ADVICE on BUILDING A HOME OBSERVATORY

[@JamesCormier]

Don't let your dear mother's precious gift to you, haunt you. These things happen in life. You persevered ! I built my 8x10 roll-off-roof observatory from scratch with parts from Amazon and the local lumber supply. It's nice to wake up at 5:00 A.M. to view Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky. Everything is going in just a few minutes. And when I'm done, roll the roof back and lock the door. Same for late at night. Go from observing to under the covers, dreaming of the stars, in just minutes. You know exactly ! Spoiled we are! So glad to have found your channel Tsula!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you, James for your kind words. Do you roll your roof manually? I find that even with the pulleys that Jake put in, it is still quite difficult to move it off and on. He said he could make it electronic but I had such a bad experience with the electronics not properly installed on the Home Dome that I am reluctant.

[@JamesCormier]

@@tsulasbigadventures My walls are about the same height as yours, six foot even. Though the roof weighs ~500 pounds, I can roll it off with one arm. I used gate trolley castors on inverted angled steel. Although your pulleys appear to do the job, they look cumbersome. Given your small stature, you need some sort of mechanical advantage. I'll give it some thought and post again here.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

@@JamesCormier Thank you. I appreciate it. My rails are angle iron but I don't know what the castors are made of.

[@JamesCormier]

@@tsulasbigadventures The cable reels are a good solution, but I believe it inefficient having it come down to waist level. There needs to be some mechanical advantage added to the setup to make it easier. By doing so makes it slower to open. A motorized setup may be the only way. Some have employed the garage door opener to handle the task. Cloudy Nights Observatory Forum is a good resource for this topic. I'm still thinking on this as I may be looking to do the same at some point. Making this task easier is important. We don't want to dread any part of the process. It must be easy to get the roof off and on, and without struggle.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

@@JamesCormier Thank you. One of my brothers said he thought it might be easy to make it like a wench works on a truck with a snow plow. I'm going to ask Jake what he had in mind to make it motorized or whether it can be easier somehow. He is currently building a house in Big Sky. So, it may be a while before he can come back out. Thank you for giving it some thought. I appreciate it.

[@gregorymckenna6609]

Shout out to Jim and Jake! Well done lads. Knowing great contractors is so important. You certainly showed ingenuity with the roll off mechanism. No doubt Tsula will have many happy years with her observatory.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you so much.

[@anderson.krs95]

Your channel is such a joy Tsula, please keep up with this great work. Regards from sunny Brazil and enjoy your observatory!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Hello to Brazil and thank you so much.

[@anata5127]

The best way is to build roof from cedar, which is lighter wood 16:49 and rote-resistant.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

I considered cedar but I get a lot of snow and decided sheet metal was best.

[@jimcabezola3051]

What an adventure! And it all happened BEFORE your first light on your telescope(s)! I admire your courage and perseverance on this project! I hope you're enjoying your scope at home! Aloha!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Yes, I am. I could not be happier. Thank you!

[@steveengleman9257]

Very nice roll off roof observatory and great advice! Glad things worked out for you.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you so much.

[@renepirolt]

Your new observatory looks amazing. I have been super curious about what happened to your dome. That was the very first video I found on your channel about a year ago. Congrats on seeing this project through and being persistent! The roll off is exactly what I'd like to eventually build for myself. Thank you for the great info Tsula!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you! It was a rocky road but I'm happy with the final outcome. And I hope you get a rolloff roof for yourself one day too.

[@OlliesSpace]

Hey Tsula, I'm glad the video of Alan mounting his big scope helped. What a shame about those rubbish contractors that did the dome, sorry to hear that. BTW I changed my channel name formerly AstroSoundscape. Cheers Ollie :)

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Hi Ollie: Thanks for telling me about that video; it helped immensely! I like the new channel name. Cheers.

[@VisionCommunications]

I enjoy listening to Tsula! I only do Astro photography, and never visual, but she is such a joy to listen to.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. That's very sweet.

