Looking good Nico. One note about the security cameras - anyone who is wise to them and how they work could just rip them out, card and all. You might want to consider an off-site backup if the app allows for that (local SD cards for most applications, and then the off-site cloud storage maybe when it detects motion or something).
I just came here to say same. Use subscription temporary until you have nas. I strongly recommend Synology. You can also use it to back up your photos.
As an electrical engineer with some understanding of residential wiring in the US, your work seems sound at a glance. 12AWG is plenty for this application, Wago lever-nuts are ideal for DIY work, and you've correctly utilized the GFCI receptacle. All GFCI does is detect an imbalance in the current going out the live with the current returning via the neutral. It will do that for all "load side" receptacles. Assuming you're following all the ratings for everything, it should all be great! I'd definitely hesitate to trust those voltage detectors with your life, though. I know they've gotten better since the first iteration, but they can still be a bit flaky.
@vasiliigulevich9202 I'm not an electrician, so my knowledge of the NEC is limited, but it seems like the holes are set far enough into the stud that it wouldn't be required. It also depends on whether he's planning on putting up drywall. I thought he was just going to leave it unfinished like that.
Mate, your observatory looks absolutely amazing with that paint job!!! matches the house perfectly!! :-D Great job on the wiring too, well done! (WAGO's are so neat to use aren't they!) Clear skies man!
kudos for wiring it yourself !! i have been doing wiring for myself and family since my FFA class wired my dad new shop (Many years ago) i am wiring several buildings on my farm right now and i like to wire up the building then bury the incoming line (dont have a backhoe or digger yet) then i can run an extension cord to the building till i get it hooked up perm. just cant use ALL the circuits at once . the wire underneath should be just fine that wire should be rated to be buried under ground my only concern would be varmits chewing on it but you can also get the spilt conduit for autos to protect it if you worry about it! a fun thing you minght want to do is set up a little outdoor patio setting under the roll off side to relax in between shots and even set up a tv there to show family and friends what you have been doing all night:) really i think it would be a nice spot to relax at!! good job and have fun learning new skills. PS when i showed my wife your observatory she said YES COOL:)
Nico, very nice setup. You planned out the setup and built it yourself, and you should be very proud of your work. I know a lot of people here are concerned about the cameras and how easy they are go offline due to power or theft. I think those cameras are perfectly fine for that setup there. Your observatory is near the house and it looks like you can see the door to it from the house, so I would add a camera at the house in a secure location to belay those concerns. Personally I trust people for the most part, but I'm not ignorant either and I have a few cameras around my home. They don't prevent anything from happening, but they do allow me to keep an eye on things and see what caused an event. Clear skies.
You should stream the security footage to a storage device off site because there is nothing to stop someone to steal the cameras too. And with them the evidence on the sd cards. A network attached storage device (NAS) can access the stream and store it inside the safety of your (hopefully locked) house.
I love your observatory. I’ve been watching since the beginning. I have one suggestion about the bare wires under the observatory, maybe cover them at least a little bit because I assume if you could fit under it a mouse/ other animal could go under and chew up the wires.
Love watching the progress! I see you had a foam pool noodle stuffed in the annulus space around the pier. A 12+" EPDM roof pipe flashing seal might make a good-looking yet vibration-isolating seal between your pillars and the floor. Dektite makes one in a universal-fit 9"-20" pipe diameter which should fit nicely over the piers.
Happy to see this much awaited update. I was wondering if you could make some more videos about untracked astrophotography like you used to, something a little more suited to those who are new to the hobby. Anyways keep up the great work Niko the observatory is looking Amazing👍👍
My observatory is fairly small so I don't go in there very much and I found that putting smart lights and a smart power strip works best for me. If I go out there the dinner bell sounds for the local mosquito population. Working remotely from my study is infinitely more preferable. All I do is long press the power button on my android phone and tell it to turn on the roof and telescope (Mele 3Q). The roof uses a simple gate opener so I can open and close it with a remote control after I power it on.
Regarding the 60A subpanel being overkill, I've built a fair number of sheds, workshops, and garages in my lifetime (so far), and no one to my knowledge has ever completed a construction project with the words, "gee, I wish I'd put in less electrical capacity." You might be surprised (and mildly disappointed, maybe?) how quickly that sixty amps gets used up.
