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  #1  
Old 05-11-2012, 11:23 PM
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TechnoViking (James)
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Talking My Observatory - Finally (almost) finished

Well after almost 6 months my observatory is almost finished, here are some photos of my progress, I have put the colourbond on the roof (which i forgot to take a picture of lol) All i have left to do now is some minor cosmetic painting, and some side flashing.
Just wish the clouds would go away!
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Last edited by TechnoViking; 06-11-2012 at 12:21 AM.
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  #2  
Old 05-11-2012, 11:50 PM
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nice james...... love the pier, what is it?
pat
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  #3  
Old 06-11-2012, 12:17 AM
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Hi Pat, home made Pier, from 230mm od 6mm wall pipe, 12mm top plates. The pier is filled with sand, which has amazing vibration dampening abilities!
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Old 06-11-2012, 08:07 AM
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Looks great - I particularly like the aircraft lighting along the floor.

Pete
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Old 06-11-2012, 10:14 AM
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That looks great!
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:15 PM
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Looks fantastic mate!
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  #7  
Old 06-11-2012, 02:28 PM
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Looks great James.

A job well done.
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  #8  
Old 06-11-2012, 02:42 PM
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A few more pictures, of Pier and PC setup.

Im still new to astronomy, ive only been looking at the stars for a few years with a very under powered celestron 114EQ (which you can see in one of the photos) I decided at the beginning of the year to invest in something with abit more grunt (excuse the expression). now its setup i cant use it due to the horrid weather we have had with cloud cover just about every night! aparently its murphys law when you buy a scope and use it for the first time... but geeze come on 1 week of clouds at night! ...sigh
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Old 06-11-2012, 05:31 PM
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Great job, looks very neat.

Clear skies.
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  #10  
Old 07-11-2012, 01:55 PM
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Nice setup. And yeah, the clouds are standard issue, you just have to be patient.

I started ( restarted really) with the 114 Newt as well. It's being converted into an Astrograph at present. Cheaper than buying an APO.
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Old 07-11-2012, 02:30 PM
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Great observatory bet you are having fun using that!
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  #12  
Old 08-11-2012, 09:47 PM
DJT (David)
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Nice job..just doing my own fit out, so wondering where you got the airline floor lights from?
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  #13  
Old 08-11-2012, 10:30 PM
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Hey David, your going to laugh, but they are red Christmas LED's from Big W 10mtrs for $30, i shortened the powercord because it was close to 4mtrs long. used electrical "C" Clips to hold it on to the skirting boards.
The great thing about them is that they are waterproof, and very robust! Dew wont be affecting these! they give off a really nice suttle red at night
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Old 10-11-2012, 10:24 AM
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James I used red and white LED that I got on ebay , they run off 12v come in 5m lengths are self adhesive and weather proof for about $10 including postage.
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  #15  
Old 10-11-2012, 08:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marke View Post
James I used red and white LED that I got on ebay , they run off 12v come in 5m lengths are self adhesive and weather proof for about $10 including postage.
I did look at the ebay leds, but decided on the big w ones, because they looked more robust and it didnt need any special wiring, just shortened the powerlead
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  #16  
Old 10-11-2012, 11:36 PM
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The leds are pretty good and dont need any special wiring you just hook them up to a 12v battery and thats it . You can see how they look in my build post but I am sure yours are working fine too .
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  #17  
Old 12-11-2012, 01:42 PM
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Must be the way to do it. I got Xmas lights around my lower Ob walls and also the computer bench has one of those red snake lights tucked under the shelf. Illuminates the keyboard and writing area nicely.
I find though that once my eyes are dark adapted most get turned off and I work by starlight ... nice ..
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  #18  
Old 12-11-2012, 04:10 PM
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They xmas lights are effective Brent, heres my Ob at night with the led's on (no flash on the camera).. its a nice dim light, my wife say's "Its very romantic" and my friend said "looks like the redlight district" lol
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  #19  
Old 12-11-2012, 09:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TechnoViking View Post
They xmas lights are effective Brent, heres my Ob at night with the led's on (no flash on the camera).. its a nice dim light, my wife say's "Its very romantic" and my friend said "looks like the redlight district" lol
I like the Big W look! Guess where I will be going this weekend. Thanks
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  #20  
Old 13-11-2012, 12:28 PM
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TechnoViking (James)
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I just went to the shops and found similar LEDs to the ones i used in GOLO for $15! maybe i should have checked there first.
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