Two years ago when I first got interested in astronomy I would never have guessed in a million light years I would now be standing in my OWN observatory, but that's just what I'm doing and it's just great. It's nice to have everything in one place and not finding I've left something indoors and have to ruin my night vision to get it. Also as the scope is polar aligned I can be up and viewing in about 5min not 60min, and when I've finished I just lock up and go indoors.All this would not have been possible had it not been for the invaluable help from all you people who posted .your many idea's on the Web. So it's great big thank you to you all
I cherry picked what I thought were the best idea's and incorporated them with mine to make, what I think is a very functional observatory. I made most of it from scratch but you could use a basic garden shed and adapt it However it did have to meet certain criteria.
(1) It had to be fairly easy to build, just basic carpentry skill's.
(2) As it can be seen from the road it had to be secure and not too obvious as to what it was,( even in rural Oxfordshire we do get the odd vandal or burglar). I opted for the garden shed type and fitted strong locks and an alarm.
(3) It had to blend in with rest of the garden, I didn't want it sticking out like a sore thumb.
One of my main problems was were to site it,as you can see. There was just one possible space were my 6x4 old garden shed was. After getting rid of all the junk I decided to use parts of the old shed to make a 8x6 shed. There's not much room around it in fact it just fit's in, still I only need to look out the top and there are good views to the south & north, moderate to the east & west. We live on top of a hill out of town facing south so that's got to be a plus.
The first job was to put in the Pier, made from a 5ft x 8in length of air
conditioning duct. A 24 x 24 x 36 hole was dug and filled with concrete with reinforcing rods.
The pier in position, making sure it's dead level and upright. This is then filled with concrete. The pier tube is sunk 18in into the concrete base,all concreting must be done in one go to avoid weak joins
The wedge plate fixing bolt's and template ready to fit.
It's really important to take extra care in getting the bolt's in the right way around ( check with wedge) and pointing north. Shown with top wedge plate fitted to hold level. Made the wedge plate out of a solid bit of hardwood as a template only but decided to keep it for the time being, I know how to work with wood and it's much easier to alter than metal. Once I get the scope polar aligned and all the bolt holes in then perhaps I might get one made in metal.
The floor frame made from 4"x2" timber in place. The floor is raised up about 4" on 3"x3" posts concreted in the ground.
Floor finished with 1/2" Ext. grade ply wood. New 8 x 5 side panel made and fitted, again as it was right up against the fence made with ply wood on a 2"x2" frame. 6 x 5 end panel was part of the old shed.
All the sides done, fitted on top is the roof support frame with the extension arms supported at the far end on 3"x3" posts. Fitted to this will be the roof track.
The roof frame was made from 2"x3" , braced in each corner .
The sun lounger was there just for emergency!
The 6 rollers each side are screwed in position. The rollers had to match with the track on the roof support frame.
Roof frame in position on the track. The track used was some U shaped shelving supports that were just right for the job.
Gable ends fitted and clad with Ext.grade ply. You have to be sure with your measurement that when the roof sides back it clears your scope when in the "parked" position! You don't want to move your scope every time you open the roof.
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Roof now finished with roofing felt. Even with the weight of the roof it runs back easy with just one hand.
Job done !! Just perhaps a bit of carpet to finish off.
This has got to be one of the most satisfying things I've built mainly because it involved using things for something they were not intended for.
I have called my observatory Tardis because like Dr Who's Tardis it looks quite ordinary from the outside but inside it's very hightech and I can do my own time traveling in the Universe.
