Pier Base Setup

[CDKPhil]

I have Just found out that I will not be getting my tripod for the MX until March (if I am lucky ). The mount arrives on Monday, so I will have nothing to put it on. I do not want to wait till March to try out the MX so I thought I would put a pier in.
I have read in other threads that people use a solid block of cement about 1m3 for the base.
I was wondering instead of digging one big hole and filling it with cement and steel, I could use a post hole digger and put five columns into the ground?
One in each corner and one in the middle and a slab across the top, to join them together.

The dimensions of the columns would be 300mm dia by 1300mm deep and the slab would be 1000mm x 1000mm x 200mm. All re-enforced with steel.

I am not an engineer so I am asking would this be better than one big hole?

I did some quick calculations and the surface area in contact with the ground would be slightly more with the columns and it would use less cement than a hole that is 1m3.

All advice is much appreciated.

By the way I have a tractor to drill the holes:D

Cheers
Phil

[gregbradley]

If you are using a tripod mount a simple slab would be fine.

If you plan to do a pier fixed to the slab then a 1 metre deep x 1m cube and slab on top separated from the rest of the floor would be the go. Reinforce it with steel.

My observatory is built that way and the pier is rock solid.

You don't do one big floor slab as walking, vibrations etc can transmit to the scope.

Several piers into the ground conneted to one top slab as you mentioned sounds like it would work as well. But its mass you want so a M3 of steel reo in concrete and a pier bolted to that would be pretty hard to beat.

I have pavers for floor around my pier slabs so vibrations do not transmit to the pier concrete block ( a gap where they meet the pier).

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Greg, that sounds like good advice.

I thought of using the post hole auger because that saves me a lot of digging.
But if it is mass it needs then it is mass it will have.

I read on the SB website that just bolting a pier to cement can cause vibrations if the cement is not perfectly level and the pier is not grounded properly.
SB recommended using treated ply, I don't think wood left in the elements will last very long, treated or not. I guess it would be fine in a sealed environment. here is the link https://www.bisque.com:443/help/paramountme/paramount_me.htm#software_bisque_pe rmanent_piers.htm
So I was thinking of using a levelling compound, to make a perfectly flat surface.




Thanks

Phil

[mikerr]

Phil, I mounted my pier to a concrete water tank as shown. The spacer nuts between the bootom plate and pier are used for levelling
.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/mikerr/ASTRONOMY/032.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/mikerr/ASTRONOMY/019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/mikerr/ASTRONOMY/036.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/mikerr/ASTRONOMY/NewChair002.jpg



Michael

[CDKPhil]

Nice job Michael, I only wish I had a nice big tank to bolt a pier on.
Alas I have to start from scratch.

I have started digging out today. I am building the footing on the side of a very steep bank. I have to use Gabion cages to form retaining walls. I will end up using about 2m3 of concrete. The footing will be about 2m deep.
It shouldn't move.

I will post some pictures to show the progress.

cheers
Phil

[gregbradley]

2 metres deep should be plenty. Mine is about 900mm deep and 800 x 800 with quite a bit of steel in it then the top was raised about 100mm with the final top part more like 1.2metre square so there was a flange in concrete on top. That may also be helping to prevent movement.

I think what SB are saying is the bottom of the pier needs to be supported and not sticking in the air. I anchor bolted my pier to the slab and then I levelled it with packing pieces. Then I put sand/cement mix under the pier to pack it up.

You can get nonshrinking grout that is good for that purpose. I believe it can be quite liquid so you could flow it under the plate. Stone masons use it to grout big blocks of sandstone that are in place on a building so its good stuff. In my case sand/cement shoved under with a trowel and smoothed off worked really well and my pier is well supported.

It makes sense to ground the pier well as Brendan could tell you, it would be a waste of the strength of that deep pier if you allowed flex from the weak point which is where the pier attached to the pier slab.
That base plate needs to be well supported with no air gaps and lots of anchor bolts nice and tight. That's where the slots are handy as you need to know which way is the south celestial pole before you fix it down hard otherwise unless you have a rotating pier adapter you may not have your mount close enough to the south celestial pole to achieve polar alignment. So mark that out on your pier before you install anchor bolts.

