observatory progress

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Finally finished the rings and attached them to a dovetail bar (thanks again to Bintel for prompt service!).

I ended up using a Meade dovetail bar that was 19" long, exactly the right length for my rings, although i had to drill and fit my own mounting holes as the meade holes were in the wrong place.

Here's a couple of piccies of my 13.1" f/5.5 newt on the Titan mount. Now all I need is some clear skies to try it out...

cheers, Bird

[iceman (Mike)]

That looks unreal, Anthony. I can imagine how great it will be to just roll out and start imaging.

I like the little counterweight under the front end - how did you attach that?

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Not very nice calling Bird a counterweight Looks like a finderscope not a counterweight.

Great setup There Bird, wheres all the wires?

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Most of the wires will go down into the pier and up inside the shed. Hope to have all the wires etc out of the way so I can fully remote it without worrying about tangles :-)

cheers, Bird

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Top stuff Bird, it's a good way to be dangle free.

[maksutover]

that things enormous!

[Alchemy (Clive)]

WHAT A BEASTIE.... that mount has plenty of capacity.........any thoughts about adding a guidescope for dabbling in a bit of deepsky ?

[Ric]

That is a great looking setup Bird.

You've done a great job.

Cheers

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Originally Posted by Alchemy

WHAT A BEASTIE.... that mount has plenty of capacity.........any thoughts about adding a guidescope for dabbling in a bit of deepsky ?

yes, have thought about it , but I don't have anything like the right camera for that, or a seond scope to use for guiding... maybe one day :-)

cheers, Bird

[jase (Jason)]

Looking good Bird. Nice mount... but I'm bias.

[h0ughy (David)]

Umm OK i will bight - how is the scope and mount covered given the shed behind looks fixed?

[g__day (Matthew)]

Very impressive - love to see a few more shots of the mount and OTA. are your planning an artificial floor to run the wiring between mount, cameras, hand controller etc (ask if 10 cables have to go to this gear - how will I route it so I don't trip over them or run over them with a chair in the dark?

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Umm OK i will bight - how is the scope and mount covered given the shed behind looks fixed?

The shed is where the computer gear and humans live :-) The scope is permanently outside at the moment, pending design and construction of a roll-off roof section (next years project).

When it's not in use the scope is covered and parked.

cheers, Bird

[Tamtarn]

You have done well setting all that up Anthony. Like the idea of the cables being inside the pier and then presumably covered to inside the shed.

I see you have already made provision for your roll off roof observatory.

Well done.

[davidpretorius]

bloody hell, that is one sexy beast.......nice scope tooo!

still saving for a visit next year! guiness and all!

i reckon the pier needs just one pulled up sock on it though.... just so we know it is yours!

congrats mate, that is a beautiful piece of work.

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

i reckon the pier needs just one pulled up sock on it though.... just so we know it is yours!