Good Evening (AEST) All,
I have been mulling over an observatory in my backyard like any perfectionist procrastinator (without the 'perfectionist' bit!) for a considerable time now. You never know if you are going to move houses thereby wasting money, where exactly the best spot in the yard might be, whether you are selfishly taking away from children's playing areas, etc.
So I contemplated the idea of an
observing area which might have the following ingredients:
- 12 inch dobsonian. Meade LB.
- Concrete or hard wood block lumped on top of shawn grass for stability. Base needs to be level and flat to avoid the spinning base syndrome that I have often come across during observing, particularly with the Argo Navis.
- The area around the concreted base to be landscaped, simply, to accommodate furniture that would double as a place to have tea, but also to sit equipment, star charts, me, etc.
- the area would look nice as a little court yard within a yard by day, and observing area by night.
- It would be situated so as to maximally take advantage of sky, maximise privacy (natural shields such as fence, trees, and some lattice structures, and minimise light pollution from neighbours and street.
I am particularly keen to hear of how you guys are manufacturing
privacy screens that might be portable, or erected on the evening of observation, AND, whether you find the strategic placement of a
tent at one side of the observing area a useful thing to do for an overnight or weekend session. The tent would be useful as a place to hide within to keep wind out, to keep the equipment/food/drink away from elements, and to maintain privacy from neighbours. The tent idea could serve as a play area for kids during the day also.
The tent would store the scope during daylight approaching sunset, ready to be moved into position amd collimated outside of the tent by twilight.
The privacy screen I had in mind was a
tarpaulin on poles, or a tight garden lattice structure.
Thoughts appreciated as always?
Looking though earlier threads, and other sections in this forum, I could not really find any reference to this sort of backyard setup.