I would also put a secret mark on all the equipment for positive identification in the likelihood the equipment is recovered. Great job on your new observatory!
Since you have Dark Dragons hardware and software you might want to consider using them to build you what you need. Rick is a good guy and knows his stuff.
Security system should be wired or at least wireless to a control centre to collect and store data safely and it's eazy to insert a box during pier making or later with a collar and take much less space and it will be hidden easily,good luck.
Don’t forget to disable your security camera’s NV/IR mode inside your observatory when shooting NB - it will flood/blow out your images with “noise/light pollution.” Keep up the great inspiration sir. CS & GB!
Great to see your progression on this. What you could’ve done for the cameras is run 3 ethernet cables (Cat 6) in the same trench as the power, so you could use POE IP cameras from your house. This way if the shed loses power the cameras can still run, and the recording is saved inside your house. Unfortunately anyone who breaks in can just take the cameras with them. With the 3rd Ethernet cable, you could’ve used that as a direct connection to your house and not have risk of wifi interference or a weak signal. I think you can still run Ethernet cables in adjacent trench and have them come up from underneath to inside the shed.
Run ethernet next to power? Is interference an issue? Have you done this? My experience with running ethernet in a house (not outside) was a LOT of extra expense. This was years ago though.
AFAIK, at least in Europe, it is against code to run both in the same conduit. But that idea is certainly very good. I am also concerned about a) the security setup itself with no external backup, and b) how openly he talks about it in public...
@@markalotYou are correct. If you run Ethernet with 110v power for more than 6 feet right next to it you will get a lot of interference. You need a separate trench for the Ethernet, or get a fiber cable and run it in the power conduit.
Cool setup. I completed my new observatory last year after moving home. Amazing how much extra time you have observing once you are all tuned in and ready to go. Looking forward to seeing your results. Are you primarily an imager or do you observe also?
Great setup! I’m sure you will spend a lot of nights out. Looks really amazing. Concerning the cameras though- in case of a break in they would be most probably gone as well and so would your footage on the sd cards. Maybe you should consider streaming on an old pc just for the time you are out of town.
Ever consider adding a lower roof to the roll off support section? It could act like a carport for additional storage even when the roll off roof is closed.
How about a third lighting circuit with a couple of infrared LED globes. Just switch those globes off when you are observing and flick them back on as part of your lockup process. Leave the cameras with their inbuilt lights off. That way you have easy control and any thief will not see any lights from the cameras or anywhere else. The inbuilt SD card in the camera is only going to be useful if the thief leaves your cameras alone. Unless the cameras are in a difficult to reach position or are vandal proof then the thief may just take the cameras with them. WiFi jammers are now a thing so having cameras connected to the network via wifi may not be as reliable as cameras with physical connections. I haven't watched the entire series so not sure what sort of network connectivity you have to the observatory but I would recommend a gigabit ethernet cable from the house to the observatory and then a switch with ports going to each security camera and possibly each telescope mount. This would be handy if you ever wanted to go inside the house and control the observing session in the warmth. WiFi is great when it works but intermittent wifi can be a pain to identify and correct. Network video recorders (NVRs) are cheap, small and easy to hide away in an inconspicuous location in the house. So the cameras could be sending their video to the NVR in the house and recording 24/7. No motion detection needed, a NVR with a reasonable sized hard drive could record two cameras for weeks before overwriting the oldest footage. And hard drives have better endurance than SD cards. They are also a lot cheaper, for the price of the two SD cards you could have probably added a cheap NVR and a couple of terrabytes of storage. If you wanted wifi in the observatory then a
I should clarify. When I say no motion detection required I still think motion detection should be used. But depending on the use case, it may not be a good idea to use it to control the recording. I use motion detection on my cameras even though they are configured to record 24/7. I have the motion detection sensitivity set to trigger on human sized movements but the trigger is only used to send me notifications. The cameras record 24/7 no matter what. The 24/7 recording gives you full coverage of even the smallest event without the cameras sending an annoying stream of notifications. So for example, you can see what killed the bird you found in the middle of you yard without having to have the sensitivity so high that every bird visiting your yard triggers a notification. Not relying on the motion detection for event recording also eliminates those events where the recording doesn't trigger until half way through the event or cuts off the recording early. Like just as the burglar gets to the end of your driveway and you don't get to see which way they go, which car they get into or which cars pass by just after the event and may have dash cam footage.
