Upgrade my observatory

[Gordon]

Geoff, you have made great progress! I'm looking forward to seeing the end result!

[Altocumulus]

Chuckles. Perhaps your comments on whether it was possible!

There's pluses and minuses for both directions. Going east gives me a window out west that wouldn't be there if the other roof was in the way.
I'll ponder some more!

[StarBru]

That's a big job! You have made a lot of progress. I like the design. It looks like it will be very sturdy when it's done.

[Altocumulus]

Sadly a bit of life and, more especially, weather has delayed much further progress.

I've got the support beams on the warm room roof, slight miscalculation on the ends - but it'll work out, somehow.

Rails tacked in position waiting on the roof to finalise, i.e. parallel!

Wheels came on Thursday, a bit (ok a lot) OTT on size, but I've built up the side walls to the roof. Just need a dry spell to sort out the cross beams and square everything.

Other bits and pieces dribble in, power connectors etc. New NEQ6-R Pro arrived from FLO.

At 211 mm this is the wettest month in my records of 12 years - still a few days to go and the forecast/warnings promise lots more before
November.

At least I know I'm not missing any imaging time - experts are still working on perfecting the cloud/rain filters....

[Graeme1858]

Other bits and pieces dribble in, power connectors etc. New NEQ6-R Pro arrived from FLO.

Nice!

[Altocumulus]

Other bits and pieces dribble in, power connectors etc. New NEQ6-R Pro arrived from FLO.

Nice!

Indeed. Delayed by flooding somewhere - but it got here eventually.

The itch to get out and carry on is getting annoying with this weather regime.....

[Altocumulus]

Well now, time for a little update!

10 inches of rain in October certainly put the pause button on long hold!

But I'm moving along, finding mistake after mistake as the build progresses!

3 windows in, one on the north wall, so I can use a small area for art. 2 in the east wall, for daylight working. One ended up being wonky as one of the supposed verticals wasn't! All walls done.

The rolling roof is on, too long on the east end by about 20 centimetres, so there might be an opportunity for a shelf - but it's annoying. EPDM is fixed at one end, just managed that before showers arrived and I've not done the rest as I plan on doing the warm room at the same time.

Started to fix the extended part of the rails more firmly, which shows the roof needs to move eastwards a further .5 metre or so to give sight of the eastern end of the elliptic. Not too sure how I can do that at the moment - it means the current clearance of the roof would mean one scope wouldn't see the summer Sun until 10ish.

Problem to solve somehow - an extension from current length would mean another pair of vertical supports, but on spongy ground not a quick solution. Sighs.

[helicon]

Well now, time for a little update!

10 inches of rain in October certainly put the pause button on long hold!

But I'm moving along, finding mistake after mistake as the build progresses!

3 windows in, one on the north wall, so I can use a small area for art. 2 in the east wall, for daylight working. One ended up being wonky as one of the supposed verticals wasn't! All walls done.

The rolling roof is on, too long on the east end by about 20 centimetres, so there might be an opportunity for a shelf - but it's annoying. EPDM is fixed at one end, just managed that before showers arrived and I've not done the rest as I plan on doing the warm room at the same time.

Started to fix the extended part of the rails more firmly, which shows the roof needs to move eastwards a further .5 metre or so to give sight of the eastern end of the elliptic. Not too sure how I can do that at the moment - it means the current clearance of the roof would mean one scope wouldn't see the summer Sun until 10ish.

Problem to solve somehow - an extension from current length would mean another pair of vertical supports, but on spongy ground not a quick solution. Sighs.

Thanks for the update Geoff! Hopefully the weather will be a bit more cooperative going forward.

[Altocumulus]

Somewhat fraught at the moment.

My original (local) supplier has let me down with some extra timber. I know I originally planned on a 3.0x3.5m and it's turned out to be 2.5x4.2m, but I am still short on roofing and floor coverage.
After 10 days of waiting I cancelled, with rather unprofessional manners from them, I went with another supplier (nationwide) - and even that one's proving a little slow! Mind this last one I used for some timber after discovering they were 60% cheaper than B&Q (UK diy supplier) for the same material specs.

I could complete the roofing with what I have, but I'm worried about gluing the edpm when temperatures are as low as they are. Water-based glue needs above 5C and no frost within a few hours. The rather more stick-it-and-you-cant-move it bond may be equally as strict on temperatures (not that it says anything on the can).
I could, I suppose, place a fan heater inside and warm the roof for long enough!?

Oh, and I decided another 1.5 metres of rail was needed to help clear the SE edge. Delivery one has gone missing, so there's a replacement somewhere!

Meanwhile the weather is set to become cold for a few days, with likely snow.

At least I can take some comfort in the weather is equally bad for any serious imaging.......

[Graeme1858]

Nothing better than Design and Build as you go! Shopping around suppliers usually finds huge price differences!

I hope you get some >5°C weather sometime soon!

Graeme

[helicon]

Kind of frustrating. Supplies of wood here have been rebounding as the impact of COVID retreats. I know there were shortages in obtaining lumber a couple of years back. Hope the new distributor works out.

[StarBru]

Wow! Despite so many frustrating challenges, it is good you keep persevering! I hope the weather clears up and you are able to get some warmer temperatures. Send us some photos when you can. Thanks for the update.

[StarHugger]

Awesome, coming along since my last dop in here,

Best of luck with Everything, indeed.

[Altocumulus]

One thing forgotten in the above. The roof doesn't clear the SE corner (still overhangs by 40cm), so a further 3 metres (cut in two) rail ordered. Problem is it's disappeared in transit - a replacement is on its way - somewhere.
Meanwhile a few photos from a couple of weeks ago to follow.

[Altocumulus]

North side - showing completed wall with opening for the full height doorway.

Looking inward from the NE. Roof skeleton in place with the wheels on the rail. Squared and moveable.

[Altocumulus]

Inside, looking at the warm room on the western side of the shed.

Wall on the south side, showing wheels (OTT sized!) 3 wheels a side. Roof sides completed and roof covered. For ease I used the floorboards instead of the large sheets of OSB. epdm stuck with water based glue on some parts - bonded elsewhere, especially vertical sides. Vile stuff the bonding glue - it sticks without opportunity to adjust.

Looking in from the east wall - two acrylic windows. Horizontal window seems to not be so.....

[SkyHiker]

It's really coming together. I like how the South wall is lower than North for good Milky Way clearance in the summer. The windows are nice, too. Many observatories don't have any. It looks like the roof is flat, any worries about water runoff? I hope the building doesn't slide off the concrete blocks in a storm. Is it just sitting loose on concrete blocks?

[Altocumulus]

It's loose on the blocks - but that's a heavy structure! The base alone is made of 6x2s. Real storms are a rarity here.

There's a slight drop in the roof to the south. Although the contact adhesive grabbed when the side was fixed, there's a few puckers on the top - but seems to shed water with no major problem.

[helicon]

Wow, that's a lot of progress. I am sure it will be a delight once it is finished and you can start observing. Pretty heavy duty structure and construction, as well.

[Altocumulus]

It's enough to make me want to curl up in a corner and weep.

The replacement rail hasn't yet been despatched.
The supplier of wood can't/won't deliver - no reason given other than they can't make the
original schedule.....