<--- Single Still looking for that astronomy addicted wife
A rare find that will be!
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
And i am divorced, thankfully.
Sorry to hear that Glen.
Up until now I've been using a cheap Lenovo laptop for image acquisition, but I've now purchased an ASRock BeeBox. Reviews all seem positive. Comes with 4x USB 3.0 ports, uses up to 3A of power and comes with Windows 10 out of the box. A lot of those little PCs don't come with an OS which will cost a couple of hundred extra for a legit copy.
The BeeBox I got only has 32Gb storage, but I intend to write a little application to monitor the filesystem for new images and move them across the network to a 2TB drive. Only cost $325, so pretty happy with that.
I'm considering a RIGrunner 4005i for remote power control. Not really sure if it's a good idea to run all this gear off the same battery though, even if it is a monster 220Ah. I'm currently running most of it off the one battery (except my auto focuser), but I'll be adding in the new PC and an automated OTA cap / flat field panel as well.
Must say if you have to refocus several times a night - maybe consider an On Axis guider and add their focus lock solution - which changes focus on the guiding chip and hence on the primary acquisition camera in real time as the focus changes with temporature. The physics as I understand it is a single cold mirror will make the guide star a slight oval - and the orientation of the primary axis of the oval will shift as according to the direction you move from focus - this allows the software to re-focus on the fly during every image - nifty!
At this stage I'm thinking of mounting a small solar panel and AGM battery to the dome and fixing the motor to the dome rather than the ring. From there, I'll probably drive it with a timing belt fixed to the ring, and have an arduino hooked up to the PC which will transmit radio control signals to the dome-mounted controller.
* 1x Motor for dome rotation
* Several metres of reinforced timing belt
* 1x pulley
* 2x wireless circuit boards
* 1x motor controller circuit board
* 1x arduino uno
* 1x ASRock BeeBox
* 1x Pegasus Pier
* 1x Alnitak Flip-Flat for remote flats / OTA cap
Still haven't moved the obs, though I've cleaned most of the junk out of it now. Hoping to move the obs to our place the weekend after next, where I'll clean it up. Still haven't organised the slab for the dome yet either.
I got mine in similar condition. These things are made to a high quality finish. After some research, I simply removed the mould with bleach and then cut and polished the gelcoat. It came up so new looking that on assembly the thing was so glary I got complaints from family members.
It is a few years since it's polish and I prefer to leave it with the weathered look.
John
Blast it Lee. First you've got decent rural skies, and now a dome.
Where is the "green with jealousy" emoticon!
Not quite a dome yet - at the moment it's a bunch of filthy disconnected pieces of fibreglass sitting on my lawn
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebonz
I got mine in similar condition. These things are made to a high quality finish. After some research, I simply removed the mould with bleach and then cut and polished the gelcoat. It came up so new looking that on assembly the thing was so glary I got complaints from family members.
It is a few years since it's polish and I prefer to leave it with the weathered look.
John
Cheers John! I've started cleaning it up a bit over the past couple of days, a little bit at a time. The dirt was coming off easily enough, but the lichen had stained it. I took your advice this afternoon and had a go with some bleach and its coming up much better.
I've got some 3M Fibreglass Restorer and wax on the way and I'm pretty confident that after I hit it with that it'll look as good as new.
Had fun dismantling it. I had to angle grind off the nuts on the concrete anchors because they were so rusted there was no distinction between bolt and nut. Lots of the other bolts were so rusted that they snapped rather than unscrewed.
Most of the wheels/rollers/whatever they are on the shutter have broken up so I'll need to find something to replace those.
Dome has cleaned up nicely considering its about 20yrs old. Still yet to use the fibreglass restorer on it. I've attached a few before and after shots.
Slab has now been put down for the obs. The pier footing has been there for a while. Left a big gap between the main slab and the pier footing to reduce vibrations. Not sure what I'll fill that with yet.
Pegasus pier is near complete and should be delivered next weekend.
Motor and pulley on the way for the automation of the top shutter. Things are slowly coming together.
That looks Awesome Lee well done and what a great idea for the pad I like the way you have put fall one each side to elevate the water from getting in very smart indeed
cheers Pete
Cheers Pete :-) I'm afraid the fall is an illusion caused by the wide-angled lens on the phone this was taken with. I thought the same thing when I saw it. In its previous home the dome was anchored to the slab using concrete anchors, and a big chunk of silicone put down between the dome and the slab to prevent ingress. Seems like it should do the job and I intend to do the same.
Left a big gap between the main slab and the pier footing to reduce vibrations. Not sure what I'll fill that with yet.
A length of Armaflex copper pipe insulation poked down the gap will do the trick and look neat, available in any diameter you need to fill that gap snugly, I used it for my same gap in my former dome slab.
Good to see that the dome is coming up ok. I had to hit some stubborn spots on my dome with bleach a few times to remove the mould. The bleach kills the mould spores. No mould has returned after a few years.
I used a fibreglass cut and polish according to manufacturers directions.
As these domes are manufactured at the same high quality finish as fibreglass boats are made, I used boat restoration techniques to bring my dome up to an almost new finish.
john
A length of Armaflex copper pipe insulation poked down the gap will do the trick and look neat, available in any diameter you need to fill that gap snugly, I used it for my same gap in my former dome slab.
The dome is looking good Lee
Mike
Cheers Mike. That Armaflex stuff looks good. Any idea where I can get it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebonz
Good to see that the dome is coming up ok. I had to hit some stubborn spots on my dome with bleach a few times to remove the mould. The bleach kills the mould spores. No mould has returned after a few years.
I used a fibreglass cut and polish according to manufacturers directions.
As these domes are manufactured at the same high quality finish as fibreglass boats are made, I used boat restoration techniques to bring my dome up to an almost new finish.
john
Cheers John; good to hear the bleach has a long term effect as well. I've been using a fibreglass cut/polish/wax on it now which has improved the finish, but it's definitely not almost new.
In other news, the pier (from Pegasus Piers) arrived today. Looks good, but I've yet to check that the mount fits. The pier has more of a taper than is apparent in this photo, and no "rats nest" which is a plus.
Cheers Mike. That Armaflex stuff looks good. Any idea where I can get it?
Any plumbing supplies store like Reece or Tradelink and I am sure even Bunnings et al would carry something similar too, it's just the stuff you wrap hot water pipes with.
That pier looks good.
Mike
Last edited by strongmanmike; 23-10-2016 at 05:44 AM.
Cheers Mike; found it on the Bunnings site, but of course couldn't find it in store when I was there. No matter though, I'll find some soon enough.
Dome is mostly assembled now. Taking a break 'cause it's hot as hell out there now.
Having some issues with dome eccentricity. Spent hours now tapping out walls, loosening and tightening bolts etc. It's a lot better, but there's still parts where the dome overhangs the walls by a bit, and movement becomes more difficult. Hopefully it's moving freely enough that I can motorise it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Any plumbing supplies store like Reece or Tradelink and I am sure even Bunnings et al would carry something similar too, it's just the stuff you wrap hot water pipes with.
Looks awesome Lee! No other buildings in sight - you must have really nice dark skies over there. However, I am not entirely sure if you could manage to fit two mounts inside your dome...
Still looking for that astronomy addicted wife 
