Lockleys Observatory

TheDecepticon · #1 26-12-2012, 05:03 PM

Just a brief note to say that I finally built my own observatory that I got second hand from a society member who was shifting interstate. Just waiting for the electrician and some carpet.

Piccies can be found

http://www.pbase.com/grahammeyer/lockleys_observatory

Enjoy.

rogerg (Roger) · #2 26-12-2012, 06:27 PM

Nice! congrats

Rigel003 (Graeme) · #3 26-12-2012, 06:36 PM

Looks terrific. I'm envious. That will mean an extra hour or so each session that can go towards gathering data.

h0ughy (David) · #4 26-12-2012, 06:59 PM

well done - what a brilliant christmas gift

Larryp (Laurie) · #5 26-12-2012, 07:07 PM

Looks great!

TheDecepticon · #6 26-12-2012, 10:26 PM

Thanks guys!

It certainly is an awesome Xmas gift, Houghy, am looking forward to the official opening and first proper image.

An extra hour of image will certainly be welcome, Rigel, that is for sure.

byronpaul (Paul) · #7 27-12-2012, 01:21 AM

Great home for the scope!!!!

Any chance of some close-up shots on the roof roller system?

Paul

TheDecepticon · #8 27-12-2012, 10:23 AM

Yeah, no worries, Paul! I am heading home today from holidays and have some more shots to upload any way, so I will include a few of the rollers and rails. It is very simple and effective.

brian nordstrom (As avatar) · #9 27-12-2012, 02:20 PM

Well done ! thats awsome for 4 days work , good luck with the finishing touches , and please dont forget more photos .
Thank you .
Brian.

allan gould · #10 27-12-2012, 04:14 PM

Excellent, hope you enjoy it.

ChrisM · #11 27-12-2012, 08:12 PM

An excellent home for your gear. I hope that it gets a lot of use!

Chris

TechnoViking (James) · #12 28-12-2012, 08:53 AM

Very nice observatory!

hopefully the weather treats you well, so you can enjoy observing in comfort!

The best carpet to get in my opinion is the carpet tiles (Synthetic type) I got mine 2nd hand for a $1.50 each from an ex-government shop. They are water proof, rubber backed and very tough wearing.

I installed mine without glueing it down, so i can lift a tile out if it gets dirty and jetwash it clean, takes a day to dry, then you can reinstall it again

TheDecepticon · #13 28-12-2012, 03:06 PM

Thanks for your comments guys, was a solid four days of work for sure! It certainly is a great place to store the gear and it is wicked to just roll the roof off and on and not have to pack up all the cables and stuff.

We did find some carpet, but it was too pink for the obs, so we will put it in the daughter's room and I will have the tile squares that come out of there. Done deal with SWMBO.

I have uploaded some pictures of the roll off roof that I hope explains it a bit for those that are interested.

http://www.pbase.com/grahammeyer/roll_off_roof

The rollers used are very similar to the ones pictured, however; only use a two wheel set up not four. Basically, the top rails on each roof supporting side are 6m long and do the job of roller rails and joiners to the two upright poles. The rollers slip inside of them and the roof movement is limited by two stoppers on one end of the roof. A very eloquent and simple approach.

moonunit (Joe) · #14 21-06-2013, 08:08 PM

Really like this, what are the dimensions, also what are these roll on roll off roofs like in windy conditions?

Peter Ward · #15 22-06-2013, 11:36 PM

I see the EQ head seems to be sitting on a plate supported by 3 leveling bolts.

Can I suggest you loose the bolts and discover a significant improvement in stiffness of the mounting and increase in the natural frequency of vibration of the pier + EQ head ?

EQ heads need polar aligning, but they simply do not need leveling.

The EQ head/pier combination however works much better when it is rigid, rather than acting like a spring

troypiggo (Troy) · #16 23-06-2013, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

I see the EQ head seems to be sitting on a plate supported by 3 leveling bolts.

Can I suggest you loose the bolts and discover a significant improvement in stiffness of the mounting and increase in the natural frequency of vibration of the pier + EQ head ?

EQ heads need polar aligning, but they simply do not need leveling.

The EQ head/pier combination however works much better when it is rigid, rather than acting like a spring

I've often wondered why people do this too. All that money on expensive mounts etc, then sit it all on 3 extended bolts (usually around M10-M12 diameter). In structural engineering design of buildings we'd call that a "soft storey."

Bart · #17 25-06-2013, 03:53 PM

Can you explain why it does not need levelling? I am thinking of setting one up so it would be good to know. Thanks.

troypiggo (Troy) · #18 25-06-2013, 06:31 PM

Your polar alignment takes care of any slight out of level from the tripod or pier plate.

ChrisM · #19 25-06-2013, 07:26 PM

My understanding is that for an equatorial mount, the polar alignment process will be less iterative (between Alt & Az adjustments) if the base is level.

In my case, I needed to gain some more pier height, so rather than make a new one, I used 4 x 19 mm threaded studs at ~250 mm centres. This arrangement is quite stiff and does not lower the natural frequency much.

Chris

bojan · #20 25-06-2013, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisM

My understanding is that for an equatorial mount, the polar alignment process will be less iterative (between Alt & Az adjustments) if the base is level...

It he pier is reasonably in level (within degree or so, this is easy to achieve during the construction), the benefit of this mechanism is negligible.. not worth the cost.
Even if you need another iteration , so what.. it is done only once anyway... maybe you need to check in couple of months (concrete slab will settle by then)