I like the idea of the deck for an observatory being light and breezy underneigh more than a solid concrete slab, that will soak up the heat in summer and bugger up viewing while cooling off.
Had a brainstorm
- I have a double garage that has a big recycled sliding door on the north wall, came from my house where it was the front door when I bought the house.
Might put a pier in the yard next to the garage and the put a timber deck around it that is level with the sliding door. (a 3m x 3m (near 10' x 10"))deck might be sufficient I think - can aways extend that if I along the north wall if I need more later as I have a 6m x 6m garage and room for that again on the north side) - an area of my b/yard I don't use now the kid has grown up - the old tramp used to live there .... and just grows grass right now.
The deck will be handy as a BBQ area too and will add value to the property.
Then when I've got more money - I can enclose the deck and put sliding
Skillion roof or 1/2 gable roof (probably simpler to put on rollers and still be rigid and robust) that will butt up against the north wall of the garage over it maybe, thereby needing no new doors , only 3 walls, and a very simple skillion truss - cutting down on costs and utilising thye structural strength of my existing garage which would protect the structure from southerly busters.
Which would be better (cheaper ?!?) :
skillion roof on rollers ? (a shallow Warren Truss)
1/2 gable roof on rollers ? (a shallow Creeper Truss
)
When I eventually extend my driveway from the back of my house to the garage (and run power from the house to the garage) that will simplify getting mains to the observing (I'll run cables in pipes buried in the concrete) to the garage and so to the platform (observatory) too.
Wonder how much I might be looking at to do a "conical pier" onto which my Atlux can go and timber deck ?