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

Good point, I was going to use a plumb bob and get the shadow from it.
Wouldn't want to go to all that effort and have it facing east. I am sure it has been done before.:lol:
Here are a few pics on my effort today. Still a long way to go. I want to have the cement poured by the end of this week.


Cheers
Phil

[gregbradley]

Looking good.

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

I poured the concrete this morning. The footing size ended up being 910x870x2400. I had to dig down through quite a bit of fill to find the bedrock. I ended up using about 2.2m3 of concrete.
I used 18mm MDF for the form work, that will come off in a couple of days.

Now all I have to do is finish the gabions and back fill.


Cheers
Phil

[jenchris]

Holy snapping crocodiles Batman - that is some lump!

[mswhin63]

Nicely done, no vibration on you.

[mswhin63]

Do you intend on placing a pier on the concrete?

I am not sure but if you can further extend the concrete and use the concrete as the pier then vibration issue will be a lot less compared to a metal pier. Some of the equipment driving the mount can be fixed to the concrete as well.

[CDKPhil]

The location dictated that I use that much concrete. As Greg said its all about the mass. :D



I am going to place a pier onto the concrete. It will be a Software Bisque pier. It has a tube diameter of 254mm and base and top plate of 12mm. The mounting holes are pre drilled.

I thought about using concrete as a pier but decided against it. I am sure I read on another thread that a concrete pier will have more flex than a metal one. ( Don't quote me on this, I might have it backwards). I am sure there would be someone here that can clarify this.

As far as vibrations go, filling the pier with some sort of dampening material might work. I am not sure if this needs to be done or not. I will have to wait till I get the mount and the telescope setup and trial it.

Cheers
Phil

[mswhin63]

I watched a video on vibration and myths associated with some mounts especially DIY that there are a few features that create more vibration than concrete or simply proper construction. Mind you this is an issue with some high end mounts and hard for me know if this is relevant if you use a low cost (EQ5/EQ6) mounts.

I for the life of me can't find the video as usual, but it uses simple holes in the base for mounting not elongated. Fins travelling from the bottom to the top and vary for form and cut off triangle (to prevent single resonance). and also does not use extended bolts for the mount cap (again resonance). Maybe someone else can find it.

The video was shown by an mount designer (can't remember the name) but mentioned in the video he knew that he was not going to worry about the DIY market which is the primary reason for creating the video.

[CDKPhil]

That sounds interesting. I would like to see the video.

I wonder if you could use carbon fibre? I have a carbon fibre pushbike it is extremely strong and light. It is much better to ride on the road than a steel frame. It absorbs a huge amount of vibration, and still transfers a lot of power to the wheels. It is very stiff.
I would say it would be rather expensive to build a carbon pier. An engineer would have a good idea about the pros and cons of carbon fibre.

cheers
phil

[mswhin63]

Found the video it was actually in a thread recently posted-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=84547

The videos listed here (to give credit to the person who found them for me)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=806282&postcount=11

Personally i think concrete would have a slight dampening affect on vibration. but that also may depend on how thick it is and the mixture.

[CDKPhil]

Thanks for the link.
The video was very informative. At least I have the foundation for the pier right. The presenter said that 1m3 of concrete weighs 1 metric ton, but I think he has got this wrong. 1m3 of concrete would weigh 2000kg give or take a few hundred kg depending on the types of materials used. My footing would weigh well over 4000kg.

Looking at the specs for the Software Bisque pier, it seems they have a very different approach. The slotted holes, not a wide base plate compared to the diameter of the vertical shaft and there are no webs that run from the base plate to the top of the pier.
The only similarity would be the way the mount bolts onto the top plate of the pier.

So the question is, in practice which is the better pier?
To me the Astro Engineering pier looks to be a far better design.

Cheers
Phil

[gregbradley]

Wow, that sure isn't going anywhere!

Those stone walls - are they retaining walls? You're not building the observatory walls using them are you? They look like they'd retain a lot of the daily heat and radiate it up for hours in the night.

Lightweight walls would be the go. Timber or metal frame and colorbond with aircell insulbreak is what I used and it works great. During a hot day the observatory is reasonably cooler inside. I have it under the roof and walls and spray painted it matt black as it is silver otherwise.

