Having a large shed already here, which used to contain chickens, I'm planning on turning part of it into something much cooler, a little observatory for my telescope (Meade 8" LX200).
Looking at doing astrophotography, I've been reading a lot about piers, but still can't decide to go concrete or steel. There's already a concrete floor (although not hugely thick) in the shed, but it seems that'll have to be partly removed to build a solid concrete base no matter which style of pier I choose. I have the Mitty Euro wedge to attach on top of the pier.
Plans are for the pier will be 1m high at the moment, and given the height of the walls, it seems at worst I'll be able to see as low as 30 degrees on most sides. I'd love more, but being very new to all this, it's already quite complicated. Hmm.
Being not far from the house and with an ethernet-over-power adapter, I'm looking at controlling a little computer out there from inside the house. Being away from the telescope during photography seems ideal; warmer indoors, less vibrations than if I moved around the scope, and I can ensure there's no lights on around the scope (which in this area, would attract moths).
I remember reading online about modding the Meade scopes so the wires don't get tangled as it turns, which will be essential if I'm gonna leave the scope on its own.
Anyways, having enjoyed other people's threads, I thought I'd create my own showing the progress of construction
Plus being a newbie, if anyone thinks I'm making any mistakes, they might be nice and point them out before I do, hahaha.
1/6th of this shed will become the telescope observatory (the part with the blue tarp hanging inside on the first photo here).
(EDIT: I'm not sure why the images below don't appear as they do when I preview this thread, doh!)
http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/rWJp7.jpg
http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/5OSaV.jpg
http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/fvWHO.jpg
http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/RLjM9.jpg
http://img.acianetmedia.com/i/vjyw.jpg