Observatory finally finished

Hi Michael

TO answer your questions

1. Why I didn't go for a roll on/off roof? I did not want to take up any additional space to support the roof rolling off, afterall it's not my house/garden

2. How is the roof sealed at the Apex? There is an overlap on the SW roof Apex that covers the NE side when closed, this Overlap rests on top of the Neoprene seal that is profiled for the roof

3. How does the roof remain supported on a windy nights observing? The SW Side goes quite far back as you can see, the NE side only goes up so far, and I usually support this with a piece of wood, once I install the electronic actuators I won't need to do this at all, there is also steel cable on both sides of each half which limits how far the roof will travel. I will hopefully see how this fairs in winds of 9m/s tonight

I also plan on getting a dome....at some point

Simon

Thanks Simon.
Always interesting to see someone else's design of an observatory.
Each observatory design has it's positive and negative aspects, whether that be dome, ROR or other - no perfect solution.

Hi Michael

Roof test with strong winds last night was good, the roof remained stable, that's more than I can say for the guiding

Wind was coming from the North West so it was directly across where I wanted to image so I gave up after an hour, I think that's one major advantage of a dome

Simon

Hi,

Congrats on its completion.

The roof is the DIY stopper for me, roll on/ roll off or other. Could be expensive/difficult to implement.

I'm wondering is there a bare minimalist light perspex solution that you could put up and tear down in an hour?

But I havn't found a solution for that yet.

Colm

Congrats! - hopefully it will give you years of enjoyment :scope:

However, you probably already know this but your title is misleading. Observatories don't really "finish" - they evolve :rock:

Fine work. Looks like a very compact roof opening solution.

paddyman: Alternatively, "First observatory finally finished"?