LostBoyNZ
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Reged: 07/13/11
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My own little New Zealand Observatory
#5112090 - 03/08/12 05:30 PM
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Having a large shed already here, which used to contain chickens, I'm planning on turning part of it into something much cooler, a little observatory for my telescope (Meade 8" LX200).
Looking at doing astrophotography, I've been reading a lot about piers, but still can't decide to go concrete or steel. There's already a concrete floor (although not hugely thick) in the shed, but it seems that'll have to be partly removed to build a solid concrete base no matter which style of pier I choose. I have the Mitty Euro wedge to attach on top of the pier.
Plans are for the pier will be 1m high at the moment, and given the height of the walls, it seems at worst I'll be able to see as low as 30 degrees on most sides. I'd love more, but being very new to all this, it's already quite complicated. Hmm.
Being not far from the house and with an ethernet-over-power adapter, I'm looking at controlling a little computer out there from inside the house. Being away from the telescope during photography seems ideal; warmer indoors, less vibrations than if I moved around the scope, and I can ensure there's no lights on around the scope (which in this area, would attract moths).
I remember reading online about modding the Meade scopes so the wires don't get tangled as it turns, which will be essential if I'm gonna leave the scope on its own.
Anyways, having enjoyed other people's threads, I thought I'd create my own showing the progress of construction  Plus being a newbie, if anyone thinks I'm making any mistakes, they might be nice and point them out before I do, hahaha.
1/6th of this shed will become the telescope observatory (the part with the blue tarp hanging inside on the first photo here).
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csa/montana
Den Mama
Reged: 05/14/05
Loc: montana
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5112152 - 03/08/12 05:56 PM
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Welcome to Cloudy Nights, and especially to the Observatory Forum! Glad to have you join us. Looks like a feasible building to incorporate your observatory in. We will certainly love to follow along, as your dream starts taking shape. Lots of pictures of course! 
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Lorence
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/15/08
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5112257 - 03/08/12 06:47 PM
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Plans are for the pier will be 1m high at the moment, and given the height of the walls, it seems at worst I'll be able to see as low as 30 degrees on most sides. I'd love more, but being very new to all this, it's already quite complicated.
Things only get complicated if you don't think about what you're doing first. Before you do anything sit down and decide what you need the observatory to do for you. Then think about what you have to do to accomplish that. Break the project down into logical steps and just take one step at a time. Start by setting up your telescope and mock up the the observatory around it with whatever is available. Sticks, string, cardboard etc. Just try to get a rough idea of space and wall height and how they will affect your view.
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Being not far from the house and with an ethernet-over-power adapter, I'm looking at controlling a little computer out there from inside the house. Being away from the telescope during photography seems ideal; warmer indoors, less vibrations than if I moved around the scope, and I can ensure there's no lights on around the scope (which in this area, would attract moths).
If you will be digging in power to the building consider digging in a Cat6 cable or two. This will give you the most flexibility over time.
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I remember reading online about modding the Meade scopes so the wires don't get tangled as it turns, which will be essential if I'm gonna leave the scope on its own.
No modification necessary. Look at my website
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Anyways, having enjoyed other people's threads, I thought I'd create my own showing the progress of construction Plus being a newbie, if anyone thinks I'm making any mistakes, they might be nice and point them out before I do,
Just be careful not to copy the mistakes others have made. This is the time to identify future problems and design them out of your project.
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andrew0414
super member
Reged: 02/11/12
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: Lorence]
#5112400 - 03/08/12 08:16 PM
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Wow. Nice observatory. Wish I had one.
clear skies
Andrew
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: Lorence]
#5112406 - 03/08/12 08:20 PM
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Thanks I'll certainly take plenty of photos
At first I'll be running an outdoor extension cable but then when burring it one day, Cat6 sounds good. I take it there won't be a problem putting it next to a power cable?
So far I've set up the telescope to figure out what height is needed to give the biggest view of the skies while still fitting inside the roof when angled horizontal. It varies depending on the side, but is roughly 25 to 30 degrees above the horizon. I heard atmospheric distortion can interfere more when looking below 30 degrees, so that works out alright.
