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I had turned the roof profile boards square on to the house to try and convince my wife that the roof design would work. It did not convince her [at all] that I was on the right track. It was still "far too tall!" And "it looks like the graphics on an estate agent's website!" Whoops! 👎
So I left the boards to rock in the gusty wind and went off cycle shopping. You may well imagine my shock on my return. As I rode back along the main road I could clearly to see the profile boards soaring high above the ridge of the house in bright, August sunshine! Eeek!
It might as well have been a lighthouse judging by its sudden high visibility in the soft, green landscape. Without further ado I took the boards down. While amateur astronomy is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, there is absolutely no reason to raise bright beacons in the unspoilt countryside! Daytime, light pollution aside, advertising my hobby is not my greatest desire. While others happily raise white domes beside busy main roads I'd rather hide mine behind the tall, intervening hedges.
It might as well have been a lighthouse judging by its sudden
The latest roof design had placed the peak 12' [4m] above the raised platform forming the obs. floor. This was obviously a meter too high judging from the degree of clear visibility seen from the road from right across the fields. I'd tried different angles to bring the lower struts more upright but the difference in overall height was not exactly convincing. Though I did have the desired telescope clearance.
We had the same problem when British TV changed to a much weaker satellite with a very tight footprint. For years we had enjoyed perfect reception, on all channels, with quite a modest dish. The only way to cope now was to put up a very much bigger dish. I bought a cheap, secondhand one from an abandoned building site. In stark white, it stood out like Joddrel Bank seen from the main road! The reception did not improve. So it was duly moved to the back garden. Where it fared no better.
The observatory build is on hold while I weigh all my options and discuss it with the wise woman.
A hemisphere would be the lowest and most compact geometric shape which would accommodate my long refractor. Provided it wasn't stark white its almost horizontal top should not be very visible at glancing incidence. At least not as visible as a white pyramid set against the backdrop of our typically dark green, deciduous garden trees!
This morning I set up a 12' tall pole lashed to the vertical telescope. Then took photographs and studied the visibility of different heights from the road using my binoculars. Provided I do not exceed 12' above obs. floor level then the peak of the roof is largely hidden by an overgrown elder tree near my southern boundary. These trees do not usually grow much bigger than this specimen but there is always hope.
Logic suggests that a taller roof, painted bright white for thermal reasons, would be most visible. Particularly in winter when the trees have lost their leaves. Something much less low key begins to fade into the background. With camouflage netting and paint stippling in green and brown [arguably] the least visible. And arguably the most silly option.
Painting the obs. roof the same low key colour as the house roof offers one solution. The roofs would visibly blend into each other. Greys are also good for low impact. A multi-sided or faceted surface could be painted in slightly different shades to break up the solidity and general outline. With suitable software it is possible to keep changing a [roof or dome] shape's colour with the click of a button. I must have tried every option except desert camouflage. Green is surprisingly hard to get right. It needs to be "dirty" green and preferably rather dark. Bright "grass" green looks awful IMO because it is so artificial!
The problem is one of contrast and expectation. When they put up truly vast, freshly galvanized, farm silos they look shockingly bright but soon fade to pale, silvery grey with lots of variation. You see an older silo and think nothing of it. Now paint it anything other than silver and your attention is immediately drawn to it. Arched corrugated iron is usually offered in dark green. The corrugations change the light and break up the outline and appearance. These buildings usually pass unnoticed in a green, rural environment.
The Danish countryside is full of half-timbered [and often thatched] houses. White and yellow ocher are the favourite wall colours. With timber framing in all sorts of colours. The roofs are grey brown and pass unnoticed. The countless wind turbines have a clever, light grey, paint job which constantly changes in changing light. Parts of the same windmill can look stark white and jet black at the same time as clouds roll over in sunshine. Almost white is the common appearance seen from any distance in bright sunshine. It is hard to ignore them but at least they are not pink, purple or black!
Good grief! The Head Gardener has decided She wants a sage green, geodesic dome! Gulp! 😨
However, the sudden demand for a geodesic seems to be a basic desire for texture rather than a "HUGE smooth and featureless, half ball." Basically, it just needs that something extra to play with the light. This could be achieved with facets, gores or even thin, pretend tiles. The main problem with any added extra "texture" is weight. No matter how thin and light the materials used, "fish scales" would soon add up. Facets, of any kind would break up the outline and each take on a different hue to soften the overall effect. Such facets are basic covering and need not add weight.
After a few discussions, back and forth, I think we've settled on faceted gores. Instead of a smooth "umbrella" effect each gore will be bent in a series of steps. Instead of small steps, like horizontal planks, the panels will be taller. Modesty prevents me calling it a jewel.