Another advantage of using a NVR is that you can avoid any subscription fees that may be required for a cloud based setup. I can access all my cameras from anywhere in the world using the manufacturers mobile app (Reolink) with no monthly subscription costs and recording continues even if the internet connection fails. To add even more reliability to the setup I use a POE switch to power all my cameras and the internet router, POE switch and the NVR are all on a UPS to provide continuous recording even if there is a power outage or somebody deliberately cuts the power to the house. To keep internet access available for all the devices in my house I added a USB mobile dongle to my router, so now if my home internet fails it switches over to mobile data. This ensures my security cameras connection to the internet is also protected. This was not difficult to add as the internet router had the feature available and only required the dongle and a mobile data sim be added and the feature turned on in the routers control panel. No other configuration required. So with no additional ongoing costs my setup records all cameras 24/7, notifies me if human sized movement is detected, cameras are remotely accessible from anywhere on the internet, no security footage is stored on the cameras and is safe from power failure, primary internet failure or wifi jamming. Also all cameras are visible to at least one other camera, so any attempts to remove or tamper with a camera is recorded by at least one of the other cameras.
HI Nicko, nice video.. with great explanation... will you be putting thermal insulation in the observatory., considering the cold NH winters and hot summers
I guess I'm not conservative enough. I set mybrig up in the yard, pier but no observatory, amd let it run while I sleep with no rain sensor. I check the forecast though and generally play it safe. Maybe if this were my full time gig I wouldn't mind staying up with it.
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Looks great! Looking forward to see it when you're "done" (mine still isn't, even though it's been working remote for 2 years.. :)) Now your floor cables are already in place so a bit late for this suggestion but; Pushing a cable like that can be really difficult, especially if it has hard bends. I would run a thinner cable or rope through the tube first and then tie one end to your cable and pull it through (unless this is the technique you referred to as "vacuuming"). Adding a bit of soap if its really struggling can also help. The cable itself might endure the environment, but it might not endure rodents and other animals who decides your cable looks like something tasty. Also im curious about the "in-line" GFCI, is it not common in the US to have the GFCI-circuit inside the actual sub-panel?
Most Astro systems by themselves usually don’t draw more than 5 amps. Mine has never used more than 5 amps. So if you have 60 amps 120 v ac you could run a small house.
If only I didn't live in a suburban area, this would be very cool! I'm still struggling with that same thing on whether I'll be able to use my camera/startracker in my area or if I'll need to drive elsewhere.
Very cool. Here in Australia, all electrical work in a home must only be done by a licenced electrician. Anyway, this observatory is really coming along.
I actually have those same Wyze Cameras, but have yet to dig into them. Do you know, can you use them locally without any kind of subscription? (Edit: you answered this directly in your video at 13:40, I just hadn't gotten there yet!)
Since making the video I have run into some annoying aspects of using them without the subscription - the motion alerts are not ‘smart’ without a subscription, meaning I get way too many alerts because they also seem to respond to sound. There are tons of options though so still figuring out if I can make the alerts work for my use case without the subscription. Many people have mentioned recording a stream to my NAS so I have to look into that as well and see if I can set it up for free. Other than that, I’m liking the cameras.
Congratulations! I made the comment about not putting the outlets on the ground and good decision to put them on the wall. Also, what is the headlamp you showed in the beginning?
just a quick question , what makes a telescope good for astrophotography? because i see same specs of telescope but one recomanded for astrophotography and others noth , whats the deal with that ?
It would be a lot to write out in a comment, but if you check out my comparison telescope reviews, it will give you a better idea. Briefly, I’d say the top concerns are 1. Quality of the optics including the field flattener if needed 2. Quality of the focuser, rings and accessories 3. Focal length, focal ratio, speed. If you aren’t finding what you need to make a decision in my telescope reviews, you can reach out to me (can take a while for me to return messages, but eventually I do): nicocarver at gmail dot com
I can wholeheartedly suggest lenovo thinkcentre mini pc's. They are way more powerful and faster than the cheaper NUCs, and they can be had for very cheap second hand
might want to get some additional protection on those grey wires under the observatory - it looks like theres enough room for rodents to squeeze under there (and you can bet they will this winter). i would want to get that shielded before you find a cooked rodent under the obs!
