Steve E
member
Reged: 12/02/08
Posts: 13
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Hi:
I would like to build some sort of hatch to allow viewing out of my low, slanted attic roof. The lowest point is at the south wall, about 1.3 meters high, going up to about 2 meters high.
I have checked out the main roof window / skylight makers (velux etc...), and I haven't found a ready made window that opens more than 45 degrees, so am almost resigned to the idea that I will have to create something to do the trick.
Another issue is that my roof is made with curved clay tiles.
Any good ideas out there?
Thanks
Steve
Edited by Steve E (12/04/08 02:50 PM)
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40316
Loc: montana
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Steve, Welcome to Cloudy Nights, & especially to the Observatory forum.
I know members will be able to assist you; I would think your clay tile roof may be a drawback, however. Don't give up though, there are many ingenious people here!
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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Steve E
member
Reged: 12/02/08
Posts: 13
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I'm counting on that...
Thanks for the warm welcome!
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1965healey
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 3137
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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Hey Steve, welcome to CN and the obs forum. Where are you located and can you let us know the orientation of your roof? A picture of where you'd like to put your "hatch" would help a bit since it wil let us see the pitch of the roof and any other details. 
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1459
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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You might consider doing something like what I did, though my roof is flat on top.
It's a fairly heavy wood and metal 4.5' square cover riding on industrial drawer slides, so there is no need for outriggers on the roof to support the hatch. You can find pix of my setup on page 8 of the "show a pic of your observatory" thread at the top of this forum.
There was another post that sounds more like what you're talking about with a sloped roof facing south. In that case, the hatch was on rails or slides and went off to one side of the opening, like a "convertible" balcony.
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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Steve E
member
Reged: 12/02/08
Posts: 13
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I am located in Bet Shemesh, Israel (31 deg 44' N, 34 deg 59'E), and the roof faces ssw.
The issue that I will have with a diy solution is that I will have to deal with weatherproofing the frame in a clay roof setting, which is not so simple. It is doable though... Since many of the prefab sunlights out there come with weatherproofing kits, I was hoping that I could go that route. Alas, that seems doubtful at this point...
What sparked my interest is an iccocent little drawing on page 298 of "The Guide To Amateur Astronomy" by Newton and Teece (see attachement). The drawing shows a hatch with hinges on the upper side, flipped up. Looks simple enough.... I showed it to my roofer yesterday, he just shook his head...
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SometimesKen
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/15/05
Posts: 506
Loc: Bad Moon Observatory
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Doesn't another CNer (John C.) have a similar roof set up? I believe his is a "slider" meaning the roof section slides over to expose the scope instead of a "flip open".
If you go the slider route you could keep the curved clay tiles and it would blend in well when the hatch is closed.
just a thought.....
Good Luck
Ken
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As the setting sun / melts below the horizon / the stars applaud her bow. ~W. Terrance~
Bad Moon Observatory - February 1, 2007
39° 54' N - 74° 09' W
Edited by SometimesKen (12/05/08 07:58 AM)
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1459
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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I just remembered that Antonio Cidadao, of Portugal, used to have a hatch like you describe (I think even with the clay tile roof, in fact).
Ah, found it!
http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/equipment.htm
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
Edited by tim53 (12/05/08 02:36 PM)
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Project Galileo
sage
Reged: 11/14/07
Posts: 405
Loc: Douglas County, Colorado
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I looked into retrofitting an existing skylight that opens to vent with a roof access/egress/hatch type for the same purpose. There are many manufacturers around but I found it very expensive. I bailed on the idea since it wasn't cost effective for my application.
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Orion XT10i
Meade LXD55 LXD75 AR-6
TeleVue Binoviewers with Seibert 1x/1.3x/1.7x OCA
Minolta 10x50 Binoculars
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40316
Loc: montana
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Quote:
Doesn't another CNer (John C.) have a similar roof set up? I believe his is a "slider" meaning the roof section slides over to expose the scope instead of a "flip open".
It's John Crilly, one of our Administrators. Here is a photo of his:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php/Number/907168/
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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Steve E
member
Reged: 12/02/08
Posts: 13
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OK, after careful consideration of the costs etc, i have settled on a roof window, as opposed to any non-prefab design.