Finding an example, online, just to share an image, proved all but impossible! The nearest I came to it was a 'wire' model prior to the propriety image handling software smoothing the "ugly" framework into a perfectly smooth ball. The exact opposite of the effect I have been asked to achieve!
Meanwhile I have had a thorough soaking in observatory builder's websites and learned some new tricks. Not least was not using bare, shiny aluminium! The slightest kink, bend or distortion, from absolute geometric perfection, is magnified a thousandfold by the reflective surface! My main problem is sealing such a multi-faceted structure without using GRP. [Sage] Paint and [Sage] paint alone must suffice.
We had the same problem when British TV changed to a much weaker satellite with a very tight footprint. For years we had enjoyed perfect reception, on all channels, with quite a modest dish. The only way to cope now was to put up a very much bigger dish. I bought a cheap, secondhand one from an abandoned building site. In stark white, it stood out like Joddrel Bank seen from the main road! The reception did not improve. So it was duly moved to the back garden. Where it fared no better.
The observatory build is on hold while I weigh all my options and discuss it with the wise woman.
A hemisphere would be the lowest and most compact geometric shape which would accommodate my long refractor. Provided it wasn't stark white its almost horizontal top should not be very visible at glancing incidence. At least not as visible as a white pyramid set against the backdrop of our typically dark green, deciduous garden trees! This morning I set up a 12' tall pole lashed to the vertical telescope. Then took photographs and studied the visibility of different heights from the road using my binoculars. Provided I do not exceed 12' above obs. floor level then the peak of the roof is largely hidden by an overgrown elder tree near my southern boundary. These trees do not usually grow much bigger than this specimen but there is always hope.
Logic suggests that a taller roof, painted bright white for thermal reasons, would be most visible. Particularly in winter when the trees have lost their leaves. Something much less low key begins to fade into the background. With camouflage netting and paint stippling in green and brown [arguably] the least visible. And arguably the most silly option.
Painting the obs. roof the same low key colour as the house roof offers one solution. The roofs would visibly blend into each other. Greys are also good for low impact. A multi-sided or faceted surface could be painted in slightly different shades to break up the solidity and general outline. With suitable software it is possible to keep changing a [roof or dome] shape's colour with the click of a button. I must have tried every option except desert camouflage. Green is surprisingly hard to get right. It needs to be "dirty" green and preferably rather dark. Bright "grass" green looks awful IMO because it is so artificial!
The problem is one of contrast and expectation. When they put up truly vast, freshly galvanized, farm silos they look shockingly bright but soon fade to pale, silvery grey with lots of variation. You see an older silo and think nothing of it. Now paint it anything other than silver and your attention is immediately drawn to it. Arched corrugated iron is usually offered in dark green. The corrugations change the light and break up the outline and appearance. These buildings usually pass unnoticed in a green, rural environment.
The Danish countryside is full of half-timbered [and often thatched] houses. White and yellow ocher are the favourite wall colours. With timber framing in all sorts of colours. The roofs are grey brown and pass unnoticed. The countless wind turbines have a clever, light grey, paint job which constantly changes in changing light. Parts of the same windmill can look stark white and jet black at the same time as clouds roll over in sunshine. Almost white is the common appearance seen from any distance in bright sunshine. It is hard to ignore them but at least they are not pink, purple or black!
Good grief! The Head Gardener has decided She wants a sage green, geodesic dome! Gulp! 😨
However, the sudden demand for a geodesic seems to be a basic desire for texture rather than a "HUGE smooth and featureless, half ball." Basically, it just needs that something extra to play with the light. This could be achieved with facets, gores or even thin, pretend tiles. The main problem with any added extra "texture" is weight. No matter how thin and light the materials used, "fish scales" would soon add up. Facets, of any kind would break up the outline and each take on a different hue to soften the overall effect. Such facets are basic covering and need not add weight.
After a few discussions, back and forth, I think we've settled on faceted gores. Instead of a smooth "umbrella" effect each gore will be bent in a series of steps. Instead of small steps, like horizontal planks, the panels will be taller. Modesty prevents me calling it a jewel.
Finding an example, online, just to share an image, proved all but impossible! The nearest I came to it was a 'wire' model prior to the propriety image handling software smoothing the "ugly" framework into a perfectly smooth ball. The exact opposite of the effect I have been asked to achieve!
Meanwhile I have had a thorough soaking in observatory builder's websites and learned some new tricks. Not least was not using bare, shiny aluminium! The slightest kink, bend or distortion, from absolute geometric perfection, is magnified a thousandfold by the reflective surface! My main problem is sealing such a multi-faceted structure without using GRP. [Sage] Paint and [Sage] paint alone must suffice.
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