Wow - looks like an amazing observatory. Don't you need to protect your cameras though or have the video streamed elsewhere or else someone might just take the camera/card with them to cover their tracks?
Nico: Great project and thank you for sharing, but I do have one or two questions. I am in north-east Ohio, so likely not quite as cold as you, but likely a little warmer in the summer. Any thoughts on insulation, especially for the roof during those hot-summer days; AC, and/or heat? Part of my concern is with equipment that stays in the observatory will the environment be hard on that equipment without some level of effort to maintain decent temperatures and humidity?
I don’t do AC, but I’m in NH where heat isn’t really an issue. I don’t have any A/C in the main house either so it’s not like the gear would be better off there. It would be pretty easy to cut out a hole in the wall for a window AC unit if you want. I noticed when I was down in Texas at a remote observatory they were running AC units even though due to the roof design the buildings were semi-open. They said it still helped bring the buildings down by 10 degrees or so. I did do double bubble insulation under the metal roof and I think that does help, I’d recommend it.
No, I live in New Hampshire so I don’t have great horizons. Even in my best direction (Northwest) the tree line comes to about 30 degrees meaning the tree line always blocks my view before the wall. You always want to make the walls as tall as you can as long as they aren’t the limit to what you can view. As for the pier height, again it was personal choice, it’s not limiting what I can do photographically and they are short enough that I can close the roof with the telescopes in any position which is nice peace of mind. If I were a visual observer, I’d want taller piers for comfort, but I could always add an extension in that case.
Very nicely done Nico. I have 0 room for that :( Also I have a question for you people: I have 2500 euro (cheaper is better :D ) I need Camera (or 2 maybe 1 for planets 1 for DSO) ASI 585 MC Pro Color (something like that) Mount (GOTO) Telescope and maybe some other stuff (ASAIR, finderscope , some filters, etc) GO!
I bought a house in Jan that has an observatory just like this. Not as big or nice, but has power, a roll aside roof and a concrete pillar in the middle with anchor bolts. Unfortunate I already have too many expensive hobbies to outfit it with a decent telescope. lol.
Looking good Nico. One note about the security cameras - anyone who is wise to them and how they work could just rip them out, card and all. You might want to consider an off-site backup if the app allows for that (local SD cards for most applications, and then the off-site cloud storage maybe when it detects motion or something).
+1 on this. I dont have an observatory yet but I have my surveillance cameras recording to my synology nas and that works great.
I just came here to say same. Use subscription temporary until you have nas. I strongly recommend Synology. You can also use it to back up your photos.
I have the same cameras he’s using and for a small fee, the cameras upload to the cloud.
really cool. fish tape is great for running cables through narrow spaces
As an electrical engineer with some understanding of residential wiring in the US, your work seems sound at a glance. 12AWG is plenty for this application, Wago lever-nuts are ideal for DIY work, and you've correctly utilized the GFCI receptacle. All GFCI does is detect an imbalance in the current going out the live with the current returning via the neutral. It will do that for all "load side" receptacles. Assuming you're following all the ratings for everything, it should all be great!
I'd definitely hesitate to trust those voltage detectors with your life, though. I know they've gotten better since the first iteration, but they can still be a bit flaky.
What about sleeves for wood throudh-holes?
@vasiliigulevich9202 I'm not an electrician, so my knowledge of the NEC is limited, but it seems like the holes are set far enough into the stud that it wouldn't be required.
It also depends on whether he's planning on putting up drywall. I thought he was just going to leave it unfinished like that.
Mate, your observatory looks absolutely amazing with that paint job!!! matches the house perfectly!! :-D Great job on the wiring too, well done! (WAGO's are so neat to use aren't they!)