[@bofblog]

A wonderful outcome from the sad beginning,looks a great space and less cramped and a to keep warm and out of any wind

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Indeed! Thank you.

[@bbroastro]

This is ridiculously perfect timing! I'm considering exactly this due to acquiring a few BIG telescopes this year. Moving them about just isn't practical and weather is a big concern. I definitely want a roll off roof setup and I think I want to custom build one. The satisfaction would be immense. Thank you for the tips Tsula 🙏

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. I think you will feel enormously proud after completing it and happy you have a home for heavy telescopes you own.

[@jimbop6614]

Roll off roof shed is so much better than plastic dome. You can add Sweet Observatory Sweet floor mat at the door. 😊

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Yes, and a sign on the outside "Tsula's Observatory."

[@stuartbolden2142]

Tsula I feel your pain with contractors.. and it was even worse regarding the money you spent from your dear mum . That resonated with me even more . But , you overcame this and found a great alternative with some great people . To be honest , you are one of my favourite KZbinrs as we see your difficulties as well as your successes , oh and I’m glad William Shakespeare helped ! :)

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you so much. That is so very kind of you to say. I am grateful for all the people who have helped me in my life including William Shakespeare!

[@ivangottapseudonym8849]

fantastic, thank you for explaining that you are not a tinkerer - I will limit all future comments and suggestions to turn-key level.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Well, I'm not a dumb dumb; I just am not very handy. And I'm pretty good with a computer too but oh how I prefer to be outside.

[@jimwaller5465]

Very nice set up Tsula. You have an extreme love of what you do. Thanks for sharing the information.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. I just hope it stays dark out there for a while so I can enjoy it.

[@waltergold3457]

Very engaging video, with just the right touch of reality TV - and speaking of Shakespeare, do you recall the old king's speech from AS YOU LIKE IT, in which he remarks on the pleasures of a simple life in nature? The conditions may be harsh but the sights - including the stars, I assume, even though he doesn't mention them - are beautiful and edifying, and the winter wind, bitter though it may be, attacks forthrightly rather than stabbing one in the back, as was his experience with certain treacherous retainers. "Here we feel but the penalty of Adam." It's one of Shakespeare's best lines, I think.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thanks, Walter! Yes, I have been to live productions of As You Like it and read it several times although the book is in the observatory now.

[@waltergold3457]

@@tsulasbigadventures With apologies to Will: "Here we see sermons in stars, and books in the running brooks..." Somewhat off-topic, but my favorite playwright is O'Neill, the American Shakespeare, who never borrowed plots from lesser authors. Coincidentally, there's recently been posted on KZbin the old PBS version of STRANGE INTERLUDE. I was gratified until I saw that it's not the full play, which runs six hours. (And the same goes for O'Neill's masterpiece, MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA, which is equally lengthy - that was also produced in full by PBS, but is still nowhere to be seen on KZbin.)

[@tsulasbigadventures]

@@waltergold3457 I like Will's sonnet: "Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck; And yet methinks I have Astronomy, But not to tell of good or evil luck, Of plagues, of dearths,"

[@waltergold3457]

@@tsulasbigadventures We're having a Shakespeare throw-down, like the one in the admirable movie QUIZ SHOW (1994)! 🙂 It looks like Will used "astronomy" and "astrology" interchangeably, a confusion which unsurprisingly persists to the present day. And the last few lines of the sonnet, before the concluding couplet, are also confusing - I would've never understood them without the help of a commentary. Critics like Oliver Goldsmith and John Ciardi commented unfavorably on the Bard's excessive use of obscure and inconsistent imagery. We've spoken of this before, but STRANGE INTERLUDE is the play in which O'Neill quotes, at the end of the first scene, the Latin poem about man being the only beast created to gaze upward, in wonder and hope, at the stars. (The line is delivered by Jose Ferrer in the PBS version.) O'Neill's stage direction is: "In the tone of a man whistling in the dark, to keep his courage up..."

[@tsulasbigadventures]

@@waltergold3457 I'm going to have to watch this play I think.

