dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Tired of lugging equipment in and out of the garage. Also tired of using that as an excuse not to observe. Seems a BYO is the answer, so I got started this weekend.
It'll be a Roll Off Roof. My location isn't ideal, but it is close and I'll use it often. I live in a neighborhood with streetlights, but my hous actually shields the backyard reasonably well. I have an existing 12x16 storage shed, but I don't want to tackle making the roof movable, so I'll build an 8x12 dedicated shed. I've drawn dozens of rough sketches. My current plan is 8x8 for the scope, 4x8 for a warm room of sorts. Really just a place for a table, chair, computer, etc.
Hole's dug, base is poured, pier is pretty much done. I'll start on the building on Friday.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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The light pole was free - a golf buddy had six or seven of them laying around his family's farm
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Astrophotograhphy novice
Edited by dymy24 (11/03/09 09:39 PM)
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Cutting it to length was a job.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Adding a top plate was easy. Carried everything to my pops house, threatened to weld it myself, sttod back and watched as he did the work.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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The plate isn't as bad as the photo makes it look.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Finished the pier by 7:30 PM, couldn't not test fit it all on the base. Hate the time change - dark so early.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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And as long as we're test fitting, might as well try the mount.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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csa/montana
Wild Spirit
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40149
Loc: montana
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Congratulations! You have made the plunge  We'll be looking forward to your observatory starting to take shape!
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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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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 6549
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Well done!
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M110 Doublet ED, AT 102Achro, ZS80FD 10th Anniv, ZS66SD, PST
CG5-AGT, EZ-Touch, Voyager
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Quote:
Congratulations! You have made the plunge We'll be looking forward to your observatory starting to take shape!
Thank you. Of course, nothing I do will be an inovation. Every feature will come from something I've learned on CloudyNights. Still, I'll post pictures and keep a log of the build - that way others can avoid my mistakes.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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csa/montana
Wild Spirit
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40149
Loc: montana
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That's what this forum is all about; sharing ideas & encouraging others to keep on building!  Each observatory build brings back memories of when ours was being built.
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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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Digital Don
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/20/04
Posts: 1283
Loc: Manteno
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Keep up the good work!
Don
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LateViewer
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 780
Loc: Westchester NY
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Just curious, how deep is the hole and what is that dirt? A gray clay?
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12.5" Discovery Mirror String Truss Dob
DSV-1 Alt-Az Mount
WO 66mm Petzval
Orion 127mm Mak with WO 2" Dielectric Diagonal
C9.25"
Celestron CG-5 GoTo
8.8, 14, 18, and 24mm Meade UWA Series 5000 EP
32, 40mm Orion Optiluxe EP
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Doug76
Postmaster
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 5537
Loc: SE Louisiana, future Texan
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So first you dig a hole, right?
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Yep, that's how it starts. 
Then the fun really begins. I too found help here looking over others' efforts here, so mine, while not quite done, is now usable. It makes for a much more satisfying, and relaxed viewing session. You'll be glad you did it.
I made mine 10x10, and will be adding a 8x8 combined warm (cool?) room/equipment storage room under the roll off rail structure.
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Doug
Truckstop Astronomer
The Universe, the light of God, in all it's majesty
6 achro refractors 50mm-150mm
1 apo refractor 90mm
1 SCT 8inch
UO Abbe Volcano Tops
Faworski Ortho's
Panoptic 24mm
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f29pc
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/23/05
Posts: 650
Loc: Maine
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Yep, but you have to dig a BIG hole!!!
Good luck, your going to love it.
Paul
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12" LX200 UHTC OTA
10" LX200 EMC
WO 105mm APO, 80mm APO, 66mm APO
MI250
Next day air makes every night X-mas eve!
www.burkesobservatory.com
Edited by f29pc (11/05/09 09:26 PM)
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csa/montana
Wild Spirit
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 40149
Loc: montana
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Now, that's gonna be a big pier!
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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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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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Quote:
Yep, but you have to dig a BIG hole!!!
Good luck, your going to love it.
Paul
In that photo, the hole is about 2 feet deep and round. The final hole, ready for the pour, was 3.5 feet square along the base, tapered to two feet square at the top. The soil is fairly loose black earth. We have no frost line here.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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mikey cee
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/18/07
Posts: 3507
Loc: bellevue ne.
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I don't know there. You factor in wall thicknesses and 8x8 is going to be too small. You'll learn the hard way like many others. Doen't cost much more to go with an absolute 10x10 minimum. Rethink it I think you might reconsider.   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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dymy24
member
Reged: 07/28/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
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You might be right. I know it'll be close. Unfortunately, I have space and size constraints. In any event, I framed the floor today, so it would involve some work and additional expense to start over.
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Astrophotograhphy novice
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LateViewer
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 780
Loc: Westchester NY
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8*8,is what I have and I wish I could have built larger but 8*8 was the max I could build without a building permit.
I think you find after the basic construction that you start to "fit" the observatory to you personally with shelves etc.
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12.5" Discovery Mirror String Truss Dob
DSV-1 Alt-Az Mount
WO 66mm Petzval
Orion 127mm Mak with WO 2" Dielectric Diagonal
C9.25"
Celestron CG-5 GoTo
8.8, 14, 18, and 24mm Meade UWA Series 5000 EP
32, 40mm Orion Optiluxe EP
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