Gina's Observatory

[Gina]

Flower pots removed fron pier and NEQ6 mounted on the top.

[Gina]

THE MAIN OBSERVATORY BUILD

Now we come to the main observatory build.  The heavy floor beams were tidied up with all unwanted hardware and loose paint removed before several coats of creosote.  Damp proof course was placed between beams and blocks and everything checked for level.  Also that the joists when placed on the beams would clear the block.

More detail and showing the stainless steel anchors that were embedded in the concrete blocks to stop the observatory blowing away in a storm!  Attached too the beams with large screws.

Checking clearance for joists above block.

[Jkulin]

@Gina I can just see you driving that tractor with a piece of hay out of the corner of your mouth ? ? 

[MarkAR]

Superb write up Gina. I know this is keeping you rather busy at the moment, gathering all your information to put this together.

[TerryMcK]

The flower pot moulds give the pier a similar shape and consequent strength that a lighthouse or tree trunk has.

[Gina]

Posted by: @AstronomyUkraine

Posted by: @Gina

Fortunately, I quite expected this and hadn't yet drilled the holes for them in the bottom steel plate of my pier adapter.

Maybe you could have drilled the holes in the plate first, and used it to keep the rods in place? ? 

I thought of that but it would have made filliing the tube much more difficult.  As it was I had to use a garden trowel.  Anyway, all's well that ends well and this pier has proved superb.  It now has an EQ8 mount on it.

 

[Gina]

Posted by: @TerryMcK

The flower pot moulds give the pier a similar shape and consequent strength that a lighthouse or tree trunk has.

Yes, that was what I thought and why I used them.

 

[Carastro]

Posted by: @TerryMcK

I like how you have made the roof roll off within the same footprint rather than some other ROR observatories which roll off onto support timbers.

Me too, if ever I had to change my Obsy, that's what I would do too.

Carole 

[Carastro]

Enjoying watching this thread 2nd time around.  

Carole 

[AstronomyUkraine]

Posted by: @Gina

It now has an EQ8 mount on it.

 

Not surprised you need a pier for that beast. It's a fair old chunk of metal to be carting around every observing session.

[Gina]

Before getting onto photos of the build I thought some SketchUp models of the observatory might be of interest to show the plan.  There were a few small changes when the actual build took place.  For one thing the ROR rails were shorter and limited to the footprint of the shed and not sticking out causing a hazard..

View of south side, without south wall cladding or roof. 

Cladding added.

North side.

[Gina]

Now on with the build photos.

Corner Posts bolted to the main beams.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/CornerPosts.jpg

Joists in position with test piece of timber showing where the dividing wall will go.  Cable ducting in position.  The timbers were cut to size and just placed in position.  Later they were all taken up and wood preserver applied.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Joists.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/JoistsNview.jpg

East wall framework and floorboards around pier cut and put in position.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/FloorboardsRoundPier+EFrame.jpg

South framework with running rail constructed and fastened in place.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/SouthFrame.jpg

Sorting out the cable duct and noggin it goes through.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/CableDuct.jpg

Joists and noggin east of the pier.http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/JoistsEastOfPier.jpg

Struts for obsy south wall cut to size and shape and put in place.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/SECornerFrames.jpg

[Gina]

Coming now to the north wall framework.

Obsy north wall frame pieces cut, screwed together and erected. Then fixed in place.  The roll off rail is supported on a post at the west end - this is currently spaced and held in place temporarily. A proper post top will be added later.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/ScopeRoomNorthFrame.jpg

At this stage in the build a change was made in the design. The original staggered north wall design was replaced with a continuous wall covering both scope room and warm room. This change reduced complication. As with the south scope room wall, the top rail of the north wall forms the north roll off rail.

1. Cut extra clearance for the pier in the floorboards.
2. Screwed down joists for the north wall.
3. Took obsy north wall frame down and replaced bottom rail with full length one - covering both obsy and warm room ( as per design change).
4. Cut uprights for warm room north wall and screwed them onto the bottom rail.
5. Erected north wall frame and screwed uprights to top rail.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/NorthWallFramework.jpg

Added framework for the middle wall plus boarding to fill the gap between obsy and warm room south walls. Used offcuts of floorboard. Cut notch for roll off rail and also to clear joist.  Screwed boarding to wall parts, including new piece for warm room wall.  Laid more floorboards.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/MiddleWallFramework.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/MiddleWallDetail.jpg

Warm room south wall.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomSouthWall.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/SouthWallDetail.jpg

[Gina]

Next we come to the warm room roof framework but start off with the front or west wall frame.  The uprights forming the doorway were just temporary and later moved to put the doorway in a more suitable position.  This framework also forms the support for the warm room roof framework,

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/FrontFrame.jpg

East-West roof joists were added being screwed to the underside of the top beam of the middle wall.  Two uprights were added to support the south side joist and also provide part of the framework for a south facing window for the warm room.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomRoofFramework.jpg

Fitting OSB to warm room roof.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoofRoofSheetOSB.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomRoofOSBAll.jpg

Progress on ROR framework.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomRoofOSB.jpg

Tarpaulin partly removed after wet weather.  (Protected from sharp corners with padding.)  Floorboards were taken up and wood preserver applied to various timbers. 

