Obbing on rooftop of buildings

[jermng]

Hi,
With my new job and certain new skills learnt, I now have access to rooftops of high rise buildings at night. The view up these places are amazing cos the whole sky is unblocked and rooftops are really free of light -away from the street lights and on one of these rooftops, all neighbouring buildings are about 5-10 storeys shorter. =)
Question is, how safe is it? Is there a high risk of lightning even with the lightning rods all around the building? Or is it dangerous cos we'll be so close to these rods?
2nd thing is, I'm guessing there'll be strong winds up there in the middle of the night, will an elevation of 17-25 storeys have a significant increase in the amount of wind other than the fact that it's not blocked? =)
Anyone tried obbing up on a roof top? Lee should have some advice after working on Starryville ... =)
Thanks for reading!

Cheers!
Jeremy Ng

[VinSnr]

Hi,
With my new job and certain new skills learnt, I now have access to rooftops of high rise buildings at night. The view up these places are amazing cos the whole sky is unblocked and rooftops are really free of light -away from the street lights and on one of these rooftops, all neighbouring buildings are about 5-10 storeys shorter. =)
Question is, how safe is it? Is there a high risk of lightning even with the lightning rods all around the building? Or is it dangerous cos we'll be so close to these rods?
2nd thing is, I'm guessing there'll be strong winds up there in the middle of the night, will an elevation of 17-25 storeys have a significant increase in the amount of wind other than the fact that it's not blocked? =)
Anyone tried obbing up on a roof top? Lee should have some advice after working on Starryville ... =)
Thanks for reading!

Cheers!
Jeremy Ng

I did some imaging and viewing at the top of some new flats at Punggol last time. Now they have lock up the top and I can't go up anymore.

If you are talking about HDB blocks, most of their rooftops are not flat. There water tanks, water pipes all over the place. I actually had to climb up 2 vertical ladders to the top of a water tank before I find a flat place. Yeah, I climb the vertical ladder with the 8" SCT and LXD55 and even a 14" TV for video....

Good thing is, you have power supply up there. Bad thing is, there is almost no barrier at the rooftop, so if you are not careful, you can be a superman. My block is 20 storey tall.....so it is no joke if you are not careful.

I didn't encounter any lightning problems, but obviously you are not going to go up when there clouds or when it is about to rain. The sky must be clear before I go up.

The wind can be strong.....and it actually vibrates the Meade 8" on the LXD55. So there are times I can't do imaging at all. But it is not frequent.....

I wish I can go back up there......but it is lock out already.

[Grievous]

Heh heh, Jeremy.

Steady liao hor, after next week, we bring in our glasses and mirrors!

Charlie

[siahheng]

Hi, I do my obbing on my rooftop which is 18 storeys high. Wind can be a factor and shake the scope. I sometimes wear a wind breaker when obbing.

As for lightning, most people don't ob when there are storm clouds rolling in. I would advise against standing on the roof with a telescope when a storm is approaching. Though I must also add that no lightning has hit my or my neighbour's roof.

When I am more settled, will invite some of you to join me on my roof for ob sessions.

Cheers,

siahheng

[qu1xs1lv3r]

are those doors actually open? i checked out our rooftop but was too scared to check if the doors were open! ahehe

[weixing]

Hi,
IMHO, do you have the right to access the roof top??? If no, I don't recommend you to do it. If you get caught, it'll give a bad impression to the authority on local amateur astronomers.

Though I must also add that no lightning has hit my or my neighbour's roof.

How do you know?? It may because the lightning rod in your building is working fine. My block is 16th storey high and my block get strike by lightning 80% of the time when thunder storm were in our area... how would I know??? Because I think the lightning rod on my block is not very effective... we get power failure when lightning strike my block...

Anyway, I don't recommend anyone go to the roof-top for observation unless the roof-top is design and allow the public to access it. Remember, you only got one life.

Have a nice day.

[Lee]

Hi,
My block is 16th storey high and my block get strike by lightning 80% of the time when thunder storm were in our area... how would I know??? Because I think the lightning rod on my block is not very effective... we get power failure when lightning strike my block...

Have a nice day.

Don't think is due to ineffective Lightning Rod.
My current flat (when new) used to have the main breaker trip during heavy lightning period. But not now after the block Main Breaker & some electrical stuff were changed

[rlow]

Hi,
With my new job and certain new skills learnt, I now have access to rooftops of high rise buildings at night. The view up these places are amazing cos the whole sky is unblocked and rooftops are really free of light -away from the street lights and on one of these rooftops, all neighbouring buildings are about 5-10 storeys shorter. =)
Question is, how safe is it? Is there a high risk of lightning even with the lightning rods all around the building? Or is it dangerous cos we'll be so close to these rods?
2nd thing is, I'm guessing there'll be strong winds up there in the middle of the night, will an elevation of 17-25 storeys have a significant increase in the amount of wind other than the fact that it's not blocked? =)
Anyone tried obbing up on a roof top? Lee should have some advice after working on Starryville ... =)
Thanks for reading!

Just my five cents worth...

While rooftop observing may seem attractive to some people, I think there are some issues to consider as follows:

1. potential poor local seeing condition from the heat rising from the solar-heated reinforced concrete flat roof;

2. possible poor high-powered image due to induced vibration from strong wind, mechanical equipment vibration or building deflection movement;

3. safety issue from potential falling objects, potential lightning strikes (if you or your mount stands higher than the lightning rod, you are still susceptible to a lightning strike, and it is known that lightning can even strike on a clear day!)

4. security issue: most premises would not allow roof access to the public for safety & security reasons, esp during these post-911 period;

5. the public would not be comfortable nor pleased to see someone with a telescope on their neighbouring block rooftop;

6. roof access is sometimes not easy if there catladders and water pipes in the way, so there is a higher risk that you may drop your equipment.

Hence, I would say it is not recommend to observe from your highrise rooftop unless it had been properly designed as an observatory or an observation deck. Anyone doing observation at the rooftop is doing it at his or her own risk & responsibility, and as Weixing has pointed out, it is not pleasant nor beneficial to our astro-community if someone was found out by the authorities or the public.

Furthermore, I think there are more than enough ground spaces in Singapore for observation which would serve us better and which would not have the negative issues as outlined above.

[jermng]

Great! It's good to see both the positive and negative sides of obbing on roof tops. =)
I guess the issue won't be so great if the roof top is designated as a "Sky Garden" where pple go take a break during office hours or as a Roof-top balcony for some of the residential Penthouses in condominiums.
It's better to be on the safe side of things not only security wise but also in terms of personal well-being. =)
Will go double check some of these areas I have in mind and update you guys. =)

Anyway, I went to Kranji area the other day and there are some farms which are really not lit at night ... Intend to go through proper channels and approach some of these farmers and even companies to see what kind of access to that area ... see what I end up with. No harm trying anyway. =)

I guess there are many possibilities for ob sites .. We just have to go find them. =)

Cheers!
Jeremy Ng

[Tachyon]

My guess is Siaheng's rooftop is a condo right? Some condos have open roof tops for children's playground, etc.