.

Clear skies.

[ZeroID]

Nice setup. And yeah, the clouds are standard issue, you just have to be patient. :shrug:

I started ( restarted really) with the 114 Newt as well. It's being converted into an Astrograph at present. Cheaper than buying an APO.

[rogerg]

Great observatory :) bet you are having fun using that!

[DJT]

Nice job..just doing my own fit out, so wondering where you got the airline floor lights from?

[TechnoViking]

Hey David, your going to laugh, but they are red Christmas LED's from Big W 10mtrs for $30, i shortened the powercord because it was close to 4mtrs long. used electrical "C" Clips to hold it on to the skirting boards.
The great thing about them is that they are waterproof, and very robust! Dew wont be affecting these! they give off a really nice suttle red at night :)

[Marke]

James I used red and white LED that I got on ebay , they run off 12v come in 5m lengths are self adhesive and weather proof for about $10 including postage.

[TechnoViking]

I did look at the ebay leds, but decided on the big w ones, because they looked more robust and it didnt need any special wiring, just shortened the powerlead :rofl:

[Marke]

The leds are pretty good and dont need any special wiring you just hook them up to a 12v battery and thats it . You can see how they look in my build post but I am sure yours are working fine too .

[ZeroID]

Must be the way to do it. I got Xmas lights around my lower Ob walls and also the computer bench has one of those red snake lights tucked under the shelf. Illuminates the keyboard and writing area nicely.
I find though that once my eyes are dark adapted most get turned off and I work by starlight ... nice ..

[TechnoViking]

They xmas lights are effective Brent, heres my Ob at night with the led's on (no flash on the camera).. its a nice dim light, my wife say's "Its very romantic" and my friend said "looks like the redlight district" lol:lol:

[DJT]

I like the Big W look! Guess where I will be going this weekend. Thanks:)

[TechnoViking]

I just went to the shops and found similar LEDs to the ones i used in GOLO for $15! maybe i should have checked there first.

[ChrisM]

Nice set up James. The pier design looks well thought through.

Chris

[DJT]

Just seen a recall for red chain led lights sold from Big W. yiu might wanto check just in case. Pm sent as well
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php?topic=3097.0

[TechnoViking]

Yup they are my LEDS :(

although im not too worried, i just clecked the every cm of the lights while off, and then rechecked while on. I could not see any exposed wiring, and as an added bonus i didnt get zapped either.

Cheers for the heads up

My Observatory is completely powered off at the mains after use, but i will still keep an eye on it, when in use.

and thanks again DJT