[@aw7425]

Clear skies young Lady, thanks for sharing your super tips.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thanks for calling me young! Clear skies to you too.

[@markdrexler382]

Another informative video. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It looks like you will be very happy with this new observatory ! Clear Skies!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. I'm much happier.

[@MattSimmonsSysAdmin]

This was a really great video. What an ordeal, but you seem to have come through it with good spirits! Thanks so much for sharing!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you so much.

[@ultrametric9317]

Glad it worked out!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thanks.

[@brianschumacher8751]

Very informative and valuable tips. I spent a few years in Black Eagle Mt. where I constructed a roof top pier and made my wife an art room below. it was fantastic but unfortunately not an all-weather environment for my scopes. We recently moved to Oklahoma and I plan to construct a roll off roof here on the ranch. I look at the plan from Back yard observatories. Clear Skies!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. You were way north of me. I bet it was cold there. Good luck with your plans to construct on your ranch in OK.

[@ldipenti]

Glad you finally have your observatory working! Looking forward for your next videos using it.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. Coming soon!

[@fastbow9]

So happy for you, the dome really had me upset for many reasons!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank. Me too.

[@ptonpc]

Looks like it will do the job nicely :)

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Yes, I like it much better.

[@Luftbubblan]

Sad that you got burned. Keep moving forward towards bigger and better things

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. I will!

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for sharing Tsula. It looks great.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you, Ron.

[@MrGp3po]

Ok Tsula. That’s your third “big adventure”. Robbed, roll over, ripped off. You are good to go with smooth sailing ahead. Domes are cool like the historic and professionals use (with somebody else’s money), but a roll off roof is the very best choice for an amateur astronomer. My observatory is a 12’x12’ pad with a 5 1/2’ solid fence on two sides to block nearby lights, the prevailing wind, and hide the scope from passersbys’ eyes. I would love a roll off but can’t justify it. I mounted a Primaluce pier a couple years ago and can leave the mount polar aligned and covered with a plastic garbage can when bad weather hits. I have a 30’x64’ shop with south facing 14’ roll up doors just thirty feet away to store everything. I mainly do astrophotography with up to 22 pound scopes, but there’s plenty of room to set up my 10” Dobsonian for visual at the same time. The fence, unlike an open observatory, provides security since it never says, expensive equipment here” and just blends into the neighborhood.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

That's funny. Yes, I think I fulfilled my quota for adventures in 2024. Your observatory sounds very practical. We get too much snow up here for me to just put something over the Primaluce pier and telescope like you have yours. But I think the ending of my story turned out well.

[@MrGp3po]

@@tsulasbigadventures Yes! A great finish and beautifully functional observatory. Enjoy and clear skies to you.

[@ButthurtImmigrant]

New subscriber 🎉❤

[@philipfontaine8964]

Super nice observatory, what a cool place to be at night under the heavens. With only 2 seasons way up there, winter and February…, haha, the cold dry atmosphere must be great for clarity, but hard to stay warm. How are you heating things up enough for comfort?

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Yes, it requires a lot of snow shoveling. I invested in some heated pants and a massive jacket that I used in Fairbanks for the aurora in January. Since being there for a whole week at -40, I feel I cannot complain about the cold in Montana any more.

[@lindafinch8983]

Hi Tsula, you’ve certainly proved the theory that hard work gets rewards! Congratulations, the observatory looks wonderful. Which telescope did you instal?, I’m thinking it’s not Artemis! I’d love to have one of these one day, but dark skies first!!! Wishing you hours of joy and dark skies forever….. Enjoy!! 🤗✨🌙

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Hi Lynn: Thanks! Since Artemis is so easy to pull out on the JMI Wheeley Bar, I will leave it in the garage and I put the 10" beast in the observatory. Now that I can put it on and take it off with that table I can also put the 6" refractor on that mount at times as well. Dark skies forever!

[@lindafinch8983]

That sounds ideal! Enjoy your dark skies!