Clear skies man!
kudos for wiring it yourself !! i have been doing wiring for myself and family since my FFA class wired my dad new shop (Many years ago) i am wiring several buildings on my farm right now and i like to wire up the building then bury the incoming line (dont have a backhoe or digger yet) then i can run an extension cord to the building till i get it hooked up perm. just cant use ALL the circuits at once . the wire underneath should be just fine that wire should be rated to be buried under ground my only concern would be varmits chewing on it but you can also get the spilt conduit for autos to protect it if you worry about it! a fun thing you minght want to do is set up a little outdoor patio setting under the roll off side to relax in between shots and even set up a tv there to show family and friends what you have been doing all night:) really i think it would be a nice spot to relax at!! good job and have fun learning new skills. PS when i showed my wife your observatory she said YES COOL:)
Look at that fancy Astro-Physics mount, no wonder you need security cameras!
No one outside of an astrophotographer would have any idea of they’re value 😀
Waiting for electroboom to test your observatory's electrical circuits...
37 likes and no comments? lemme fix that
I need this collab now.
😂😂😂
Excellent... wish I had room for a dedicated observatory. That is beautiful.
Living the dream! It's awesome to have seen this project from it's start. Thank you for documenting this :)
Nico, very nice setup. You planned out the setup and built it yourself, and you should be very proud of your work.
I know a lot of people here are concerned about the cameras and how easy they are go offline due to power or theft. I think those cameras are perfectly fine for that setup there. Your observatory is near the house and it looks like you can see the door to it from the house, so I would add a camera at the house in a secure location to belay those concerns. Personally I trust people for the most part, but I'm not ignorant either and I have a few cameras around my home. They don't prevent anything from happening, but they do allow me to keep an eye on things and see what caused an event.
Clear skies.
Congrats with the finished project Nico. It looks magnificent! Clear skies! 👌🏻🔭
Congratulations!!! I'm jealous of your dark skies, and your room for an observatory!
🎉 congratulations! I'm , too, jealous of Nico having so large backyard for an observatory.
Reminds me of the warming hut in Hillsboro.
Looks fantastic, Nico!
You should stream the security footage to a storage device off site because there is nothing to stop someone to steal the cameras too. And with them the evidence on the sd cards. A network attached storage device (NAS) can access the stream and store it inside the safety of your (hopefully locked) house.
I love your observatory. I’ve been watching since the beginning. I have one suggestion about the bare wires under the observatory, maybe cover them at least a little bit because I assume if you could fit under it a mouse/ other animal could go under and chew up the wires.
Congratulations on what you've achieved. Looks wonderful.
Love watching the progress! I see you had a foam pool noodle stuffed in the annulus space around the pier. A 12+" EPDM roof pipe flashing seal might make a good-looking yet vibration-isolating seal between your pillars and the floor. Dektite makes one in a universal-fit 9"-20" pipe diameter which should fit nicely over the piers.
You are very skilled Nico!
Happy to see this much awaited update. I was wondering if you could make some more videos about untracked astrophotography like you used to, something a little more suited to those who are new to the hobby. Anyways keep up the great work Niko the observatory is looking Amazing👍👍
I made a new one a few months back, not sure if you caught it: th-cam.com/video/H9AuuTJ44Ik/w-d-xo.html
@ I can’t believe i somehow missed it. I’ll be sure to check it out.
Very cool and you have come a long way. Hope you get some epic shots. :)
My observatory is fairly small so I don't go in there very much and I found that putting smart lights and a smart power strip works best for me. If I go out there the dinner bell sounds for the local mosquito population. Working remotely from my study is infinitely more preferable.
All I do is long press the power button on my android phone and tell it to turn on the roof and telescope (Mele 3Q). The roof uses a simple gate opener so I can open and close it with a remote control after I power it on.
Looking really good. Great job.
Awesome job!
❤🔭Great Observatory Build Nico🔭❤
awesome job Niko
Regarding the 60A subpanel being overkill, I've built a fair number of sheds, workshops, and garages in my lifetime (so far), and no one to my knowledge has ever completed a construction project with the words, "gee, I wish I'd put in less electrical capacity." You might be surprised (and mildly disappointed, maybe?) how quickly that sixty amps gets used up.
@@davevick1775 I've had to rewind to ensure it was not 16 amps.
Amazing job Nico!
I would also put a secret mark on all the equipment for positive identification in the likelihood the equipment is recovered. Great job on your new observatory!
Since you have Dark Dragons hardware and software you might want to consider using them to build you what you need. Rick is a good guy and knows his stuff.
