Christopher Baker’s Split Roof DIY Observatory (Observatory Tours #3) 

The pleasure was all mine. Wishing you lots of clear skies in 2023!

Great job 👍

That's one hell of an observatory Chris

@@bruschi8148 Thank you. It has been the biggest improvement in my adventure called astrophotography.

Thanks for the tour Shogun!

I discovered astrophotography at the age of 49 and I'm now 52. It is amazing and I wish I had known of it decades ago!

the patches, too!!!

Hi Jason, saw the nice article in the Daily Southtown / Chicago Tribune about your AP work and speaking at the library. Great job. We are practically neighbors.

@@christopherbaker8621 Awesome thanks, yes it was quite an article more than I expected, you happen to be a member of any club, may we can share knowledge some time.

Thanks Helena. I really enjoyed your observatory tour with Nico in the first tour of the series. Great job saving it and the upgrades.

Thanks Soup!

100%! I have iPolar on my CEM70 but even then was a task every night. Since I have the observatory, I PA maybe once every 4-6 months just to check. Usually when a swap a scope and play with balance.

I use Antlia 3nm Narrowband SHO filters.

I don't like to image below 35 degrees above the horizon (too much atmosphere) and have other obstructions anyways. I can see to at least that, even with the split roof.

Hi Mimi. One reason I chose this location in my yard is I get the best views of the S, W, and E. My house and trees block my northern views a bit. If I choose a different part of my yard I could have had better views N, but sacrifice the other directions. Bottom line, this spot optimizes my views and made the most sense related to my garden. I still setup a portable mount on occasion and have a pad about 10' just west of my observatory with similar views. No heat. I do have a portable, electrical heater I use sometimes. But on the coldest (and hottest) days of the year, I do everything inside as everything in the observatory is on my network.

I use it all year long. In the Chicago suburbs, we get snow and very cold temps. I imaged down to about -20 F (even colder considering wind chill). If you use the "v track" rollers, the v track sits on top of the rails the roof rolls out on. One reason I didn't like this idea is we get a lot of ice (snow that melts) and I felt that ice on these rails would be problematic. My garage door track sits on the side of the roof rail. It is hard to explain but is slightly "covered" by a 2X6 (Rail is two 2x4s with the rail attached on the inside, and is covered by a 2x6.) So snow falling would have to be at an angle to land inside the rail as it falls on the 2x6. Bottom line, maybe 1 or 2 times last winter I had to dust some hardened snow off the face of the rail but more for making it move with less resistance. No real issues with it.

One other comment about snow... Always roll your roof parallel to the roof peak. If you roll it perpendicular, half of the pitched roof will be angled into the observatory when it rolls. Snow can fall into you observatory as it rolls open or closed.

Most people that have an observatory keep their equipment in it 24 x 7. Some people do condition their observatory while others might keep their mounts outside and bring their scopes in at night. All depends on the equipment and the user. I think the biggest concern is for particular type of equipment. For example, certain older refractors that have oil spaced lenses might be sensitive to excessive heat or electronics might be sensitive to super cold temps. I have read about some people using light bulbs or insulated blankets to keep computers warm so they don't go well below 0 F, for fear of damaging the electronics. Really cold temps can also make some plastic very brittle. I haven't had any of these concerns, not yet anyway.

Smaller overall footprint this way since the supports don't have to extend as far. And there were big trees in the direction of the roof section that stays put, so he doesn't lose any sky.

There is a lot of noise (wind, traffic, etc.) when you shoot outdoors. A dynamic interview mic like the one I was using is good at not picking that stuff up (as much). It's why they use them for news.

Oh. Um. Wasn't expecting a reply but cool. Also thanks for clarifying. Also you should try shooting the Andromeda galaxy with only oxygen 3, apperantly there's a nebula just above it.

@@sigma-wh3uw I saw, awesome discovery!

Indeed

Hey that's a good video idea. You should try capturing it!