What about roll off roof and wheels etc? That can be tricky and really affect the outcome.

My advice here is:

1. Ask on the forum for various systems as there are many ways of doing it.
2. Make sure the roof clears the scope so if the scope swings it can't hit the roof. Also that a truss horizontal member clears the scope.
3. Keep your walls parallel and work out the track system so the roof rolls off and closes fairly easily. If you go to Bunnings your wheel choices are very limited. Richmond Castors and wheels have lots and I think they have an online store. They are in Wetherill Park Sydney.
4. You could use 100mm C purlin for the track, it comes in 6.1 metre lengths. I'd ask around as there have been some nice systems here and mine has been a source of trouble.

Greg.

[mswhin63]

No worries Phil,

It is a difficult one to think about seeing I am currently not building a pier but always interested. I usually take a lot of time to mull over a project before commencing. I usually end up making a prototype and end up looking at the problems later.

[CDKPhil]

Hi Greg
The stone walls are for retaining. They will not be going any higher than 1m. The site will be backfilled and levelled.
The next part of the plane was to build a platform over the top of the retaining walls and over the top of the pier footing. The platform will not touch the footing. It will protrude over the edge of the retaining walls by 1.5m this will offer shade to the stone so it will not heat up to much.
The platform will be made of Galvanised i beam as the main bearer, then timber joists with a timber floor. The timber I will use will be Cypress, very termite resistant. There will be a railing around the edge of the platform. Walking around in the dark with a sharp drop is not recommended.

As far as the walls and roof are concerned I have not given it a lot of thought yet. This has been a bit of a rush job so I can get a pier in and use the MX.
Your suggestion of light weight walls make sense. I will most likely use a treated pine timber frame and as you said some colour bond cladding with insulation in between.
The roof, I will be asking a lot of questions.:)

I wil post more photos as I go. I could not do any work today as it has been raining all day. ( must be all that new gear):lol:

Cheers
Phil

[multiweb]

:lol: Some serious earth work and machinery here. The scope will be on rock solid grounds. :thumbsup:

[CDKPhil]

Having a tractor has made my job a lot easier, thats for sure.
But I still had to get in the hole with a jackhammer and a shovel.
I don't think when I am finished it will have the great colourful paint job as your pier Marc.:)

Cheers
Phil

[CDKPhil]

I have back filled the pier site and also levelled the pier footing. I used a levelling compound which has worked very well. It has given me a very flat surface to ground the pier base. You can see in the photo I managed to get a steel ruler to stand on its edge, there are no undulations in the surface.

The pier has been ordered from Software Bisque, hopefully it will arrive next week.

The next step will be, to make the platform.

cheers
Phil

[frolinmod]

Excellent Phil.

As I understand it, the problem with the steel pier is that the bottom acts like a drum. The steel base needs to have firm contact with the concrete footing with no high or low points. A smooth flat concrete footing works best. Torquing the pier firmly to the footing is derigueur.

The last thing you ever want to do is to suspend the pier up the the air on ("leveling") bolts and nuts.

[Marke]

How did you lvl the top Phil it looks pretty smooth.

[mithrandir]

Leveling compound. Mark, my brother works for Ardex (http://www.ardexaustralia.com.au/product_category_display.asp?catid= 2) and that links to their leveling product list. He also lives in Castle Hill if you want some professional comments.

[Marke]

Thanks for that info Andrew I will keep that in mind when finishing off the pier base.

[CDKPhil]

Thanks:)
Thats how I under stand it. From what I have been reading it is best to get the
footing level and smooth. I have read a lot of bad things about levelling bolts.
I guess if you look at a pier it has a very ridged structure. By placing three or four bolts on top or the bottom compromises the strength of the pier. I would imagine that having bolts would introduce all sorts of movement.
I can see the attraction of levelling bolts but it is not that hard to get a level surface. It does take a bit of time but it is worth the effort.



What Andrew has said. I used a levelling compound by Ardex. I ended up putting three layers on to achieve the result that I wanted. I put some form work around the top of the footing, primed the concrete and poured the compound onto the top of the footing. Using a trow I pushed the compound around till it had an even thickness and then let it set. It only takes about ten minutes to go off so you need to be quick. It has given a very flat surface.
There are some epoxy base levelling compounds available and they give better results than the cement base products. I did not use the epoxy because the Ardex product achieved a very good result.