Looking fantastic, this is certainly what I want now that I have moved out of the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
OMG that looks wonderful my man! l
Love the observatory color and … the outfit! 🫠
Security system should be wired or at least wireless to a control centre to collect and store data safely and it's eazy to insert a box during pier making or later with a collar and take much less space and it will be hidden easily,good luck.
Don’t forget to disable your security camera’s NV/IR mode inside your observatory when shooting NB - it will flood/blow out your images with “noise/light pollution.” Keep up the great inspiration sir. CS & GB!
Love it!
Great to see your progression on this. What you could’ve done for the cameras is run 3 ethernet cables (Cat 6) in the same trench as the power, so you could use POE IP cameras from your house. This way if the shed loses power the cameras can still run, and the recording is saved inside your house. Unfortunately anyone who breaks in can just take the cameras with them. With the 3rd Ethernet cable, you could’ve used that as a direct connection to your house and not have risk of wifi interference or a weak signal. I think you can still run Ethernet cables in adjacent trench and have them come up from underneath to inside the shed.
Run ethernet next to power? Is interference an issue? Have you done this? My experience with running ethernet in a house (not outside) was a LOT of extra expense. This was years ago though.
AFAIK, at least in Europe, it is against code to run both in the same conduit. But that idea is certainly very good. I am also concerned about a) the security setup itself with no external backup, and b) how openly he talks about it in public...
@@markalotYou are correct. If you run Ethernet with 110v power for more than 6 feet right next to it you will get a lot of interference. You need a separate trench for the Ethernet, or get a fiber cable and run it in the power conduit.
Thanks for sharing. If you have a breakin, it’s likely that they’ll steal the camera and SD card too.
Good job!
Magnifique !
Cool setup. I completed my new observatory last year after moving home. Amazing how much extra time you have observing once you are all tuned in and ready to go. Looking forward to seeing your results. Are you primarily an imager or do you observe also?
Very cool, Nico! Love the costume too. 😁
Great setup! I’m sure you will spend a lot of nights out. Looks really amazing. Concerning the cameras though- in case of a break in they would be most probably gone as well and so would your footage on the sd cards. Maybe you should consider streaming on an old pc just for the time you are out of town.
Ever consider adding a lower roof to the roll off support section? It could act like a carport for additional storage even when the roll off roof is closed.
Looks good, thank you. 👍🏻
How about a third lighting circuit with a couple of infrared LED globes. Just switch those globes off when you are observing and flick them back on as part of your lockup process. Leave the cameras with their inbuilt lights off. That way you have easy control and any thief will not see any lights from the cameras or anywhere else.
The inbuilt SD card in the camera is only going to be useful if the thief leaves your cameras alone. Unless the cameras are in a difficult to reach position or are vandal proof then the thief may just take the cameras with them.
WiFi jammers are now a thing so having cameras connected to the network via wifi may not be as reliable as cameras with physical connections. I haven't watched the entire series so not sure what sort of network connectivity you have to the observatory but I would recommend a gigabit ethernet cable from the house to the observatory and then a switch with ports going to each security camera and possibly each telescope mount. This would be handy if you ever wanted to go inside the house and control the observing session in the warmth. WiFi is great when it works but intermittent wifi can be a pain to identify and correct. Network video recorders (NVRs) are cheap, small and easy to hide away in an inconspicuous location in the house. So the cameras could be sending their video to the NVR in the house and recording 24/7. No motion detection needed, a NVR with a reasonable sized hard drive could record two cameras for weeks before overwriting the oldest footage. And hard drives have better endurance than SD cards. They are also a lot cheaper, for the price of the two SD cards you could have probably added a cheap NVR and a couple of terrabytes of storage.
If you wanted wifi in the observatory then a
I should clarify. When I say no motion detection required I still think motion detection should be used. But depending on the use case, it may not be a good idea to use it to control the recording. I use motion detection on my cameras even though they are configured to record 24/7. I have the motion detection sensitivity set to trigger on human sized movements but the trigger is only used to send me notifications. The cameras record 24/7 no matter what. The 24/7 recording gives you full coverage of even the smallest event without the cameras sending an annoying stream of notifications. So for example, you can see what killed the bird you found in the middle of you yard without having to have the sensitivity so high that every bird visiting your yard triggers a notification.