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WoodPreserver.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WoodPreserver2.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WoodPreserver3.jpgRelaying floorboards.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WoodPreserver4.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WoodPreserver5.jpg

[Apollo 8]

Fantastic building Gina.  Thoughtfully done. Thank you for sharing so comprehensively.

I have a similar set up but have yet to figure out rain sensor closing relays.  What an adventure! 

[Gina]

Placing thermal insulation for warm room floor between joists.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomFloorInsulatiom.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomFloorInsulatiom2.jpg

Underfloor insulation complete.  Also rope fed through cable duct.

http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr186/GinaDevon/2011-10-14-2.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/CableDuctRope.jpg

Floor completed.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/FloorDone.jpg

Next stage will be working on the roofs.

[Gina]

Warm room south window frame.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomWindowFrame.jpg

EPDM Rubber Roofing placed on warm room roof.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RubberPlacedOnWarmRoomRoof.jpg

Webcam image of me gluing EPDM to warm room roof.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/EPDMonWarmRoom.jpg

The west end of the warm room roof with the EPDM.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarnRoomRoofEnd.jpg

Completed warm room roof.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/WarmRoomRoofCompleted.jpg

[TerryMcK]

I like the build. Very comprehensively described too.

[Gina]

ROR Framework.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORFramework1.jpg

Put the middle beam back and started adding more framework to support the plywood.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORFramework2.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORFramework3.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORFramework4.jpg

[Gina]

Putting the plywood (6mm full sheets) on the ROR.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORPlywood1.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/W2011-11-03T11-33.jpg

Side pieces added to provide a raised edge for the EPDM to keep rainwater from escaping over the edges.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/PlywoodOnROR.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/SideBoards.jpg

Gluing EPDM onto the ROR.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/W2011-11-05T14-20c.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/EPDMonROR.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/W2011-11-05T14-54-47c.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/EPDMonROR2.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/EPDMonROR3.jpg

Adding the barge boards.  Poor webcam pic I'm afraid - poor light.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Bargeboards.jpg

[Gina]

Added guttering and down pipe to east end of the ROR and tidied EPDM/

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/ROR_EastRoofGutter.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/ROR_EastRoofDetail.jpg

The west end of the ROR and the mini gutters used to take rainwater falling outside the area covered by the warm room.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/MiniGetturN.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/MiniGetturS.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/ROR_RubberWest.jpg

EPDM tucked under and up behind the beam.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RoofShortGutter.jpg

Fastening the EPDM under and up behind the west frame member of the ROR.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/W2011-11-06T15-31.jpg

"Need any help??"http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Roof+BabyGoat.jpg

[MarkAR]

Always better to have someone holding the ladder ? 

[Gina]

THE WORK PARTY

I did have help with the cladding - a couple of astro forum members.  The cladding was in 5m lengths and I couldn't handle these on my own so we formed a "work party".  We all attached the shiplap cladding and I provided the refreshments.

Vapour barrier was applied before cladding.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding01.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding02.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding06.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding03.jpg

Because the east wall frame was too close to the fence, we removed it, added vapour barrier and laid it on the grass for cladding.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding07.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding08.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding04.jpg

Returning the east wall to its position.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/Cladding05.jpg

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/CladdingDone.jpg

Finally,  here is a photo of the three of us in the work party.  Bit small I'm afraid.

,

[Gina]

This shows the middle framework and thw warm room roof.  Noggins between the roof jousts support the east end of the OSB roofing and spacer blocke were used to space the roof joists from the middle frame top beam.   A strengthening diagonal piece helps the rigidity of the shed.

http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/MiddleFramework.jpg

This shows fitting shiplap cladding so that the bottom edge comes at the right height for the ROR in spite of having to start at the top.
http://ginad.uk/ObservatoryBuild/RORCladding.jpg

I haven't got any photos of me cladding the ROR as it was out of view of the webcam.

[Carastro]

Bringing back memories.

Carole