Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

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dcrowson United States of America
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#21

Post by dcrowson »


Congrats - what a dream come true.

How's the internet access and when can we start building our remote southern hemisphere observatory? :)

Dan
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OzEclipse Australia
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#22

Post by OzEclipse »


dcrowson wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:03 pm Congrats - what a dream come true.

How's the internet access and when can we start building our remote southern hemisphere observatory? :)

Dan
Hi Dan,
There is 2 bars of 4G, haven't measured the speed yet. Then there is something called wireless NBN. NBN is National Broadband Network. In the city, this is a fibre optic network. In remote areas, it's a special antenna on the roof and a series of repeaters broadcasting/receiving 4G around the countryside. However, if you want to set up a remote observatory, there are numerous options. There are remote observatories in the Atacama and Namibia. In this region there are at least two facilities where you can set up your own dedicated remote telescope.

There is the iTelescope facility at Siding Spring observatory
https://www.itelescope.net/obs-sso

and then Martin Pugh has another hosting facility near Yass.
https://www.martinpughastrophotography. ... pe-hosting

I think both facilities offer scope hire or host your own scope at their site. I am unlikely to go down that same path.

cheers

Joe
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Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push dobsonian with Nexus DSC, three homemade EQ's.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5, Unitron 40mm Kellner, Meade Or 25,12
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#23

Post by Greenman »


Looks wonderful Joe, enjoy your retirement in this superb home. 10 months more of being a wage slave and I too will retire. My wife seems more interested in my semi-retirement than I :lol:
Cheers,

Tony.

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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#24

Post by chris_g »


Congrats on the retirement, I'm not to many years away myself...

Clear Skies!
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#25

Post by Gordon »


It sounds like a well thought out plan Joe!
Congratulations. I think you will find that retirement will keep you busier that when you were working! At least it did for me.

Enjoy!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#26

Post by OzEclipse »


Gordon wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:16 pm It sounds like a well thought out plan Joe!
Congratulations. I think you will find that retirement will keep you busier that when you were working! At least it did for me.

Enjoy!
Thanks @Gordon and @chris_g,

I originally posted and started this thread 5 months ago just after my offer on the house had been accepted. I took possession at the end of October and have posted snippets in other sub-forums since. Here is a summary relating to the observatory build and use of the property for astronomy.

Since moving in, numerous high wind storms have convinced me that the N4 wind rating is very real. The observatory will need to be a bomb shelter.

There is a lot of moving going on in regional Australia. A lot of people are moving to the regional towns from the cities due to the fact that thanks to COVID, they can now work from home. I have not had any success finding a removalist. The earliest removalist I can engage to move large furniture is saying lat Feb / early March. Meanwhile I am moving all my small stuff up there and house camping very comfortably.

The shed was full of nesting birds making it unsuitable for scope storage. But there is plenty of space in the house. All my scopes & astro gear except the 18 inch is up there which has enabled me to do a fair bit of observing over the last few months. It's summer here and it's also our clearest weather. Most summers, this is crueled at some stage by smoke or dust but this year we have had periods of incredible transparency. There have been runs of up to 5 clear nights in a row when I have just had to skip a night to get some sleep. Planning to move the 18 inch dob in the next few weeks.

The observatory build is going to take some time. The previous owners had dogs that dug the back yard full of holes that are a real hazard when walking around at night. So I need to fill and then transplant grass patches to fill the holes. I need to do some earthworks outside the shed and lay concrete outside the shed so that I can get heavy machinery delivered to the shed and roll it in. At the moment there is an eroded slope leading up to the shed. Then I'll establish an engineering workshop where I will fabricate the observatory components in small easy to carry & assemble components. The whole block is gently sloped so I shall probably build it up about 1 meter above ground level on posts giving a decent crawl space underneath for cabling etc. The building will be a ROR design all steel. No details drawn up yet.

The property is quite fire resistant. No forests nearby. I am surrounded on 3 sides by grassed grazing paddocks. I mow a 5 meter firebreak to the fence line and the farmer has his access track on the other side of the fence line increasing that by about 4 meters. We've had a very wet year and so the sheep have not been able to keep up with the grass growth. But because of the frequent rain, fires and high fire danger days have been few and far between. During drier years, the grazers will eat the grass down much lower thus reducing the risk during high fire danger periods.

So as Gordon suggested, I have my work cut out for me.

Regards

Joe
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Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push dobsonian with Nexus DSC, three homemade EQ's.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5, Unitron 40mm Kellner, Meade Or 25,12
Cameras : Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#27

Post by Ylem »


Congratulations on retirement Joe ✋
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#28

Post by sdbodin »


OzEclipse wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:35 pm

Since moving in, numerous high wind storms have convinced me that the N4 wind rating is very real. The observatory will need to be a bomb shelter.

The building will be a ROR design all steel. No details drawn up yet.

The property is quite fire resistant. No forests nearby. I am surrounded on 3 sides by grassed grazing paddocks. I mow a 5 meter firebreak to the fence line and the farmer has his access track on the other side of the fence line increasing that by about 4 meters.


