7.02.2021 Onwards and upwards? Postscript.

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Postscript: I have just been over to the observatory in the freezing gale. Where I lifted the big stepladder onto 2"x4" packing pieces on the ground floor. This effortlessly achieved a more comfortable 65° lean. I don't think 60° is nearly so easily managed. Even at 65° the treads were visibly tipped downwards. Better though than tilted backwards! 

A 50mm/2" rise in ground floor height is no problem at all. I had deliberately buried the paving slabs into the gravel. To obtain the supposedly optimum, 70° angle. This was to achieve perfectly flat treads. Which I saw as necessary at the time.

Once the larger building footprint is completed I will be able to move the stepladder well forwards. To lean against the new boundary. Providing greatly increased clearance at Obs. floor level. Only then will I be able to better judge the position and best orientation of the ladder. 

I might even be able to swing the entire ladder at an angle to the floor joists. Particularly if I can get rid of the huge, pyramidal pier. To make way for a cross-axis mounting.  Which will use upright [but leaning together] posts. Rather than forming the doubly inwardly sloping edges of a four sided pyramid. 

I may prefer to have the ladder rising through the floor in another place. Having the ladder [presently] leaning towards the west is actually the worst possible orientation for my normal use! Morning, solar imaging, or visual observation, automatically places the camera/eyepiece/focusers and etalon out over the ladder and the void. Forcing closure of the trapdoor. 

South is also poor because I usually want to park the dome shutters facing south. Because I need clear access for those. I most often need to look out to the south too. Towards the house and drive. I sit with my back against the north side at the moment. With my computer imaging desk wrapped around the pier on the north and east side. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse. With the laptop closed and the internet running on wireless from indoors. I believe my AOC hi-res monitor has wireless compatibility but it will still need its PS cable.

I want to avoid direct sunshine falling on myself. Presently my large GEM offers lots of shade. The monitor is best facing north. To avoid sky reflections when the shutters are open. A more compact but [castor] mobile desk may end up as the best compromise. With the drive cables to the laptop and REW boxes setting the limits on where these can be sited relative to the mounting.

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