csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 25568
Loc: montana
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It looks to me that your Dob square is too close to what will be the wall. 
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Carol, do you think its still too close with that being the south wall that drops down to 3'?
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 25568
Loc: montana
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Measure the length of your scope that would be at the angle of the drop-down. Take into consideration of upgrading to a larger size, also 
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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Bob Griffiths
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 3740
Loc: Frederick Maryland
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Take a couple of 2x4's and screw then upright to the Bam Boards aboiut 5-6 foot apart and grab an old blanket and staple it to the 2x'4... 3 foot up from where your floor will be.. Then grab a card table and place it where you think the Dob should be placed then set to dob on the table (carefully) get a ladder and play with the scope to see how a 3" wall will work.. you can easily pull the blanket off the 2x4's and reset it at 4 foot etc...
IF your neighbors see you doing this ...well..enough said
Bob G.
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CPC1100
Nexstar 8i + GPS & Rays Brackets
Denk S1 power switch
Orion 100 mm Refractor
Meade LXD 55 ...AR-5 127 mm Refractor
Exploradome Observatory S.I.E. (Smiling Irish Eyes)
39*21'03" N
77*28'12" W
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Manny Myles
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/29/05
Posts: 1951
Loc: Flatlandia
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To notch the post is to make a 1-1/2" cut both across and vertically the width and length of the post so the 2x8 rests on the post itself not hanging by the nails,
Easy to do with your new saw
Then nail or thru bolt it to the posts.
m2
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Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak
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John Fitzgerald
In Focus
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 1029
Loc: AR
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I made mine 16x16 feet in order to have walls and roof at reasonable height and still be able to see over them to a reasonably low angle with a Dob. It also leaves room for a 2x4 foot table and a couple of chairs and shelves. IMO you will wish you had made it larger. It's not too late to enlarge at this point. All our local lumber yards carry 16 foot lumber, a couple even have 24 footers. Try another lumber dealer.
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?
Observing since 1966
Messier Cert #898
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mikey cee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 2073
Loc: bellevue ne.
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I'm still wondering if you aren't short changing yourself on that 6' dimension. I'd re think it. Now is the time as altering will be much easier. It is going to be tight in there once the thickness of the walls is taken into account. You are already seeing the problems beginning to arise. The extra cost is really just peanuts. You save a buck only once but the mistake will haunt you forever!   Mike
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Mike 10x50 sears tower binocs, 3" f/10 edmunds reflector, 2.4" f/11.7 manon refractor, 6" f/8 jaegers refractor, "The 8 Ball" 8" f/13.3 brandt refractor, 3" f/15.8 sans&streiffe refractor, 3.1" f/15 selsi refractor(towa 339), 2.4" f/15 sears refractor, selsi 30x30mm spyglass, criterion 5-draw 25x45x75x spyglass(1957).
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Mel M
member
Reged: 05/04/08
Posts: 12
Loc: southern Oregon
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It must be like the shops and garages we build. We seldom say we have too much room.
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NeoDinian
Experienced Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 11511
Loc: Rockford Illinois
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I'm lost trying to figure out how you're doing a concrete "Pad" UNDER the deck of the observatory...
Heres a thought... Pour the pad for the Dob BIGGER... Like about 1/4 the observatory (That whole corner)... When you lay your joists in place, you can place those "Dec-Blocks" under the joists all over that area to remove any flex in the deck. That should be plenty for the Dob... 
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Neo... (Jeff)
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10" LX200-GPS/SMT UHTC "Draco"
 Rockford, Il.
NeoDinian's Eye on the Sky!
Coming soon:
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Thanks yall.
Im kinda stuck.
After talking with a friend about it he said that in our area, heavily light polluted Kentucky, you cant have both imaging that requires high walls, and dob viewing that needs low walls, from one structure. If I build my walls low enough for a dob, I can forget about good imaging when the time comes. If I build the walls high enough for imaging, dob viewing will be hard to do in the box ive created.
*sigh. 
He suggested since i dont own anything but a dob for now, make a concrete box in the middle, like 2'x2', and just set my dob on it for now, and then one day when Im ready to start imaging, buy me a steel pier and anchor it to that same concrete box.
The wife thinks we should partition off a section of this area already boxed in, like on the North end, and make it a warm room, and scoot the concrete box/pad thingie a little closer to the south wall, since it will drop down anyway.
She also said why not go get those floating foundation blocks I first mentioned and make me a little dob deck right off the south side of this obs with a little ramp i can just wheel my dob over to, that way i could leave the dob outside in the obs and just wheel it over when I wanted to.