Regards

Joe
Sounds real similar to my situation. Not sure how an N4 translates to American, but wind is a problem with a ROR. I don't open if wind is 15mph but stay open to 25mph. Imaging above that is a non-starter.

I built a self-modified SkyShed plan with steel roof and fire resistant Hardy Board concrete panels. Wind maxed out at 82mph within a year of building and it survived untouched, yearly winds of 60mph are common at my location. So, I can testify that their plans result in a sturdy structure. I saw an All steel ROR when I visited McDonald Observatory, some years back, housing their outreach big Dobson and it looked real professional, probably expensive too.

My fire situation is also similar, so I keep the desert grasses down with a professional weed eradicator contract and just have gravel and sand for 50 feet to the burnable desert scrub and brush. Seems to be enough judging from the fire 4 years back that got within 4 houses of me but stopped and the subdivision property line by even less of a fire break.

Good luck, show us pictures of construction.
Steve
Scopes; Meade 16 LX200, AT80LE, plus bunch just sitting around gathering dust
Cameras; Atik 460ex mono, Zwo ASI1600MC-cool, QHY5L-II color and mono
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#29

Post by OzEclipse »


sdbodin wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:55 pm
OzEclipse wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:35 pm

Since moving in, numerous high wind storms have convinced me that the N4 wind rating is very real. The observatory will need to be a bomb shelter.

The building will be a ROR design all steel. No details drawn up yet.

The property is quite fire resistant. No forests nearby. I am surrounded on 3 sides by grassed grazing paddocks. I mow a 5 meter firebreak to the fence line and the farmer has his access track on the other side of the fence line increasing that by about 4 meters.


Regards

Joe
Sounds real similar to my situation. Not sure how an N4 translates to American, but wind is a problem with a ROR. I don't open if wind is 15mph but stay open to 25mph. Imaging above that is a non-starter.

I built a self-modified SkyShed plan with steel roof and fire resistant Hardy Board concrete panels. Wind maxed out at 82mph within a year of building and it survived untouched, yearly winds of 60mph are common at my location. So, I can testify that their plans result in a sturdy structure. I saw an All steel ROR when I visited McDonald Observatory, some years back, housing their outreach big Dobson and it looked real professional, probably expensive too.

My fire situation is also similar, so I keep the desert grasses down with a professional weed eradicator contract and just have gravel and sand for 50 feet to the burnable desert scrub and brush. Seems to be enough judging from the fire 4 years back that got within 4 houses of me but stopped and the subdivision property line by even less of a fire break.

Good luck, show us pictures of construction.
Steve
Hi Steve,
N4 is winds in excess of 50m/s(110mph), in a non-cyclonic region, with no shielding from other buildings or natural features. I favour ROR's. Although a dome gives you better protection from wind if you are trying to use the scope, a ROR can be built stronger and more wind resistant when it is closed, than a dome which can just blow away. A friend has a farm near the NSW QLD border. He hosts observatories for other members of his astronomy club. They had a windstorm that ripped the dome ring out of the fibreglass structure and landed the dome on the ground nearby. I saw In those high winds, there is usually blown dust etc realistically, I won't be wanting to do any work anyway. Just want the building to protect my gear. Also, a ROR just looks like a shed, like all the other sheds, it isn't a signpost saying, "expensive stuff here."

Joe
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Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push dobsonian with Nexus DSC, three homemade EQ's.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5, Unitron 40mm Kellner, Meade Or 25,12
Cameras : Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
Memberships Astronomical Association of Queensland; RASNZ Occultations Section; Single Exposure Milky Way Facebook Group (Moderator) (12k members)
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#30

Post by sdbodin »


OzEclipse wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:44 pm Hi Steve,
N4 is winds in excess of 50m/s(110mph), in a non-cyclonic region, with no shielding from other buildings or natural features. I favour ROR's. Although a dome gives you better protection from wind if you are trying to use the scope, a ROR can be built stronger and more wind resistant when it is closed, than a dome which can just blow away. A friend has a farm near the NSW QLD border. He hosts observatories for other members of his astronomy club. They had a windstorm that ripped the dome ring out of the fibreglass structure and landed the dome on the ground nearby. I saw In those high winds, there is usually blown dust etc realistically, I won't be wanting to do any work anyway. Just want the building to protect my gear. Also, a ROR just looks like a shed, like all the other sheds, it isn't a signpost saying, "expensive stuff here."

Joe
Thanks for the translation, two people separated by a common language, I guess.

Dust is a problem, seeps into all the cracks, cleaning is an ongoing task and sealed scope covers a must.

Ditto on the covert ROR shed, nobody around here bothers with sheds. But, mine has a steel dead-bolted door anyway.

Clear skies,
Steve
Scopes; Meade 16 LX200, AT80LE, plus bunch just sitting around gathering dust
Cameras; Atik 460ex mono, Zwo ASI1600MC-cool, QHY5L-II color and mono
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Re: Retirement and observatory/dark sky home purchase

#31

Post by MistrBadgr »


Congratulations, Joe, on all of it!!! :)
Bill Steen
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Many eyepieces, just not really expensive ones.
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