Cheers
Phil

[Marke]

Thanks Phil my pier should be ready next week , I will see how well I can level the concrete and may be try the Ardex although it will have a lvling plate anyway.

[CDKPhil]

Hi David,
From what I have been reading a steel pier will have a lot less flex than a concrete one of the same diameter. If you read this thread http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=86411there is a post by AL (sheeny) and he explains the difference with concrete and steel.


NP Mark
Remember the smoother and flatter the surface the better the pier will be grounded.
I would like to see some photos when you are done.

Cheers

Phil

[Marke]

Sure thing I was going to use grout under it but your solution may be just as good I think and its pretty damn heavy

[jenchris]

put the baseplate onthe concrete before it sets! then you have a matched base. It won't need much to make it 100% contact face then. Epoxy mixed with fibre with a cling film separator (or you'll never get it off again!) and pull it down til the epoxy squeezes out the sides - 100% contact -

[Marke]

Good idea Jen I was thinking something like that only it weighs about 70kg
I may need to wait till it sets a bit :)

[CDKPhil]

Here is the latest. This might be a bit obsessive or pedantic. I have used a piece of 25mm thick aluminium as my contact surface for the base of the pier.
Rather than have the pier onto concrete which is level and flat I thought I would try to use a metal contact surface, this is far smother and flatter than the levelling compound. And if I wanted to get really pedantic I could have the surface machined.:lol:
I have used 16mm stainless steel Ramset chem studs to hold the aluminium plate down. I will then tap 16mm holes for the pier. I will anodise the aluminium to protect it from oxidisation.
I am calling it a pier to concrete interface.:P

Cheers
Phil

[Marke]

Phil I dont think you are trying hard enough :) I am using 20mm steel plate
top and bottom with 20mm bolts but I am sure yours will look prettier :p

[CDKPhil]

I have got bolt envy now:lol:

[Marke]

lol thats a new one :rofl:

[jenchris]

Mine's a pretty blue and isn't bolted at all, it's embedded 750mm into the concrete. There's 4 inch holes spaced around it in the concrete through which reo is introduced and the whole thing is filled to the top plate (15mm steel) with reinforced concrete.

Vibrations - nil - though the fork on the OTA is still a problem.

I noticed that previously the adjustment of the focus would be sufficient to disturb the system when x10 on the live view. I'd have to wait for a few seconds for it to reduce.
Now, I can grab and adjust and it stays pretty much still - any vibe is gone in a second or two. I'm happy with that. I know it could be better, but the fork is causing most of it I think.

[CDKPhil]

Nice Job.:thumbsup:

I take it you have reo welded to the bottom side of the top plate? or do the levelling bolts go down 750mm into the concrete?

May be the levelling bolts are introducing some movement?

Cheers
Phil

[jenchris]

No there's a central J bolt that runs down 200mm, the plate was set in place when the concrete was still plastic. The central bolt tensions the concrete onto the plate there is no play at all.
Basically the only thing that can move is the fork and the leveling plate bolts - which are protruding a little more than they need - I can take them down quite a lot now that the angles are established and the initial drift alignment is done.

[CDKPhil]

That makes sense.
Is the Pipe Steel?

Cheers
Phil

[jenchris]

UPVC - wall thickness is about 11mm. It's quite substantial on its own but not for a pier - hence the concrete fill!

[CDKPhil]

The rain has finally stopped and yesterday I saw the sun for the first time in a week.:) My pier has not arrived yet but I should have it tomorrow, if all goes well.
I managed to put in the steel i beams for the platform. I will end up with an area of 20m2 more than enough for a small observatory and a balcony / deck.
If the rain holds off I might even be able to get the joists and flooring done this week.

Cheers
Phil

[Marke]

Looking good , I am in a similar situation where i am trying to do things between the weather . Put the pier on the bolts last night and they all ligned up perfectly - big releif . I put grout under the pier to fill out any gaps and help to make it level . Next thing like you is to start on the floor
if I can time it with the weather !