The 2 windows that I am considering are:
Velux GPL (top hung), 94cm x 160cm (opens 45 degrees, with 180 degree cleaning option)
Fakro FEP 114cm x 140cm (opens 68 degrees with 180 degree cleaning option)
These should give me adequate room to work, and the 180 degree window cleaning option allows for viewing at higher angles. The Fakro can be opened to a wider 68 degrees fixed, so I'll probably settle on that, once I sell my saxophone to generate the funding (don't worry, I haven't played it for 22 years, and don't intend on taking it up again).
Thanks for your suggestions and help!
Steve
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40316
Loc: montana
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Please keep us posted on your progress, Steve.
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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Iain Barker
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 48
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Hi all, I was looking through CN about 3 months ago for ideas on how to convert one end of my house attic into an observatory, and I saw Steve E's post with the "innocent little drawing" of the roof hatch in this thread.
That got me thinking, and over the recent 3-day 'July 4th' weekend I decided to try and build it myself, direct from that drawing!
More details and photos are in this thread
I hope it might be useful to others considering an attic design. Insulation is the next big step to make it fully usable ready for when cooler weather arrives...
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wojo
sage
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 216
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HI
Just a thought, And not meant to be a discouragement. Have you given any thought to the heat waves generated by the warm clay tiles and the interior heat generated in the winter?
Could be a problem with the steadyness of view. Maybe some of you that implemented this idea could chip in.
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Iain Barker
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 48
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In my case, I have bitumen tiles rather than clay. But yes, insulation was the main focus for me when building 'the hatch'.
I've used an insulated door between the hatch alcove and the rest of the (unheated) attic.
I also put 1/2 inch insulation on top of all existing drywall inside the observatory area, and 1.5 inch on all exposed external surfaces.
The hatch folds downwards, and there is a double-layer of insulation (3 inch total) which effectively lies on the rooftop in front of the OTA and blocks any direct convection for the first 3ft distance.
I'm also planning to use a dew shield on the OTA to also help block any local convection currents around the aperture of the hatch itself.
Just as a very quick test, on a warm summer evening, I could resolve the cloud bands on Jupiter and it looked fairly stable so it seems to work OK.
But, of course the proof will be in Autumn/Fall when we get cooler air outside and I can see if my efforts are worthwhile.
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Iain Barker
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 48
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Well, autumn is here and we finally got some cooler, clear and stable skies in Boston over the weekend. And I'm happy to report that after a couple of hours cool-down, the observatory works very well.
There was very little problem with air currents from the roof - defocussing on a bright star (Betelgeuse / a-Ori) showed some minor turbulence, but well within what I consider acceptable for visual work.
To push things a little harder, I used my C11 with a DSI-II to take some quick shots of M42 around midnight Sunday. The DSI is 6mm equivalent, so with the 2800mm focal length of the C11 is at magnification x466
Given that I have to deal with the light pollution from Boston and I'm limited in workspace so have to use an alt-az, I think this project has been a success.
I'm certainly more motivated to open the hatch, than carry the mount and OTA down two flights of stairs to the back yard.
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kiwisailor
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/07/04
Posts: 1221
Loc: Lyttelton, New Zealand
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Well done for keeping us updated Iain, sounds like you've made the best of a bad situation and are getting some observing in 
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Don't wait until tomorrow, start procrastinating today!
Sky-Watcher 8" F5 Newt
Mmmm Moonlite CR2
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Iain Barker
member
Reged: 12/26/08
Posts: 48
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Well, the weather isn't cooperating of course, but I posted my two 'first light' astrophoto attempts from last night here:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=low&Number=3421641
I've got a long way to go on the learning curve, but for alt-az with Orion low in the sky, pointing almost directly into the boston light pollution with no filters its a better start than I expected.
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AlienFirstClass
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/13/09
Posts: 744
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Quote:
You might consider doing something like what I did, though my roof is flat on top.
It's a fairly heavy wood and metal 4.5' square cover riding on industrial drawer slides, so there is no need for outriggers on the roof to support the hatch. You can find pix of my setup on page 8 of the "show a pic of your observatory" thread at the top of this forum.
There was another post that sounds more like what you're talking about with a sloped roof facing south. In that case, the hatch was on rails or slides and went off to one side of the opening, like a "convertible" balcony.
-Tim.
Where did you get the industrial drawer slides?
Finding slides long enough and heavy enough is hard.
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3531
Loc: bellevue ne.
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Ian.....Can you observe anything past the zenith to the North? Or is your drawing not an actual representation of the roof pitch, pier placement and all?  Mike
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7x35 and 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), 4.25" f/14.8 tasco 20te.
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