Upgrade my observatory

[Altocumulus]

Thursday 19th October 2023.

Held up by approaching storm conditions with amber and red warnings for wind and rain over the next 24-48 hours.

So here's some piccies.

Had a rethink on the position of the 'scopes which were originally to be in the NW and SE corners.
Considering the amount of obsy between the NW position and the southern wall, I've decided to try and move both
positions closer to the south - to minimise heat turbulence from the structure during the day imaging.

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As it was - the old obsy

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Clearance started.
Most of the large chunks removed, but one (near the north wall) remains in place and results in a decision on where the ground can be levelled to.

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Base started. Not yet levelled, but even so not far away.
6*2 in timbers C24 treated.

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Northern carcase

Southern carcase in front

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Carcases in place.

Started the walls.

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Braced and waiting for rain and wind.
Fingers crossed!
North is to the right.

I've had to consider changing the rollers - but all, so far, seems to be going according to plan - despite inconsistent widths/breadths within the timbers which caught me out after the carcases were assembled.

[Graeme1858]

Coming along really well now Geoff.

Your view away from the house is brilliant!

Graeme

[Altocumulus]

Thanks Graeme - Indeed it is, mostly farmland. Rosebay close to the obsy, easy to cut down and will be managed better.

Mostly open views, horizontally, from NE round to ESE. Higher elevations gets me over the stone barn, but will suffer from thermal affects. I normally reach the meridian just at the barn gable, with two tall trees just beyond.
North pole is doable, but with ivy covered fir close by the northern wall - can be cut back if necessary.

Gusts to 48kt and rain to 13.8mm so far since 09 gmt.

[jrkirkham]

I enjoy watching your progress.

[JayTee]

What great progress Geoff. I'm sure you're getting pretty excited about now as you see it starting to come together.

Looks great,

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Survived so far.

Wind was a little underwhelming - gust 46kt (we've had way more).
24 hour rainfall 61mm which is a record for us (12 years), so the wood is dripping somewhat!

[helicon]

Glad to see that you didn't really bear the brunt of the storm. The project looks like it is moving along quite well!

[Altocumulus]

Thanks.
Looks like I will be restricting my view a little for the western side scope, due to the roof sliding that way, and the top of the warm room - but it's a compromise given other restrictions!
Ah well.

[SkyHiker]

Impressive progress thus far!

With wind gusts of 46 kt though, is there no risk of the whole building flying through the air in the next storm since it is sitting loose on its foundation? If you can even call it a foundation, that is.

I am a bit confused about the roof sliding in the Western direction, if I got that right. The warm room is West, and it is taller than the observatory side (East). So how can the roof slide Westward? I must be mistaken.

Regardless, it is interesting to see how you go about it with good progress.

[Altocumulus]

Chuckles.
46kt and it's still in position. All that wood is very heavy.

[Altocumulus]

I am a bit confused about the roof sliding in the Western direction, if I got that right. The warm room is West, and it is taller than the observatory side (East). So how can the roof slide Westward? I must be mistaken.

Regardless, it is interesting to see how you go about it with good progress.

Best way to describe it is the roof includes part of the walls.
Hybrid between a full shed slide off and a full roof slide off - sliding box.

Bit like this one https://crayfordmanorastro.com/2019/02/ ... servatory/

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Although west is the intended way, there's still time to change and go the other (and dang the council, it's my land and a couple of support poles aren't a building).

I'll know more when I get the warm room's roof on.

[Altocumulus]

Impressive progress thus far!

With wind gusts of 46 kt though, is there no risk of the whole building flying through the air in the next storm since it is sitting loose on its foundation? If you can even call it a foundation, that is.

I am a bit confused about the roof sliding in the Western direction, if I got that right. The warm room is West, and it is taller than the observatory side (East). So how can the roof slide Westward? I must be mistaken.

Regardless, it is interesting to see how you go about it with good progress.

Thank you for giving me pause for thought.

Although the west slide is doable, as per the link and there are numerous other examples, I've decided to shift eastwards - it'll mean the roof doesn't need to be as high as expected and I can build it more rigidly than the other way would have been.

Wood's drying nicely in a bit of sunshine after the recent deluge.
A bonus would be a small window across to the west, useful for evening.

[SkyHiker]

I like that Crayford design - no ugly slider frame like with most RORs. Just use fhe warm room to put the sliders on. What made you change your mind?