I can’t believe it’s been 4 months since I was last on here! I have done some imaging since the last post but not much, and nothing this year due to the weather conditions. In fact the last time I imaged it snowed and I had to dry my mirror with a hair-dryer. The mirror now has clumps of dust where the snowflakes melted.  I’ll give it a wash before too long.

Anyway, the reason why I thought I’d write something today is to let everyone know that I’m about to build my own roll-off-roof observatory.  I’ve purchased a metal shed which is approx 10’x10′ (3m x 3m) and after searching everywhere for a round section column form to cast the pier I’ve decided to make my own mould from ply which will give a square section, but I have the ply so I can make it at no cost.  I’ve booked 2 weeks off work in March to do the build so I’m currently in the planning stage.

My wife managed to topple the mount this week which luckily didn’t hit anybody or anything on the way down and the only damage appears to be a broken locking lever from the weight shaft.  Its a black cast component that fits over a brass square topped bolt.  I’ll make a new lever when I get a minute. I won’t know if there’s any internal damage until my next viewing/imaging session – fingers crossed.

I’ll take photos and make comments throughout the build so keep watching for updates.