Gday all, here is a couple photos of my observatory. It was built on a very small budget, most of the steel frame work was made from the scrap metal at work which was kindly donated by the boss. All welding and powder coating was done by myself at work. I think the most expensive part was the pine decking. So far I don't think there is any more than $500 in the whole project. It is still a work in progress, need some flashings, another coat of paint, the 12v LED's wired up and possibly a solar panel to charge the batteries. As you can see the back yard is quite steep and being a rental it had to be easily removable (it does help that the owner of the house is into all things astro and has a couple observatories of his own haha). Thanks for looking.
What a very neat idea......Its just like all you need housing for your scope...wooden desk for your laptop a nice belcony easy on easy off.....red light white light and mini weather station its very cool
Thanks guys, I do have a bit of a condensation problem but I was hoping to fix that with some form of insulation. Didnt even think to add a ventilation fan, that could work thanks. If I could do it over I would make the deck a little bigger and re design the pier but it will do for now.
looks great, very similar to what I want to build in the backyard.
are the wheels secured to the rails or is just the weight that keeps it on the rails?
Congrats Daine from another DIY-er. I would endorse the idea of insulation. I found 19mm polystyrene satisfactory for my obs which is probably exposed to more sun than yours judging from the photos. Affix with FAST Liquid Nails. I don't have a fan.
Cheers
Thanks again for the positive feedback. The track system is very basic, its just 4 100mm castors with the rubber wheel removed bolted to the shelter. The hub for the castors has a v shape and runs on some downee gate track. The weight of the structure holds it down on the rails and in the closed position it is locked with a couple hasp and staples. The true test of the relocatability will come in the next few weeks. Just get it all set up and we have to move haha.
Hi guys just thought id give a little update on this thread, I have built myself a new, more robust pier made from an old street lamp pole (free from the scrap metal yard) and mounted it to a much more stable concrete footing. The deck and everything else will be removed from the old site this weekend and should be all installed by Sunday! For all those in and around the Hunter Valley I am truly sorry for the next few weeks of bad weather.
This a real neat Daine, the same concept Im planning at the moment - not too elaborate and/or expensive but very practical, the advantage of not having to set up and down in priceless in my books
Very Very Nice
