· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Observatories Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5221172 - 05/14/12 12:32 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And another angle of the scope on the pier. Untitled by mads0100, on Flickr I think the biggest thing I was surprised about is how effective wood is as a pier. The 6x6 has remained true and dampens out any vibrations quickly. It has some movement when you slew the mount around, but it's quickly removed and there isn't any issues during AP. Here is my best example so far: my focus is a bit soft but there are round stars! The biggest change I've made hardware wise is a lode star guider... it made a HUGE difference between binning/better CCD chip. Post Extras:       Hilmi Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/07/10 Loc: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5221365 - 05/14/12 06:55 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looking good The color theme sure does pop out of the surrounding though! Post Extras:       Starman27 Post Laureate Reged: 01/29/06 Loc: Illinois, Iowa Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5221405 - 05/14/12 07:46 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Very nice result. Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Starman27]       #5221640 - 05/14/12 10:46 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks Himli/Herman! The colors do pop out a bit . Most people seem to match their house, but since my house is grey... I wanted something a little more interesting in the backyard. How's your roof obs coming? Post Extras:       Hilmi Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/07/10 Loc: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5221780 - 05/14/12 12:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The roof obs is very fast, but after 5 years of waiting, I'm finding it hard to wait 1 week! Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Hilmi]       #5223335 - 05/15/12 10:56 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I felt the same way. It'll be worth the wait! Post Extras:       CounterWeight Postmaster Reged: 10/05/08 Loc: Cloudyopolis, OR. Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5223406 - 05/15/12 11:49 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Chris, Congrat's on your observatory, I agree with what David said about it being some of the best $ spent for hobby -especially for imaging. Doesn't change everything but it sure changes a lot of things that make a huge difference as you already noted. Looks great by the way - you do good work Looking forward to your imaging from the new 'astro-hangar'. Am curious as to what/ how you based decision on the wall height? Thanks for the great thread / images here. Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: CounterWeight]       #5225080 - 05/16/12 12:58 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hey Jim, Thanks! I can't wait to produce some quality photos too. I'm still learning but I'm happy with the progression from where I started and where I'm at now. I figure it'll get easier and easier as I try new things. The obs at least allows me to have a consistent platform every night! Astro-hangar, that's awesome! I hadn't thought of that one. I like it . My walls were based on the plans; my neighbor and I (he's a carpenter, not into astro) went back and forth on the wall height. He suggested making them higher so that I could walk in without the distraction of almost hitting my head (6' 5" or so). I decided to go with how the Sky Shed plans were out of simplicity. I didn't want to make a change and have it ripple through the plans as I was building things! What I found? it doesn't matter. Since the Sky Shed design relies on the gables and the runners to keep the roof straight so it's fairly open on the inside. If I'd decided to run 2x4s across the runners to strengthen to roof, I would've had a need to increase the wall height. One other consideration is how much of the sky do you want to see. I can see down to about 20 degrees in the E-S-W. The N is obviously a little more worse (40 degrees) due to the roof. So, the lower walls have other advantages as well. Glad you enjoyed the pictures. This was a wonderful project and I'm glad my wife let me do it. I enjoy DIY around the house and this was definitely the biggest project I'd tackled so far. It gave me a reason to buy some new tools an learn some new tricks! Cutting 22.5 degrees is ridiculous... biggest suggestion is to buy your gable ends pre-made. They have them at Menards and for 35 bucks a piece, it was the best money I spent . GL, feel free to PM if you have any other questions. Chris Post Extras:       budman1961 scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 02/25/11 Loc: Springfield, MO Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5260891 - 06/07/12 09:53 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I really enjoyed viewing your show, and chatting finally! It was a really great time! Your Bone-Yard is fantastic! Andy Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: budman1961]       #5261534 - 06/08/12 08:54 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks man, it was fun sharing the sun at the same time. The cool part was getting two different views between my ED80 and your LX200 . Mallincam is doing well it seems, glad you're reallly getting it done. Post Extras:       Bart Carpal Tunnel Reged: 05/28/06 Loc: Somewhere near Charlottesville... Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5261662 - 06/08/12 10:30 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Chris, Very interesting thread. Nice job on the build. Question: how did you install the wood pier? Did you use cement to anchor it? Thanks Bart Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Bart]       #5264538 - 06/10/12 10:56 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hey Bart, Yea, my pier is very simple. Just the straightest 6x6x6' post I could find at Menards and 2 bags of 'post' concrete. I dug the hole about 36" down, put the post in, poured the post concrete around it, and started to wet/mix it in the hole per the manufacturers instructions. 24 hours later she was straight as an arrow. The best part? The post hasn't warped at all. I dunno why/how, but It's still the straightest piece of lumber I bought for this project . Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5300445 - 07/03/12 10:35 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Update to the obs. My mom decided she didn't need a C5 for birding and passed it on to me. I decided to throw it on the CGEM and see what I could do with it. Thankfully I still had some of my AP accessories so it was a pretty easy go of it. It's really improved my CGEM's ability to take good images.. Apparently the AT8IN was a little heavy for my particular CGEM. Best example so far: CS! Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5672175 - 02/10/13 11:29 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Updated picture with my new equipment. An MI-250 makes a wonderful observatory mount. In addition, I upgraded the ED80 with a moonlight focuser and bought an SBIG ST-10XME for AP. New mount and camera by mads0100, on Flickr DSC_2272 by mads0100, on Flickr The Bone Yard. by mads0100, on Flickr Results: Not bad for 60 minutes of data! Post Extras:       EddWen scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 04/26/08 Loc: Here or There Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5672547 - 02/10/13 03:13 PM Attachment (22 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   When you said Bone Yard, I thought you might be thinking of this... Post Extras:       Starman27 Post Laureate Reged: 01/29/06 Loc: Illinois, Iowa Re: The Bone Yard [Re: EddWen]       #5672576 - 02/10/13 03:45 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looks like a rock solid setup. The MI250 is wonderful mount. Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Starman27]       #5673064 - 02/10/13 09:00 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks Herman, it's working really well so far. Edd, that's where it comes from. And, from our beauties down the road. If the weather is right, they come over my house. Post Extras:       PWP member Reged: 07/24/11 Loc: Keller, Texas Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5699992 - 02/25/13 02:56 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looks pretty sweet Chris...nice job! The staining really made it look sharp and it weatherproofs it as well. Post Extras:       Raginar Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/19/10 Loc: Rapid CIty, SD Re: The Bone Yard [Re: PWP]       #5709845 - 03/03/13 01:39 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   PWP, Thanks! It matches the surroundings pretty well. I've really enjoyed having a shed for all my stuff. Clear skies! Post Extras:       Starman27 Post Laureate Reged: 01/29/06 Loc: Illinois, Iowa Re: The Bone Yard [Re: Raginar]       #5710467 - 03/03/13 11:36 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just saw your recent image of M42 taken with this rig. Outstanding! 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