I have made the building of a small timber observatory my New Year's resolution. I'd like to hear from anyone that has done this here in Australia. There are plenty of small timber garden shed, cubby house type designs around but how is the roof movement managed? The plan is to build it on a small slab with provisions for a pier later.
You should get a good idea for a different section of the forum "DIY Observatories".
Not a common method but so far mine has been quite functional, but there are many other designs around. Mine was based on getting the most from imaging but the ability to move it when I move.
I concreted some pine posts in, then put some rails around them and added fence palings - worked well apart from a few warping palings. I used some long lengths of small alloy channel in which I run some 2" wheels that are attached to the roof. The roof gets secured by 4 long bolts either side when shut. Was pretty straightforward to build although I ended up putting a bit of slope into the roof for water run off. I can fully open, or partially open either side of the roof depending on conditions.
I would much prefer a dome, but don't have the skill to make one.
Cheers Glen. Definitely no special skills needed for that one! Here's a pic I've found of the inside which gives a slightly better insight to what's going on... you could really make anysort of open roof shed, then put the rolling roof over the top as a separate structure too.