Not relying on the motion detection for event recording also eliminates those events where the recording doesn't trigger until half way through the event or cuts off the recording early. Like just as the burglar gets to the end of your driveway and you don't get to see which way they go, which car they get into or which cars pass by just after the event and may have dash cam footage.
Another advantage of using a NVR is that you can avoid any subscription fees that may be required for a cloud based setup. I can access all my cameras from anywhere in the world using the manufacturers mobile app (Reolink) with no monthly subscription costs and recording continues even if the internet connection fails.
To add even more reliability to the setup I use a POE switch to power all my cameras and the internet router, POE switch and the NVR are all on a UPS to provide continuous recording even if there is a power outage or somebody deliberately cuts the power to the house.
To keep internet access available for all the devices in my house I added a USB mobile dongle to my router, so now if my home internet fails it switches over to mobile data. This ensures my security cameras connection to the internet is also protected. This was not difficult to add as the internet router had the feature available and only required the dongle and a mobile data sim be added and the feature turned on in the routers control panel. No other configuration required.
So with no additional ongoing costs my setup records all cameras 24/7, notifies me if human sized movement is detected, cameras are remotely accessible from anywhere on the internet, no security footage is stored on the cameras and is safe from power failure, primary internet failure or wifi jamming. Also all cameras are visible to at least one other camera, so any attempts to remove or tamper with a camera is recorded by at least one of the other cameras.
Nice to see this project become ALIVE with power! So much more than the SKELETON it started from😂
HI Nicko, nice video.. with great explanation... will you be putting thermal insulation in the observatory., considering the cold NH winters and hot summers
Wow nice custom build NP
awesome
I guess I'm not conservative enough. I set mybrig up in the yard, pier but no observatory, amd let it run while I sleep with no rain sensor. I check the forecast though and generally play it safe. Maybe if this were my full time gig I wouldn't mind staying up with it.
Looks great! Looking forward to see it when you're "done" (mine still isn't, even though it's been working remote for 2 years.. :))
Now your floor cables are already in place so a bit late for this suggestion but;
Pushing a cable like that can be really difficult, especially if it has hard bends. I would run a thinner cable or rope through the tube first and then tie one end to your cable and pull it through (unless this is the technique you referred to as "vacuuming"). Adding a bit of soap if its really struggling can also help.
The cable itself might endure the environment, but it might not endure rodents and other animals who decides your cable looks like something tasty.
Also im curious about the "in-line" GFCI, is it not common in the US to have the GFCI-circuit inside the actual sub-panel?
Looking awesome Nico, how far you've come from those first days of the project!
Congrats Nico!, looks awesome! Perhaps a espresso machine for those long nites stargazing?😂😂😂
Most Astro systems by themselves usually don’t draw more than 5 amps. Mine has never used more than 5 amps. So if you have 60 amps 120 v ac you could run a small house.
Cool!
If only I didn't live in a suburban area, this would be very cool! I'm still struggling with that same thing on whether I'll be able to use my camera/startracker in my area or if I'll need to drive elsewhere.
Real curiosity: does it have any safety precautions against fires? an extinguisher at least? or a smoke/heat detector? that would be a good thing.
Very cool. Here in Australia, all electrical work in a home must only be done by a licenced electrician. Anyway, this observatory is really coming along.
I actually have those same Wyze Cameras, but have yet to dig into them. Do you know, can you use them locally without any kind of subscription? (Edit: you answered this directly in your video at 13:40, I just hadn't gotten there yet!)
Since making the video I have run into some annoying aspects of using them without the subscription - the motion alerts are not ‘smart’ without a subscription, meaning I get way too many alerts because they also seem to respond to sound. There are tons of options though so still figuring out if I can make the alerts work for my use case without the subscription. Many people have mentioned recording a stream to my NAS so I have to look into that as well and see if I can set it up for free. Other than that, I’m liking the cameras.
I would not use Waygo connectors for 120 volt wiring. I have before and they will fail if you draw too much amperage. Just use wire nuts.
Congratulations! I made the comment about not putting the outlets on the ground and good decision to put them on the wall. Also, what is the headlamp you showed in the beginning?
just a quick question , what makes a telescope good for astrophotography? because i see same specs of telescope but one recomanded for astrophotography and others noth , whats the deal with that ?