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Mark


Yeah there is nothing better than when the bolts line up.:lol:

Phil

[gregbradley]

Holy cow you don't muck about do you? Steel I-beams. Man that thing is going to be solid as!

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

:d

I wanted a bit more space so I had to cantilever out over the edge of the gabions. The i beams were the best thing for the job. Very heavy to handle but they are very solid. Also drilling the holes for the bolts took quite a long time, 14mm holes through 9mm steel.
I am glad that part of the job is done.


Cheers
Phil

[CDKPhil]

The pier arrived on Wednesday. It was not the one I was expecting. I was expecting the ME / MX Pier but I got the pier built for the MX. It's no big deal just that I will have to buy another pier if I ever wanted to get an ME. This pier has a tube diameter of 200mm compared to 250mm for the other pier.

I had the interface plates anodised to protect them. The colour is close but not perfect. I tried matching it to the polar scope cap. It was the only thing that I could remove and take with me. ( but you wont see it in the dark) :)
I have used stainless steel bolts and washers. I had to do a custom job on the big flat washers to fit around the gussets.
The interface has 50mm deep x 16mm tapped thread for the pier bolts.

Now all I need is some clear skies, :sadeyes: and finnish the platform.

Cheers
Phil

[Marke]

Looks great Phil ,very pro and the contrasting colour really finishes it off :thumbsup:

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Mark :)

Phil

[Jeffkop]

Holy guacomole ... this makes my setup look like lego !!!!
Anything like a cyclone coming your way ... head straight to the observatory.

That base is a work of art mate !!!!!
Cant wait to see the finish. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[CDKPhil]

:lol:
Thanks Jeff
The next big challenge will be designing the observatory roof and walls.
I am open to suggestions.


Cheers

[Marke]

Hmm I was hoping to copy yours Phil :D

[CDKPhil]

:lol:

[Poita]

I know the coal mines throw out a lot of large off cuts of cool-room paneling. I think it is expanded foam encased between colourbond type material. Might be worth trying to score some for the walls. Relatively good insulation and a clean look.
Like this stuff
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=Cool+room+panel

[CDKPhil]

Thanks for the suggestion Peter.
That type of material would be great to use.
You see it used on a lot of commercial buildings.

Cheers

[gregbradley]

Your choices of roof are flat or pitched with trusses.

Flat means less clearance when closing the roof but easier to make.

Truss pitched roof means more clearance. When designing the truss try to keep the horizontal part of the truss as high as possible to gain as much clearance as possible. Your scope will be fairly high up in that setup so clearance is an issue.

Ideally the roof and its trusses would be higher than the swing of your telescope in case of a mishap. That may be a bit difficult depending on which scope you are planning to mount. A CDK 12 would be hard to gain enough clearance for to do that without walls that are too high.

Wall height around 2.2 to 2.3 metres seems to work.

Under the roof I would suggest using Aircell Insulbreak insulation. No fibre so its not irritating or toxic and it keeps my observatory reasonably cool in hot days so I don't have to worry about baking my gear.

I have it behind the walls as well. That is another alternative to the coolroom panels.

I haven't done it to my observatory yet but installing a ventilation louvre to the walls to get air flow may be a good thing. Someone posted in the past using a solar panel electric vent fan from Jaycar electronics worked well. I think they use them on boats as well so a boat accessories supplier would have them. Any louvre I would put insect mesh behind to stop bugs getting in.

Greg.

[Marke]

Been going thru these choices myself :) I thought flat roof originally but the other disadvantage to that is , its harder to keep the water out compared to gable. If using colorbond you can go as low as 5deg pitch anyway which is almost as easy as a flat roof . My wall height I can go pretty low , prob 1.9m max as the AP mount can park in either Vert or Horiz so I dont need much clearance and the roof height will take care of the rest .

[avandonk]

This was my solution. Here


http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=34019&highlight=observatory


Bert

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Greg.
I think I will have a pitched roof.
I am not sure if I will build a roll off roof or some sort of dome. The roll of roof looks to be a lot less complicated.
The wall hight at 2.2 - 2.3 should work well.
I need to design a structure that looks beautiful and functional. ( I have to please the misses ) :lol:
When I draw up some plans I will post them.



My thoughts as well.
Also a gable roof looks a lot nicer.



