Worth building a deck?

[Spookyer (Brett)]

Hi all

I live in suburban Brisbane. I am thinking of building a deck say a meter off the ground in the backyard to observe from and eventually use as a platform for AP. From the proposed deck I estimate I could get a view of anything 20° or higher in the sky in a 270° arc from the north east through to the north west. The house is two storey and would restrict the northward view from the deck for about 90° between the north west and north east to objects probably 30° or higher. Without the deck the viewing would be worse all round.

I would just like to hear from some more experienced heads as to whether the sort of view I could get is worth it? I understand you wouldn't normally image objects below 25° anyway so it makes me think it would be but just wanted confirmation before I take the concept further?

Thinking it through further I would set a pier into the ground and have it come up through the deck (without touching the deck) that way walking around on the wooden deck would not be an issue in terms of vibration.

Am I on the right track?

thanks
Brett

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Does it give you a view of the SCP ? Everything rotates around that and the best view is southwards.
My Ob has no eastern outlook and a poor western and northern view but a good view of the SCP so it's just a matter of patience waiting for things to pass overhead. If you have the SCP in sight then sounds like a worthwhile plan to me.

[Paul Haese]

If you have a meter high deck your pier will need to be between 1.3- 1.8 meters depending on your goals.

I would recommend you get an 8" steel pipe with 12mm thick walls and 4 gussetts (3 inches wide) running up the sides in a cross shape for the pier. The base plate should be 15mm thick and a diameter of16". Just have a top plate welded on and you can then drill and tap any pier adapter in place.

This should give you a low deflection with a considerable load. It will also work for imaging too.

[RobF (Rob)]

Sounds like a lot of effort for marginal increase in object visability Brett? If you can see the SCP, its debatable if there is a lot of benefit unless its boosting your northern horizon. You'd rarely want to image anything lower than 40-45 degrees high off the horizon anyway, particularly from the 'burbs.

If its a serious longterm plan to go with a pier the deck makes more sense, but investing the effort in a small roll-off observatory might pay more dividends? How big a deck are you planning?

[Spookyer (Brett)]

Thanks all for the advice, please keep it coming. Rob I was thinking of incorporating an enclosed observatory of some sort on the deck. Elevating with a deck will also help with making the observing area less visible from the house as the patio roof goes out quite a way from the kitchen and by having the deck and enclosure elevated just beyond the patio it will be partially obscured by the patio roof. This will please the wife.

I don't need room for computers etc in the observatory because my office is at the back of the house and would be no more than 10m from the observing spot and I could just see the scope. I reckon I could send data wirelessly at that distance and sit at my computer talking with the wife and wouldn't make her an AP widow.