Ah not having to mod it would be great! I had a look at your site (very impressive setup by the way!!!) but zooming in on the cabling photo, I couldn't really see how you'd avoid the mod for the focus cable: http://www.thegoodes.net/Astronomy/focus_mod/index.html I should have been more specific when I said "cables" though.
Thanks, and again, your setup looks fantastic!
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ADeane
super member
Reged: 10/12/08
Loc: South West Ontario Canada
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5112497 - 03/08/12 09:24 PM
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Do yourself a BIG favor and keep the Cat-6, any data communication for that matter, away from the power cable. It'd be best if you could run the power cable in rigid conduit (EMT) and put the Cat-6 in a separate conduit or use direct burial wire. For the data cables even PVC pipe will work. Data cabling too close to electrical wires will be subject to noise. If you've got to dig a trench and use rigid conduit that's properly grounded for your electrical wiring you can lay the direct burial data wire in the same trench. It will alleviate a LOT of trouble down the road.
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Lorence
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/15/08
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5112498 - 03/08/12 09:24 PM
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not having to mod it would be great! I had a look at your site (very impressive setup by the way!!!) but zooming in on the cabling photo, I couldn't really see how you'd avoid the mod for the focus cable: http://www.thegoodes.net/Astronomy/focus_mod/index.html I should have been more specific when I said "cables" though.
I wasn't aware of the focus mount modification. I just ran the focus cable down the pier and into the equipment cabinet. It runs to the telescope from the equipment cabinet with the cable bundle.
Around here power cables have to be buried at least 24" deep. Communication cables can be pushed into a slit cut into the grass an inch or two deep. If you have go that deep with your power, put the power cable at the bottom of the trench then backfill the trench about a foot. Put the Cat6 in the trench then fill it completely. As long as you have about 1 foot between the two cables you won't have any problem. I have two Cat6 in my trench and they closer than one foot to the power. No problem.
If your budget can afford a conduit for the Cat6 go that route. With a conduit you will always have the ability to pull in better cable or fiber optics if it should ever be necessary.
I hope to be around and using my observatory twenty years from now. I have no doubt there will be a lot of changes during that time. My observatory was built with that in mind. I'm confident I will be able to make any changes with a minimum amount of effort.
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BPO
sage
Reged: 02/23/10
Loc: South Island, NZ
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5112784 - 03/09/12 02:58 AM
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Hooray! Another one! Great to see.
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: Lorence]
#5112867 - 03/09/12 06:01 AM
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That's really good to know about the Cat6 cable and the power cable. And when it comes time to put cables under ground instead of the extension cable I'll look into buying a conduit. As you say, for future proofing it sounds like a very wise idea
This is something I quickly made up recently too, which will be a handy chart for inside the observatory or on the computer there. Using NASA's webpage http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/mrst.php I put together all the data for 2012 & 2013 into Excel.
This tells me when each planet rises, peaks and sets, and is lit up blue if that happens when it's dark. This goes off the beginning of dawn / end of twilight. The maximum altitude of each planet is also shown, and gets lit up greener the higher it'll be in the sky (starting at 30 degrees). The Azimuth is also shown in there too, just shrunk down a bit.
Pluto is in there too, off to the side of that screen shot. I'd feel bad leaving him out Then the Sun's information is off to the side too. Thanks to Iconka for the cute planet images
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astronz59
sage
Reged: 09/15/10
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5115420 - 03/10/12 03:40 PM
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With all that lumber and a ready made concrete floor, have you thought of simply demolishing the whole thing and re-cycling the timber to build a new structure? Keep the chickens, pumpkins and rhubarb - they'll be a good source of sustanance when your wife kicks you out for spending too much time there! He, he, he.....  
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: astronz59]
#5117599 - 03/11/12 11:10 PM
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Ah this is actually at my parent's place out in the country. Otherwise, hehe, I'd love to rebuild 
Took the roof off today, plus the netting and such from two walls. Wow it was dusty!