You have done a nice job there Bert.
I like the way your roof fits together.

Cheers
Phil

[CDKPhil]

I have not added an update for a while. I have been waiting for some materials to show up. I finally got my order of Safety Perf today. So now I have about 450 holes to drill to attach it to the joists.

I am cheating as far as an observatory goes. I have purchased a metal kit dome from Astro Domes. I have already taken delivery of it. I just have to wait till I get the platform finished, then I can start putting it together.

Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Cheers
Phil

[gregbradley]

Incredibly well built. Nice job.

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Greg,

Cheers

[Paul Haese]

Looks great Phil. Over engineered to hell but it looks great. the decking looks very nice, gives a really nice industrial look.

One thing I wish I had done when building my observatory was to incorporate a warm room into the design. I will have to take this on later but might I suggest this to you now. Your dome will work well with a warm room.

Watching with anticipation.

[Marke]

Yep that platform is looking pretty fancy ! Very nicely done

[CDKPhil]

Thanks for the complement Paul,
The decking is a product called Safety Perf by Locker Group. It is designed for industrial and commercial use. I wanted a product that I did not have to worry about maintenance and some thing that offered an anti slip surface. It gets pretty frozen here at night in the winter months. It is very bright at the moment but the Gal will dull to a soft grey and blend in with the surrounding bush.

That is a good idea having a warm room. It is something I haven't thought about. I have a gazebo that I built for the kids that is 20m away from the dome. (picture below) I don't know if that would be to far away? Or a Mini Cube shipping container might be another solution? Now you have given me something extra to think about.:)

Cheers



Thanks Mark,
I only have another 350 bolts to put in and then I can start on the dome.


Cheers

[Paul Haese]

That would be a good spot for a warm room. Right near the scope would be better but given there is a room close by it might be a useful spot.

[Logieberra]

Phil, looking fantastic!

Paul, why a warm room? The Paramounts are for remote use. The house sounds warm and inviting! Use that?

My prior setup using a G11 was controlled over WiFi "G" network via TeamViewer. Netbook running next to mount and accepting all mount and camera cables. Desktop PC inside controlling the netbook remotely. Beautiful.

[Paul Haese]

Yes that is true remote imaging is the main purpose but a warm man cave control center is always good.;)

[CDKPhil]

Hey Logan, thanks.

Cheers

[CDKPhil]

Today I Started on the Dome. All is going well except there are three panels missing. This is going to slow me up a bit.
Here are some pics of what it looks like so far..


Cheers
Phil

[Logieberra]

Fantastic stuff, its the new and improved Mt Stromlo!

[Jeffkop]

WOW Phil .. from start to finish everytime I look at your updates the wow factor goes up an octave. Picture of it golden in the sunset I presume looks fantastic. Hope the weather continues to help us along.

[CDKPhil]

:lol: Thanks Logan, you will have to come around and check it out.



Gee thanks Jeff.
The weather here has been quite good. It has allowed me to get a fair bit done. I am going to be held up for a week or so. The three panels that are missing won't be here till next week some time. I guess it will give me a chance to start on the power.

Cheers
Phil

[CDKPhil]

I have finished the dome, well nearly. I have just a few things to tidy up.

I think I will have to paint the inside black to stop any stray light from LEDs.

I would like to use a spray foam insulation on the inside to help reduce condensation and add a thermal barrier for when it gets hot. But if I ever need to pull the dome down it will make it very difficult.

The dome seems to function quite well, there is heaps of room so I will be adding a curved desk to match the radius.

The next step will be automation. I need to source a motor controller that I can run on a Mac, then I will use Sky X's dome control software to sync it all together.

Here are a few more photos.


Cheers
Phil

[Logieberra]

Fantastic Phil. It's an A+ setup.

Re automation, Brett (screen name Bert) from Bathurst specialises in this stuff. Here is his public profile:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/member.php?u=4675

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Logan, I can't wait to get the CDK and the MX stet up in there.
Not having everything dewing up is going to be fantastic, and not having to pull the setup down after each session is going to save a lot of lifting and effort.
I will be able to spend quite a bit of time refining my polar alignment and producing a good T point Model.

Thanks for the link.

