TheSkySearchers

Today I added a missing 2x2 beam to reinforce the South wall, and added the trim to the roof panels so I won't bleed to death by accident.

(Drum roll...) Here's the observatory in action! It's the first time I host a video from my Synology at-home server, you may have to click once, let me know if you have trouble viewing it.

http://haling.synology.me/photo/share/0 ... 302e4d4f56

Very cool. YAY.

As I like to say in regard to the roof operation - "just that easy, just that quick!"

very ingenious, it is aesthetically very nice , thx.

Thanks JT and Jean-Yves!

As you can tell the skies here are pretty grey, and this has been going on for 3 weeks. Water has entered through the cracks under the walls that I have yet to seal. That's why the roof demo was done without the mount set up because of the muddy mess it is. I will post another video once the weather is good enough to have my complete setup in it.

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 12:51 am As you can tell the skies here are pretty grey, and this has been going on for 3 weeks.

Ah, the May gray has morphed into the June gloom. Sorry.

JayTee wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:06 am

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 12:51 am As you can tell the skies here are pretty grey, and this has been going on for 3 weeks.

Ah, the May gray has morphed into the June gloom. Sorry.

It's worse than that. Here's my reward for all the hard work:
If that were only for 1 week, OK, but it has been repetitive.

I added 4 latches to keep the roof from being blown away - 4 holes with a nail in it kept in place by a rubber band. I also discovered the right way to lift the roof straight up so it flips right in place: face the wall straight on not sideways.

I think I'm all set now except for closing the crack below the walls where water comes in. Maybe I can just live with that if I keep all accessories in plastic totes; the tripod is made of anodized aluminum that does not rust AFAIK. I'll put it on the backburner.

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 10:20 pm Today I added a missing 2x2 beam to reinforce the South wall, and added the trim to the roof panels so I won't bleed to death by accident.

(Drum roll...) Here's the observatory in action! It's the first time I host a video from my Synology at-home server, you may have to click once, let me know if you have trouble viewing it.

http://haling.synology.me/photo/share/0 ... 302e4d4f56

Low tech, but effective. I like it!

I like it, too.

KathyNS wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:29 pm

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 10:20 pm Today I added a missing 2x2 beam to reinforce the South wall, and added the trim to the roof panels so I won't bleed to death by accident.

(Drum roll...) Here's the observatory in action! It's the first time I host a video from my Synology at-home server, you may have to click once, let me know if you have trouble viewing it.

http://haling.synology.me/photo/share/0 ... 302e4d4f56

Low tech, but effective. I like it!

Couldn't see the pic. Sounds good though...

Super nice Henk. Can’t wait to see it in operation.

Sorry about your weather. I’ve been in SB during the “gloom”.

Just curious, what direction does does the observatory face?

Juno16 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 5:02 pm Super nice Henk. Can’t wait to see it in operation.

Sorry about your weather. I’ve been in SB during the “gloom”.

Just curious, what direction does does the observatory face?

Thanks Jim. It faces South. It is all simple stupid and cheap, but it should work fine once the clouds clear.

Next week I'll be at the Kaibab star party, I bet the weather will be great when I'm gone.

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:41 pm Next week I'll be at the Kaibab star party, I bet the weather will be great when I'm gone.

I'm putting in a good karma fix for you so you don't drag the weather from SB out to the Kaibab!

I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon star party. I know you'll have fun. Maybe you can keep your winning streak going and win another piece of nice gear!

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:41 pm
Thanks Jim. It faces South. It is all simple stupid and cheap, but it should work fine once the clouds clear.

Next week I'll be at the Kaibab star party, I bet the weather will be great when I'm gone.

Your SSO looks great!
Have a great time at Kailab and looking forward to your report.

SkyHiker wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:41 pm Next week I'll be at the Kaibab star party, I bet the weather will be great when I'm gone.

Often the way! It was bright sun all day here yesterday, then it clouded over right at the end of the first auto focus routine! It cleared in an hour. The SSO is looking good, looking forward to seeing your work.

Graeme

I was able to view the video this morning....I am sure it will work well!

helicon wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:45 pm I was able to view the video this morning....I am sure it will work well!

I use a free domain name server from Synology (the company that makes my NAS server) that may be offline sometimes, according to some comments that I read from the Synology community. That could explain it. It works OK after all and also sends me email notifications when my system is offline for some reason.

I had trouble with a number of sites hanging yesterday and not loading, not just yours, maybe a comcast or backbone issue....

Tonight I will try a first light. I don't expect much, because (a) The Pi4b's WiFi is not strong enough to reach the router, and (b) I cannot see the NCP from here. I will see if I can add a repeater or ethernet to the router, and I need to practice either 3-star alignment or, most likely, drift alignment.

Clearly, there is plenty of space. I am set up with the MN152 (Comet Hunter). No doubt there is enough space for the 12" that I will try later on. The size of the walls is perfect for the mount to look over and park horizontally. I need to play around for the best location of the mount before I drill holes for some bolts that constrain the legs. I have two chairs one of which is a makeshift desk for my Droid that I am connected with to VNC running Ekos over ethernet. Maybe I will bring in the laptop later, it has a larger screen.

All the best for your first light Henk.

If you can run NINA on your laptop, it will do a polar alignment without having to see the NCP.

Graeme

Graeme1858 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 18, 2023 6:07 am All the best for your first light Henk.

If you can run NINA on your laptop, it will do a polar alignment without having to see the NCP.

Graeme

Ekos does it, that's what I used. The trick is to set the parking location to a recognizable spot near where you want to start the plate solving based polar alignment. I picked Vega. From there on it is PA as usual. The only difference is thag the alignment lines ar no longer perpendicular. It worked well.

I found this information on Youtube by Remco Hekker. This information is hard to find apparently, others mentioned looking for it everywhere. I had read that it was available just didn't know how. I may still do a drift alignment as a final step later on for best accuracy.

Prior to that I used a compass to position the legs as similar as possible to the markings on the driveway, my old spot. Being inside a steel enclosure you have to find a spot where the compass seems to work, and it worked well enough just eyeballing it. The Alt adjuster was barely within its limits so I'll reposition the tripod next time and redo the PA.