Here's two photos. The roof will be on caster wheels, and tracks for it will go off in the direction of the first photo. I'll have them go further away from the Observatory so they'll get slightly less in the way of viewing, and I should get slightly more of a viewing angle. Also about 40 cm (16 inches) of the walls on both sides shown here will go with the roof.
So they'll be about 40 cm of wall attached to the roof, and the caster wheels will be under those. This is to try and get a better viewing angle range.
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gavinm
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/26/05
Loc: Auckland New Zealand
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5119114 - 03/12/12 07:26 PM
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Where abouts are you?
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: gavinm]
#5119596 - 03/13/12 05:08 AM
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In Tuahiwi, just outside of Christchurch. Between Rangiora and Woodend actually. Just checked out the website in your signature there, very cool! Look forward to the photos that get posted up there.
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johnthomas
super member
Reged: 10/18/11
Loc: Oklahoma City
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5119795 - 03/13/12 09:16 AM
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I just love google earth. I couldn't resist finding Tuahiwi in Google earth (good directions btw!). Could't see your old chicken coop, but went to the street view & saw the old red bus on the main road there in "downtown" Tuahiwi!!. Looks like a really nice area.
--
craig
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: johnthomas]
#5121401 - 03/14/12 07:17 AM
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hahaha, ah the age we live in where you can just go for a virtual drive around the town here
What I've been up to today is pulling apart more of the framing, and planning where the scope will go. This should work out ok On the left is the wall, and on the right is the wall plus where the roof slides along. The part sticking up on the far right is where the roof will push off to. So they'll be nothing before that to block viewing.
Doing this allowed me to figure out where to place the telescope in the room for the best viewing angles, and I can get a maximum of about 22.5 degrees in all directions This is measured by knowing where the bottom middle of the scope will be.
I calculated that by figuring out what will be a good height for the eye piece while sitting on a chair, what will fit under the roof (of course) and what will give the best viewing angles. Hopefully (!!!) this is all correct. haha. So the "pier" will be 1m high, and the roof (taking part of the wall with it) will go 1m away from the observatory as well.
(the lighter grey on the left is because the room isn't quite square, but it's close, so I can use the measurements to know how deep into the room to place the scope too)
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5123153 - 03/15/12 05:20 AM
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Today construction actually began! Up until now it's all been taking stuff down, but today the first thing (part of a frame) went up This is how it looks now...
I snapped a photo of my Grandad using the chainsaw too:
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astronz59
sage
Reged: 09/15/10
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5124330 - 03/15/12 06:25 PM
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Like your black and white, bold approach! Keep those pictures coming! 
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: astronz59]
#5124712 - 03/16/12 12:01 AM
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Thanks With the wood chips flying all over the place I thought it'd make for an ok action shot
We're slowly but surely making progress. Couldn't get much done today, but managed to get the frame we partly put up yesterday straight and finished, plus all the grass behind it gone so we can later nail it from that side. Plus we got part of the second frame up It's tricky going on top of pre-built concrete, because it isn't flat.
Probably won't get any done in the next two days, or maybe just a tiny bit. Looking forward to more on Monday though Oh and today some strips of red LED's I ordered arrived, which I'll use for lighting out there.
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LostBoyNZ
member
Reged: 07/13/11
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5155658 - 04/04/12 03:06 AM
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Construction is still going ahead The rollers, which will hold on the roof and part of the walls are up too. Little by little, it's getting closer to being complete.
Sadly the clutch on my telescope broke. It no longer holds the scope in place. So I ordered the "EZ Clutch" replacement online and will install that.
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astronz59
sage
Reged: 09/15/10
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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Re: My own little New Zealand Observatory
[Re: LostBoyNZ]
#5155698 - 04/04/12 05:42 AM
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This is starting to look like an observatory now! We've been waiting with bated breath to see what was coming next. I imagine the chickens are excited too. I mean, where else would you find a roll off roost? 
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