Motorized Opener for Observatory Roll-Off Roof

[@larrychristianson2244]

Glad to see your plan is coming together, looking forward to some observations. Good news on that pier, I'm no expert but I really thought there might be vibrations.

[@marksastrojourney]

It’s good to hear from you Larry! I hope to publish some imaging session results soon.

[@aleixandrus]

Hi! I've never comment but I keep track on your observatory building progress. Nice videos :) I've build mine this summer so I had to address the very same issues. You could have removed the sensors inside the motor and put them anywhere in a better place... but if you make it work, it's fine. I also use a gate opener (seems to me it is the very same model) but also I added the well-known Arduino with sensors kit to add ASCOM support so I can integrate it in my NINA sequences. My obsy is much much smaller and lighter than yours so I could design the roof to be always attached with sliding gate rails (no wind issues!) and at the same time, allow open and close with the scope pointing to any direction. I can left it unattended and close the roof without checking or securing anything. Peace of mind! Oh, man, what a wonderful thing it is. From my very small experience, I suggest you to add an intelligent outlet to cut the power to the motor (I'm also concerned of an accidental opening while raining), there are some that also provide a power-free relay so you can directly plug the motor opener relay and control it remotely. The Arduino-thing is also wonderful, I truly recommend you that. It also allows placing an extra sensor in the scope AR or DEC axis to check if parked before closing, it seems to me it suit your needs. I also suggest a ToDo/Preparation list placed on the wall so you *never* forget an step such as take any of those anchors. Confident and routine plus manual operations always lead to user errors... Keep with the channel, hoping for new videos soon!

[@marksastrojourney]

Hi Aleixandrus, thanks for sharing your experience with your observatory and the motorized opener! You've provided many good suggestions that could benefit myself and others. Eventually, I hope to address some of the topics you touched on: 1) automation from N.I.N.A. as it's my primary DSO acquisition software; 2) additional sensors for telescope position; 3) power relay as I've also heard of gate openers running without being triggered - possibly due to a thunderstorm or something like that; 4) weather sensor integration to park the scopes and close the roof. I also thought of putting up a checkoff list on the wall by the opener - it's easy to forget something and such a mistake could be costly. I concur with you, the observatory has made a night/day difference in making this hobby much more enjoyable. I used to carry everything in/out to/from my concrete patio (so happy not to be doing that any more)! In addition, the telescope on the pier most times doesn't even need polar alignment adjustments - or it's still between .75 and .5 off. I try to get polar alignment to less than .3 or .25. But as you know it's a very fussy thing to get polar alignment dead on. And now with the opener for the roof, it's even easier - no more pushing the roof open/closed. I'm hoping to post a few more videos soon and wishing you clear skies!

[@aleixandrus]

@@marksastrojourney I've probably seen in the forums the same case of the roof opening by itself... it scared the hell out of me! I keep the roof motor off with that smart power outlet until I start a session. The weather sensor is also in my shopping list, but it will take time. I truly recommend the Arduino kit: not expensive, amazing automation potential. Regarding polar alignment... I used to double check it every session but I've relaxed and actually don't care too much. A few day ago I took apart my 90mm quadruplet to remove the minipc I had attached to move it to the concrete pier. I install the OTA again in my EQ6R and, without redo polar alignment, balancing or calibrating PHD2, my guiding is ~0.5"-0.7" consistently (Bortle 5, so-so seeing). To me, polar alignment is definitely important but it doesn't need to be adjusted every single night to sub-arcsec accuracy for low or medium focal lengths. However, I'll probably redo everything a night with very good seeing, otherwise I feel I'll just waste time and I'll probably get worse results.

[@marksastrojourney]

I've often wondered how important it is with my pier setup and a focal length of 300 to check the polar alignment each session. When I do check it, it's not off by that much. I think that anything that has metal components and is secured in position with tightening knobs, has the potential to shift minutely due to heating/cooling. But it's not likely to move much.

[@العربي-ج7خ]

Good job, Very nice, thanks for sharing your experience with your observatory and the motorized opener, What about dust and rian protect> What is Weel type used to movement roll-off roof

[@marksastrojourney]

Thanks for watching and posting your questions! Regarding dust/rain protection. If you mean for the items within the observatory (e.g., telescope, camera, filter wheel), I don't have any weather detection system yet that will automatically close the roof. That may be a future endeavor if budget allows. So for now, I have to closely monitor the weather. I check several weather applications. I don't leave the roof open on nights where there's any chance of rain predicted. I basically choose nights with very low chance of rain as there's almost always 1-5 % chance of rain even when the forecast is no rain. So there's always some risk of being caught off guard. It's not fool proof. If (by dust/rain protection) you mean the gate opener motor I use for opening and closing the roof, it has a protective cover once everything is connected and wired up. In addition, the motor sets underneath the roof and is never fully exposed to the weather from above - perhaps on one side a little. I cannot post a link here (don't think KZbin allows links in video comments), but here is the product description on Amazon of the wheels that I purchased: HARFINGTON 4pcs 3" V Groove Wheel Sliding Gate Caster, Rigid Caster Wheels with Bracket for Inverted V-Track, 1102 lbs Capacity Per Wheel, for Garage Door, Lifting, Industrial Machine I hope that helps! I'm wishing you clear skies!

[@KJRitch]

That's quite a system. If there is a power failure or or other fault can you bypass the motor to manually close the roof. Has your new building been subject to rain yet. No leaks from wind driven rain? Hope things get less hectic soon for you.

[@marksastrojourney]

if the power fails, there’s a keyed lockout that you open which puts the motor gear in free movement so you can push it closed manually. I’ve had quite a few rainy days and even a storm or two where the rain was blowing sideways, but no leaking issues so far. Thanks for the positive thoughts!