[@JoeJaguar]

I’ve never built an observatory or a roll off roof shed For me most of the times I’m just going 15 feet from inside to outside When I’m at my zone 2 again I just carry it out I know all the headaches that would go with building one several thousand if the building department allows you to do one plus headaches that can go wrong with it as you say in the video Even my 12 inch LX 90 it’s a bit heavy, but I can still do it in two pieces as it’s intended and it’s not that big of a deal because I’m not going very far It really only takes about 5 to 6 minutes in total to carry out and set up so for me it’s not a big deal Sorry to hear about that mishap with that contractor and you wasted all your inheritance on it I’m glad shed worked out for you One last thing I did just see a video of a lady that did kind of show how to lift a C14 onto her mount I’m thinking that’s who you’re talking about. Do you find it safe doing it like that because when I watch the video I wasn’t really hundred percent sure it’s a good idea or maybe the motors or gears could be stripped overtime Anyway, thanks for another good video

[@tsulasbigadventures]

I watched a video by Alan Shivano putting his C14 that weighs 45 pounds onto his Celestron mount that way. It was much easier than trying to lift it above shoulder level. And I felt it was safe. The mount is only in that position briefly while you go get the counterweights and put them on and then put it back to the home position. I felt it was very safe and easy.

[@JoeJaguar]

@@tsulasbigadventures ok thanks for that info great to know

[@jefff8106]

When I didn't know what I didn't know I bought a NexDome and it's been the bane of my existence. I don't know how much longer I'm going to suffer it and yes I'm a "tinkerer". Rotation is the biggest issue. It's so unreliable that I could never trust it to work during a meridian flip. So the only way for me to use it is to babysit it constantly. Fortunately it's 15 feet from my back door.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

That's horrible. I could still get the electronics put onto my pulley system to open my roof but I am hesitant to add any electronics that might fail.

[@anata5127]

I looked pricing. It is not high. 11-14K for 10 feet dome. There are average size mounts that cost more.

[@keithhanssen7413]

That’s quite a story. Bad contractors. Live and learn.

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Yep. I'm just so happy I found some good contractors so the story has a happy ending.

[@keithhanssen7413]

@@tsulasbigadventures I really like the roll off roof observatory. I’d love to have one just like it. Looks cozy and roomy.

[@perry92964]

im sure there is room for a kettle so on cold nights you can make a hot cup of tea to drink and warm your hands

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Plenty of room for that and I put an electric blanket in there too.

[@denisblaquiere286]

Hi Tsula, you seemed to have been caught in quite a costly mess. Face it, your naivety to general construction was probably a major factor here. You seemed to have come out of this mess reasonably intact but your bitterness is directed toward’s your previous contractor. I believe that a certain kind of people nowadays have no scruples to gain at whatever cost. Morality can be scarce for some folks thus them not having guilt to con someone. I wrote comment on your previous dome construction and you should check it out. But Tsula in order to move ahead is to admit your part and don’t let that corrupted contractor distract you thoughts. Believe me there are more good people around than bad ones. If i may suggest consulting with an expert when you are dealing with any issues regarding building, house maintenance and just about anything you have no clue of. If there’s a fee for these services, you investment will prosper and make that fee worth it a whole bunch.

[@tomveatch6927]

OK. What did I take away from this video? You're only 5'2"? Really? I actually thought you were taller and had a bigger structure built!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

I really am 5'2" and I used to be 5'3". And my door is only big enough for me to walk through; anyone else will bang their head on the top of the door and deservedly so.

[@tomveatch6927]

@@tsulasbigadventures you are as tall as my Mom was. You look taller than me on TV. I'm 5'7".

[@tictacjak5247]

Hi Tsula. Nice observatory!🙂Thanks for sharing!

[@tsulasbigadventures]

@@tictacjak5247 Thank you!

[@davoc5140]

what a sweet lady. I would build it for free for her if I was in USA. Pity she got those idiots CS first

[@tsulasbigadventures]

Thank you. That is very sweet of you to say.