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Post by davy on Feb 22, 2016 20:19:53 GMT
In principal carol has gave me an amber to green light for an obs,chanced my arm at weekend,the avairy will be removed not in use now,,something had a nice feast on budgies,quailand canary lost about£150 of birds,carol illness getting worse getting more trapped in house now,so avairy too much hassle,,so have its a long term job,usual no rush lol.. looking at various types,
Because of carols back garden position, I couldn't make a dome obs..the light fingered wee darlins would be off wae my kit.
So im looking at a shed,and I'm swaying towards a metal one. So I know that I will be insulating it and wood lining,I want a sanded smooth t&g look and hi gloss farnish finish.
So I have two options I believe. Roll off roof or roll off shed. The second appeals more to me because its then a warm room..will be looking into designs next.
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Davys obs
Feb 23, 2016 0:46:49 GMT
via mobile
Post by davy on Feb 23, 2016 0:46:49 GMT
Done a lot of reading on folk using metal sheds as obs,and looks like it will be a roll off roof,I took into costs of ground work and access from back gate to house for carol as she is looking to get a mobility scooter in near future. So I will go for biggest shed that will fit in space I would have minus space required when roof in off pisition.concrete base,no big massive holes and ten tonnes of concrete..a pier will eventually go in,but it will be a bolt down,,, why,,because we use tripods and they work fine without getting pegged to ground..inside will have a warm section for shure,comfort is name of the game these days.. and in my head I have blueprint allready lol.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 23, 2016 3:24:09 GMT
I've looked and can't find it, but I've seen a third option - a roll out platform with the scope on it. Rolls out of the shed leaving the shed open for your warm room.
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Post by howie1 on Feb 23, 2016 5:06:41 GMT
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Davys obs
Feb 23, 2016 7:48:01 GMT
via mobile
Post by davy on Feb 23, 2016 7:48:01 GMT
Howie,I had a 6 x 4 obs shed before and it was too small for my needs,if I go bigger shed..I should be able to make a small warm room ,but roll off shed still a big option.
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 23, 2016 12:02:23 GMT
Our Club observatories are going to be roll-off-sheds, not roll-off-roof. We have already started buying the materials to build it. We will have the shed on wheels and they will run inside a track that prevent the wind from lifting it up and blowing it away. The track is C channel, and the wheels will be attached to a simple frame welded together and placed inside the shed. When the shed rolls away, a false wall remains as a windbreak. Sort of like a shed rolling off a slightly smaller roofless shed. PS. Our observatory sheds are 3m x 3m (10 feet x 10 feet)
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 23, 2016 14:27:13 GMT
Ken, how will you keep the critters out?
I think if I ever can get one, I'll just do a traditional roll-off roof - as long as I can keep it dry. Davy, like you, I like the idea of a separate closed room with maybe a window into the open-air scope room.
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 23, 2016 15:38:23 GMT
What critters Rick? Kangaroos and Wombats don't tend to sneak into observatories and there's no snakes here, despite the name of our town. Mice, yep, we have them in the clubhouse now. Lots of traps and Ratsak. Bugs? Surface Spray keep them off the gear.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 23, 2016 16:40:07 GMT
Sorry for my ignorance I assumed you'd have mice and rats chewing on the power cords and then drawing snakes in!
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Post by howie1 on Feb 24, 2016 1:47:59 GMT
Was that a bit of Aussie humour Ken? ... calling the place Snake Valley because there are no snakes! LOL!!
Howie_Oz
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Post by howie1 on Feb 24, 2016 1:55:21 GMT
Ken, The Engineer in me says be sure to put the C channel with the opening inside, and the vertical bit of the C outside. The bit where the scopes fit through will have no structural support (an opening in fact) on that side and tend to splay outwards due to that and the weight of the roof. The vertical bit of the C being on the outside simply needs a horizontal roller to stop that splaying and provide that lateral force (as well as the vertical ones of course which allow movement to roll the shed).
Regards Howie (yesterdai I couldn't spill Engineer ... now I are one!)
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 24, 2016 11:09:38 GMT
Was that a bit of Aussie humour Ken? ... calling the place Snake Valley because there are no snakes! LOL!! Howie_Oz It's because of the shape of the creek, as it Snakes its way through the Valley. True story. And yes, you are correct about the placement of the C channel. The sheds own weight will make it want to splay outwards. The C channel will stop that.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2016 1:38:49 GMT
Davy, You won't regret the time and money required to build the observatory. I've had mine only 2 months and I've already observed more in that time than in the previous year. My observatory is a roll off roof type. It is 8' wide by 16' long. It includes a 4' x 8' office / warm room (also mosquito retreat), so the observatory bay is 8' x 12'. You can see plans and pictures on my website. www.lulingskies.blogspot.com/I originally considered a fixed roof over the office section and roll off only over the observatory bay, but I worried about leaks. So in the end I opted for the simplest and thus most reliable design. I would rather spend my time observing and doing other things I enjoy instead of working on the observatory to fix leaks and other issues. Tim
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 25, 2016 11:32:10 GMT
Looks Great Tim, but how did you set it up so the wind can't lift the roof off?
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Davys obs
Feb 25, 2016 21:18:45 GMT
via mobile
Post by davy on Feb 25, 2016 21:18:45 GMT
More of a portacabin than a shed tim,its massive,,looks great,,,
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 26, 2016 20:39:02 GMT
Tim, your observatory is an inspiration... I hope to someday have one similar.
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 1, 2016 14:00:42 GMT
Our Club observatories are going to be roll-off-sheds, not roll-off-roof. We have already started buying the materials to build it. We will have the shed on wheels and they will run inside a track that prevent the wind from lifting it up and blowing it away. The track is C channel, and the wheels will be attached to a simple frame welded together and placed inside the shed. When the shed rolls away, a false wall remains as a windbreak. Sort of like a shed rolling off a slightly smaller roofless shed. PS. Our observatory sheds are 3m x 3m (10 feet x 10 feet) There's been a change of plan with ours. We had a sort of brainstorming session a couple of nights ago and one of the members came up with an easier and better method of rolling the whole shed away. Instead of a C channel on its side we will probably use a 'U' channel and castors, and angle brackets welded on so the shed can't lift up or blow away in strong winds. Might sound weird but we know what we mean I'm going to start building the first one next week by first building the Warmroom/Controlroom that the Obs will roll away from If all this works well then we will build the second one at the other end of the clubroom. This photo shows where I am going to start building the control room, and where the 3m x 3m shed will be located, and will roll away to the left.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Mar 1, 2016 14:53:03 GMT
What will your primary mount be, Ken? Will it be on a pier bolted into the floor?
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 1, 2016 15:32:33 GMT
Rick, the primary mount will be my EQ6 but on one of those freestanding piers. I was thinking of leaving it on it's tripod. The tripod has been rock solid for years and I haven't needed to re-polar align it even when I bumped it with the mower. But because the public will be allowed to enter the Obs, the Pier will be far more solid if they accidently knock it. You can see the freestanding pier in this photo of it set up at the opposite end of the clubroom:
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Mar 1, 2016 19:09:21 GMT
I think that will be better than a tripod, tho still a bit of a tripping hazard. Do you have any red rope lights that you could put around it?
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