Finished my Denver Observing Chair

[Blackant (Ant)]

Well, I've had one clear night since getting my 8" Bintel Dob so I thought I'd spend the time making myself an observing chair to go with it.

To be honest I'm not much of a DIY person really, I don't really have much experience building things and some of my efforts can be quite amusing

I finished the chair tonight, and I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't change the design much except I used some 29mm pine I had to make the seat instead of plywood (I had some laying around the house), I painted it with green weatherboard paint left over from the house and I glued a bit of yellow sleeping mat to the seat as a cushion.

It's really comfortable for use with my Dob at any height, and the only thing I'm not sure of is the seat doesn't seem to sit horizontally (see photo) until I sit on it. Quite possibly I made a mistake with my dodgy measuring or maybe it's meant to be like that

But anyway,it doesn't seem to matter as it's comfortable in all the positions I use my Dob in so now I've just got to wait for some clear skies

Kind regards

Ant

[M54 (Molly)]

Hi Ant,
That's a great job!
Did you go from plans or did you just copy one you'd seen?

[Blackant (Ant)]

Originally Posted by M54

Hi Ant,
That's a great job!
Did you go from plans or did you just copy one you'd seen?

Thanks Molly,

I went from plans that I found on the Internet:

http://www.tulsawalk.com/projects/denverobserverchair/denverastro/seat.html

and then modified the materials from what I could find around the house so I could limit what I had to buy

Regards

Ant

[M54 (Molly)]

Well done.
I might have a search through the shed tomorrow.
Thanks for the link!

[Blackant (Ant)]

Originally Posted by M54

Well done.
I might have a search through the shed tomorrow.
Thanks for the link!

You're welcome.

I also looked at these sites as well, they had more photo's and I like photo's when I'm trying to build something

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-10-0-0-1-0.html

http://www.netstreamsol.com.au/astronomy/chair/

http://www.tulsawalk.com/projects/de...air/index.html

Kind regards

Ant

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Here's the one I made in NSW and sadly had to leave behind. The Black knob is to clamp the seat in postion as I found the friction stuff still allowed it to slip a bit. Woodwork is all varnished pine offcuts from the local pallet makers. (Free )

Bill

[Blackant (Ant)]

Originally Posted by Glenhuon

Here's the one I made in NSW and sadly had to leave behind. The Black knob is to clamp the seat in postion as I found the friction stuff still allowed it to slip a bit. Woodwork is all varnished pine offcuts from the local pallet makers. (Free )

Bill

Nice chair there Bill, pity you had to leave it behind

I tested mine last night for the first time under the stars, previous test was done in my lounge room moving the telescope around

Was great, even my 3.5 year old could use it ok. He looked very cute perched up on top of it (with me steadying him) looking at Jupiter through a wideview eyepiece

Regards

Ant

[M54 (Molly)]

Was great, even my 3.5 year old could use it ok. He looked very cute perched up on top of it (with me steadying him) looking at Jupiter through a wideview eyepiece

Off the topic of the observing chair for a minute Ant, what did your 3.5 yr old think of seeing Jupiter?
I have a 3.5 yr old granddaughter and I thought she might be a little young yet. I was waiting till she was a little older, but maybe I shouldn't wait.

Bill, the chair looks really good. I'm definately going to make one.

[Blackant (Ant)]

Originally Posted by M54

Off the topic of the observing chair for a minute Ant, what did your 3.5 yr old think of seeing Jupiter?
I have a 3.5 yr old granddaughter and I thought she might be a little young yet. I was waiting till she was a little older, but maybe I shouldn't wait.

Bill, the chair looks really good. I'm definately going to make one.

Hi Molly,

My 3.5 year old really liked it. I showed him Jupiter, an open star cluster that looked a bit like a man to him (I think it was M6 or M7?) and Omega Centauri.

He liked the man look alike star cluster and Jupiter the most, and I reckon he will really like looking at the craters on the moon because he is obsessed with dinosaurs and knows that they were wiped out by an asteroid strike which makes craters

I used a wide view eyepiece which someone else on the forum recommended to do as it stays in the field of view longer. I tried to make sure that I didn't get too carried away though and stopped as soon as he was getting bored

Kind regards

Ant

[M54 (Molly)]

Thanks Ant.
I'll put some thought into a little observing session for her I think.
I'll start with the moon.