It would be a lot to write out in a comment, but if you check out my comparison telescope reviews, it will give you a better idea. Briefly, I’d say the top concerns are 1. Quality of the optics including the field flattener if needed 2. Quality of the focuser, rings and accessories 3. Focal length, focal ratio, speed.
If you aren’t finding what you need to make a decision in my telescope reviews, you can reach out to me (can take a while for me to return messages, but eventually I do): nicocarver at gmail dot com
We use the wagos in the uk
I can wholeheartedly suggest lenovo thinkcentre mini pc's. They are way more powerful and faster than the cheaper NUCs, and they can be had for very cheap second hand
Looks awesome. Are your piers 4' apart? I am working on designing my 2-pier observatory right now.
Yes, just a little over 4 ft. apart. (52”)
might want to get some additional protection on those grey wires under the observatory - it looks like theres enough room for rodents to squeeze under there (and you can bet they will this winter). i would want to get that shielded before you find a cooked rodent under the obs!
60A @ 110V = 6600W. I'm assuming a big coffee machine is part of the build? 🙂
Wow - looks like an amazing observatory. Don't you need to protect your cameras though or have the video streamed elsewhere or else someone might just take the camera/card with them to cover their tracks?
Nico: Great project and thank you for sharing, but I do have one or two questions.
I am in north-east Ohio, so likely not quite as cold as you, but likely a little warmer in the summer. Any thoughts on insulation, especially for the roof during those hot-summer days; AC, and/or heat?
Part of my concern is with equipment that stays in the observatory will the environment be hard on that equipment without some level of effort to maintain decent temperatures and humidity?
I don’t do AC, but I’m in NH where heat isn’t really an issue. I don’t have any A/C in the main house either so it’s not like the gear would be better off there. It would be pretty easy to cut out a hole in the wall for a window AC unit if you want. I noticed when I was down in Texas at a remote observatory they were running AC units even though due to the roof design the buildings were semi-open. They said it still helped bring the buildings down by 10 degrees or so.
I did do double bubble insulation under the metal roof and I think that does help, I’d recommend it.
Great choice with the Wyze cameras. Best purchases I've ever made.
Ditto. They're not the best camera out there, but they provide the best performance and features for the money spent.
Be careful about computers in your observatory. Those nice warm spots are great for mice nests.
Terry
Are you and the guy from the Great Day for Hike channel brothers? You look a lot like each other and have the very same accent
60 Amps, LOL....My main breaker in my house in Japan is 40 Amps. Haha.
Don't you feel the walls are tall or your pier too short? I'm just learning about all this, so it may be a stupid question. Lol.
No, I live in New Hampshire so I don’t have great horizons. Even in my best direction (Northwest) the tree line comes to about 30 degrees meaning the tree line always blocks my view before the wall. You always want to make the walls as tall as you can as long as they aren’t the limit to what you can view. As for the pier height, again it was personal choice, it’s not limiting what I can do photographically and they are short enough that I can close the roof with the telescopes in any position which is nice peace of mind. If I were a visual observer, I’d want taller piers for comfort, but I could always add an extension in that case.
@@NebulaPhotos ah! Ok. That makes sense. Can always send a rig to Starfront.
:-)
Very nicely done Nico. I have 0 room for that :(
Also I have a question for you people:
I have 2500 euro (cheaper is better :D )
I need Camera (or 2 maybe 1 for planets 1 for DSO) ASI 585 MC Pro Color (something like that)
Mount (GOTO)
Telescope
and maybe some other stuff (ASAIR, finderscope , some filters, etc)
GO!
Everybody kind of always knew Alice Cooper was a astro nerd
🇦🇺🐈⬛😎
Nice
Well, the wires will work untill some critters will nibble on it.
I bought a house in Jan that has an observatory just like this. Not as big or nice, but has power, a roll aside roof and a concrete pillar in the middle with anchor bolts. Unfortunate I already have too many expensive hobbies to outfit it with a decent telescope. lol.
Important note! Showing off your house I just found out is so unEnglish! We are so American! Won't be doing that too much!
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It has 'wife' appeal. Nice.
Dome would've been 💯% cooler 🙄
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