Another Sirius Attempt -Wobblesock II

[theodog (Jeff)]

Hi All,
Bought this 3.5m from a fellow IISer over 12 months ago.
Finally making some progress.
Any tips?

[AndrewJ]

Round bit goes on top!!!

Andrew

[theodog (Jeff)]

After much thinking and discussion I did this.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Won't hold much rain water that way, turn it over ...

[theodog (Jeff)]

No time for that now.

Proof of the "Astro-purchase/Rain" Law.

[Atmos (Colin)]

I figured it would have turned into a bath before the lid went on

[theodog (Jeff)]

Instrument is in,
and first trial image taken.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

I am a little confused Jeff..?

In the earlier pictures there are three piers coming up out of the floor, but now there is only one EQ8 GEM which looks to have a single column..?

What are the straps for..just in case of high wind..? Do you use them after every session?

Is the floor directly concreted to the ground or just sitting on those concrete pavers..?

Mike

[theodog (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

In the earlier pictures there are three piers coming up out of the floor, but now there is only one EQ8 GEM which looks to have a single column..?

The three piers are formed on 3x 400x400x200 pads sitting on a solid "volcanized" sandstone rock layer. The 3 piers allow for the use of the EQ8 tripod unaltered. They are isolated from the Observatory floor by a small (1/2") gap.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

What are the straps for..just in case of high wind..? Do you use them after every session?

The earlier image shows the dome in position but not bolted to the floor. Just in case there was some wind to move it. The dome is now firmly bolted down.

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Is the floor directly concreted to the ground or just sitting on those concrete pavers..?

Image shows the sub-floor. It is to constructed using steel instead of timber (termites) with fibre cement flooring (imitation floorboards inside the dome). This produces an air gap under the observatory to allow for quicker cooling.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Ah completely get it now, thanks for that, looks like an excellent build

Out of interest, why did you decide to build three piers to accommodate a tripod rather than going with the traditional single centre column only..?

Mike

[theodog (Jeff)]

Thanks Mike,

Thought about a single footing for the pier, but thought the cost of drilling into the rock, of concrete to fill the hole and pier manufacture could be high.
I had the technology to do it this way, so it was the cheapest option.

[gaseous (Patrick)]

that's some pretty solid looking steelwork!