After much deliberation, mostly in my head and after getting royally sick and tired of setting up and tearing down my gear every time, I managed to secure a "lease" on my own land, courtesy of the better half, to extend the existing shower deck near the pool filter and bodgy up an observatory so I can gather all the more Sydney skyglow whenever I want.
Prior to my gallbladder removal operation (good bloody riddance) in August, I started in late July on what looks at first glance to be a vege patch, forming the base of the deck, which got put on hold for a few months while recovering from the surgery. I only completed half of the decking boards before finishing them in late September....
Next item on the agenda was to finish digging the pier footings and then fit and pour the concrete into the base and the pier "pipe", scrounged from the Windsor junkyard, I based the pier design on an article I read in Sky at Night magazine for an HEQ5 in a UK backyard, with re-bar down the pipe, a nice solid base and concrete down the tube.
The pier top plate was also from the junkyard, some sort of salvaged pully wheel or something, which seemed to be carbon steel and just the right size to fit into the PVC pipe yet form a stable platform for the HEQ5 Pro mount.
Some threaded rod, M10 nuts, an M6 AZ bolt and 200kgs of concrete later, I have now got an almost working pier to bolt the mount to, (the conduits are fed to the bottom of the pier, ready for the cables) and now "all" I have to do is build an observatory over the top of it all.
Incidentally, the total cost of the pier as it stands (not including the deck) is only $100 so far, including $60 for the concrete...not bad as it is rock solid and any taps on it die down in just over a second. Jumping on the deck has no effect, even with my 120kg, 6 foot 9 frame doing the jumping
So, to start with, here are the progress pics to date. Starting with the vege patch and moving up to today, after two days work finalising the construction of the pier works. I am planning to paint the pier the slate grey that matches the pool fence and almost everything else in the back yard, simply as it is readily available and if I get stuck, or move, could even look like a bird feeder support if the building goes with me or never gets built.
Design for the obs is still in my head, I am tossing around a few different split roof ideas trying to minimise the footprint of the open roof as this is an aesthetic project which has to align with SWMBO's grand plan. So stay tuned on the roof design.
The building will be approx 2m wide and 4 metres long (ish - I cant remember) and will have a warm room at the back with the front section open to the sky. I am planning on either pine or steel framing depending on the cost and weatherboards (think distressed beachfront change room) for the cladding if I can find it, with a steel colourbond roof and perhaps some sort of fancy door as it will face the pool.
The dead grass in the pics is also that way as the deck will be extended depending on budget and priorities, to fill in the whole area later on.
Early days yet, but I thought I would start a thread so I can keep my motivation levels up and maybe garner some excellent ideas from anyone who may want to chip in.
Whew, enough for now, I will try and keep this updated with any new works as they are completed.
An apt description - "journey" I am sure it will be exhausting once I can manage to get it all done . No doubt the wife will want to move once it is finally complete
Look at the sheen on that wood! It's like a bowling alley! Very nice.
That's just the water from the washdown Logan, to get the concrete dust off. I am looking to seal the wood on the deck in the next day or so, depending on the weather.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larryp
Neat pier, Chris! I look forward to seeing the on-going construction
Thanks Laurie, I will keep this thread updated as I go.
Great stuff Chris, looks like you are well protected from the wind there so you can even just leave the aligned mount out under a covers until you get the Taj Mahal built over it, even that will cut down setup time. The pier does look slightly thin though I'm sure it will be ok unless you put a 16" RC on it
Good start, you won't regret it, you will get far more use out of your gear, clouds excepting of course.
Don't worry about keeping your enthusiasm for the project up, we'll all keep on your back to make sure you finish it.
Thanks Brent, I will hold you to that,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod771
Exciting!!!
Geez you've been busy Chris! Look's good.
Looking forward to more progress piccies
It's been over 4 months that this has taken place Rod, so I have been a bit slack, but I am hoping to keep the momentum up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alan meehan
Looks good Chris looking forward to the build
AL
Thanks Al!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Great stuff Chris, looks like you are well protected from the wind there so you can even just leave the aligned mount out under a covers until you get the Taj Mahal built over it, even that will cut down setup time. The pier does look slightly thin though I'm sure it will be ok unless you put a 16" RC on it
Mike
It does get a bit windy here Mike, but that is a good idea about leaving the mount out. I was going to bodgy up a shelf to which an upside down plastic garbage bin could sit on, then clamp it on with the handles, but I may just go with the cover idea instead. Although, having a pier there with nothing covering it may just give me the motivation to build that Taj Mahal after all, simply so I can have the luggssury of leaving everything set up and connected. Then the NB mono camera will be on the cards, but first things first.
Yeah, the PVC pipe looks a bit thin, but it is pretty solid with all the concrete in it (3 x 20kg bags inside the pipe) and the reo down the middle, plus, it is sitting in about 50cm x 50 cm x 50cm of concrete and extends another 40 cm below the concrete in its own little round hole, so it is pretty stable.
I am only going to be imaging with my HEQ5 and not planning on anything bigger than the 8" so at F5-F7 (if I get a refractor later), I think she should hold up OK. If the pier has any loading issues I can always simply cut off the PVC somewhere near the bottom and bolt on a proper steel pier if I think this may help. I will probably find out soon enough, but I am not too worried based on how quickly it is damping down with ring tests so far.....
Not much done today apart from extending the conduits up the pier and putting 2 coats of stain on the deck. Cleared the section to the right of the grass so the rest of the deck can be extended for SWMBO's area (and possibly for the roll off roof location.....)
Neat as Chris, looking forward to further installments over time !
If you find that peir a little thin down the track when mounting a EQ8 and ceravolo 300 you could always drop a 330mm Diam poly pipe straight over it and fill with a few rods and more 'crete
Appears your quite capable, so, looking on with much interest with your Taj Mahal
Having about 5 and a half weeks off for Christmas let me get stuck in on the obs project, still a way to go with sourcing and installing the siding/weatherboards as well as hanging the doors and finishing touches, but the structure is up, the roof is on and I am happy to report absolutely NO leaks in the sliding roof structure, even with some heavy rain over the last few days.
The heat sucked over Christmas, so I didn't go out every day to do things, but I am glad its getting there, even with the missus changing the design by asking for it to be wider across the front, which caused the bank account to dwindle even more than I wanted it to....
Total parts costs so far (all from Bunnings) have been about $1200, so with an estimated $500-$600 for weatherboards, I reckon it will be about $2K total all up, once it is done and dusted.
Thanks for looking, hopefully, it will only be a few weekends to finish it off and get everything set up inside, so I can start cranking the new Mono camera and narrowband filters without having to set up and tear down all the time.
That's just the water from the washdown Logan, to get the concrete dust off. I am looking to seal the wood on the deck in the next day or so, depending on the weather.
I'm sure it will be ok unless you put a 16" RC on it 