Of course, she still thinks we ought to use that area that the roof will roll-off on top of that will just be sitting there unused, and make that area my warm room.
Lots of ideas happening now and I dont know which way to go.
On top of all this, the pool motor died and i had to go buy another one yesterday!
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 25568
Loc: montana
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Quote:
Of course, she still thinks we ought to use that area that the roof will roll-off on top of that will just be sitting there unused, and make that area my warm room.
The interior would be totally unprotected when the roof is closed.
If you go with higher walls for imaging, the dob would have to be put on a higher platform; making a stepstool/ladder a necessity.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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NeoDinian
Experienced Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 11511
Loc: Rockford Illinois
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I'm planning hanging plants and a Hammock off my observatory... Use the area nicely.
I was going to originally suggest an outside pad for the Dob, but it seemed like you really wanted the Dob in the observatory... I do like the idea of a 2 foot square monolith in the center of the observatory.. Use that for the Dob. You can have it about 2 feet taller than the floor, to give your dob height... Build a Pad for it when you get your other scope and mount...
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Neo... (Jeff)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
10" LX200-GPS/SMT UHTC "Draco"
Rockford, Il.
NeoDinian's Eye on the Sky!
Coming soon:
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John Fitzgerald
In Focus
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 1029
Loc: AR
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I have found that 24 inch square pads are just barely big enough for a 16-inch Dob. If I had a do-over on my outdoor pads I would make them 28 inches square, so nothing is right on the edge.
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?
Observing since 1966
Messier Cert #898
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Scott Horstman
Vendor- Backyard Observatories
Reged: 03/11/04
Posts: 4381
Loc: Wherever the boss sends me.
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Quote:
I'm planning hanging plants and a Hammock off my observatory... Use the area nicely.
Hi Jeff. The hammock theory has been proven effective 
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Scott.
My Gallery
12.5" f/8 EQ w/Byers gears
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Mornin, Yall.
After getting a small break in the clouds we went back out to examine our work and rethink our situation.
The wife doesnt think Ill be comfortable in what weve built.
She knows im pretty clumsy, and making things tight for me could be problematic, or at the worst expensive and damaging.
She thinks we can start where the north side post-box ends and keep going north with more posts, like put them where the next 2x8 floor joist would go and just keep going as much as we want. Then we could just make our roof as long as weve built and boom, its done.
BYO makes a 15'x6" observatory, and since im not as smart as her, I cant see the problem in turning a started 11x6, into a 15x6.
Weve found a lumber place downtown called Lyon's Lumber that says they carry all sizes and whatever the 'you can do it, we can help' people stock, they stock it and much more since lumber is all they do.
Hmm...
were having all sorts of crazy ideas about how we could do both dob viewing and imaging from the same place, like I took my CatsPerch Pro chair and moved it as high as I could comfortably sit and was at least a foot or two above my focuser on the dob, showing us that it could be raised and allow me to still sit and view.
What if we made it bigger, like the 15'x6" design, and made a raised concrete platform for my dob, but also raised a concrete base around it so Im not standing on a stool?
Why couldnt I do that? We measured the CatsPerch Pro chair opened up and it was about 3'x3".
These are just some of the thoughts were having which is slowing down our build. Everything was cut and dry until we saw it start coming together, and suddenly everything changed.
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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RobVG
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/09/06
Posts: 554
Loc: Seattle Washington
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Hi Michael
Could you clear something up for me, Ive been a little confused.
When you say 11'x6' and 15'x6' do you mean 11x11 and 15x15 with 6' high walls?
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C11 SGT(XLT)CG-5
Observatory (page 5)
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Hiya, Rob.
Naw, It means 11'x6" all the way around like a box, or the same for 15'x6".
Its a box thats 11x6, or 15x6 on all sides.
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Oh, and the walls are 6' if you want them to be.
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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csa/montana
Astro Ambassador
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 25568
Loc: montana
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Quote:
Hiya, Rob.
Naw, It means 11'x6" all the way around like a box, or the same for 15'x6".
Its a box thats 11x6, or 15x6 on all sides.
Probably better to say 11'6'' square; it looks like you are building an 11' by 6" wide Observatory 
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
AstroTech 66ED / Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Tak LE 5mm
7mm Pentax XL, 10mm Pentax XW
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
22mm Pan, 35mm Pan
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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WidowMaker
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/29/07
Posts: 656
Loc: Frankfort, Ky
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Doh! 
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Sleep is the Cousin of Death
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