I've been chipping away at the observatory over the last months. It's been a big job so far, with over 3 tons of concrete used to secure the posts into the ground. That's all completed now, so the build is speeding up a bit now. The floor is fully sheeted and the walls are almost finished so I'm getting closer to installing the roof frame on top of the walls. A few more photos to follow.
I sheeted the dob pad with 18mm compressed concrete. It's very strong, and heavy. I left a 20mm gap between the dob pad and floor joists, to avoid any vibration transfer to the dob. I sealed the gap with 20mm open cell foam to keep the dust and critters out.
The floor sheeting going down showing the recess for the dob. The dob pad is 50mm below the level of the floor. Every little bit helps when trying to drop the eyepiece height.
Hi Allan, nice to see the progress photos. How are you actually going to get that heavy Black Widow into the hole? Is it going to be disassembled and reassembled inside the opening from above? Obviously it does not need the base roller wheels anymore. Just trying to get my head around how it will work. Fascinating.
Hi Allan, nice to see the progress photos. How are you actually going to get that heavy Black Widow into the hole? Is it going to be disassembled and reassembled inside the opening from above? Obviously it does not need the base roller wheels anymore. Just trying to get my head around how it will work. Fascinating.
Hi Glen. This is a shot from the front. The door will locate between the two posts at the front. I'm going to pull the dob apart and give it a big clean up, and then roll just the base up some ramps I have. The door is designed so the dob will just slide through the opening on its wheels. Once it's inside and on the pad I can put it back together.
Its been a while, but I managed some more building of the dobservatory. Sadly I haven't managed to avoid the build running into the heat of summer which I was really hoping for. Only had one curious brown snake come check it out so far. I turned him into two 3 foot long snakes.
This shows how the roof attaches and rolls on the walls. I bolted C channel to the top of the walls. Roller bearings then roll inside the C channel and make the roof captive to the structure. I fitted a couple of 1" pins through all the channel and wall top plate and that prevents the roof from rolling.
Looks amazing Allan, a fitting shrine for your scope. I wanted to give up astronomy-related jealousy for the new year, but you've ruined my resolution already!
This shows how the roof attaches and rolls on the walls. I bolted C channel to the top of the walls. Roller bearings then roll inside the C channel and make the roof captive to the structure. I fitted a couple of 1" pins through all the channel and wall top plate and that prevents the roof from rolling.
Looks great Allan! Is that your welding, or a local from Coolah? That pin looks like it could hold the wings on an A380 - substantial.
Looks amazing Allan, a fitting shrine for your scope. I wanted to give up astronomy-related jealousy for the new year, but you've ruined my resolution already!
Looks great Allan! Is that your welding, or a local from Coolah? That pin looks like it could hold the wings on an A380 - substantial.
There’s a good metal shop in Coolah, so the welding is their work. I was in there a few days ago talking to them about the door for the obs. Welding inside a 40 degree shed didn’t look like much fun.