Cheers

[Marke]

Great looking set up now Phil love your site too very nice out look .
Guess next new moon you will be making up for lost time :)

[TrevorW]

Looks like a perfect location as well, are you going for traditional white on the outside

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Mark, it's not a bad spot here in Queanbeyan. I am 645m above sea level, and there are no street lights. My Western sky has quite a lot of glow from Canberra and Quenbeyan but I can still see the Magellanic clouds with the naked eye so it's not to bad.
I can't wait to get the scope and mount in, having shelter is 100% better than being exposed to the elements. It already is -3C at night here and getting colder.





Hi Trevor, I quite like the silver grey of the zinc, it has a similar colour to the trunks of the trees. So I might end up painting it silver. I would like to use an infrared reflective paint if I can.
Although it will probably end up being white just so it will reflect as much heat as possible for summer.


Cheers

[Jeffkop]

Looking fantastic Phil ... Thats a great choice of dome I reckon.
Dome automation with TheSkyX will probably be ok for you with an MX. The Dome addon Caters for paramount (almost solely dissapointingly for me) so I guess The MX will be fine. Did your MX come with automadome?? If so that may come in very handy.
Good luck with it all ... Its looking great.

[Paul Haese]

Phil did you buy the dome as a kit or have it manufactured. I had a look through the rest of the pages but cannot remember if you said what you did.

[CDKPhil]

Thank you Jeff.
No the MX didn't come with Automadome. I am making my own life difficult because I refuse to use a windows based computer. I am on a mission to run every thing on a Mac. This makes it very limiting when it comes to computer control of a dome. There seems to be quite a lot of products that will run motor controllers on a windows platform, but alas, there is not much around for Mac. I have manual control of the dome which is ok for the moment.




Hi Paul, yes I bought the dome as a kit from AstroDomes it came as a flat pack. All of the panels are laser cut so it goes together, "fairly easy". It is a one person job for most of it, you need two people to get the shutter on. Having some skill in building makes a big difference. I wouldn't recommend it to some one that isn't right into DIY.

I looked into getting something manufactured but the cost for a (one off ) didn't make it a viable option.

I will say, I really like the design of this dome it is very well made. The panels are made from 1.1mm zinc not the typical thin put your finger through it stuff. 3m diameter gives me heaps of room and a 900mm slit gives plenty of space for alignment of the OTA and the dome.

Being in a kit there is a lot of scope for self modification. I have already replaced the horizontal rollers with skate board wheels, just to cut noise and vibration. I am not real happy with the door, so I will make a new one that is stronger an more burglar proof. I added the solar panel for the shutter motor battery.
I am sure I will customise more things as I go.


cheers

[gregbradley]

Beautiful dome and 1.1mm zinc - too cool!

I work with zinc a lot in roofing and cladding on high end homes.

Greg.

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Greg, I am very happy with the dome. The zinc is great.
I prefer the zinc over fibreglass it is so much more durable, plus where I live it offers a whole lot better bush fire resistance.

I was talking to the owner of AstroDomes and he was saying that the zinc should have only been .9mm, He said that the place where he gets his laser cutting done, must have put through a thicker batch by mistake. All the better for me.:D
Having the thicker zinc did make it a bit harder to get all the panels together.
But the final result is one very strong dome.
There is glaziers tape in between each join so it is quite water tight. We had 25mm of rain here last night and there wasn't any leaks.

I am in the process of painting the inside matt black.

I am not sure if I can stop the condensation. I might need to put up some foam panels, this won't be an easy job due to the curved surface.
Someone said to me, if I can run a small fan an disturb the air it might stop it. I will need to try this out. I hope it works, it would be a simple solution.


cheers

[RobF]

Looking great Phil. Hat's off to you for tenacity getting it all together. Looking very professional. I bet you can't wait to fire the PMX and CDK up in there for the first time and listen to the sweet sound of that bisque slew reverberating inside the dome. :)

[CDKPhil]

Thanks Rob,
I have set up the MX and the CDK, it is great to have it finally up and running.
It is so much more comfortable operating from inside a dome. The sound of the mount is awesome inside the dome.:D

I have painted the wall of the dome black and put some LED strip lighting around half of the rim.

I have put a dehumidifier in to keep the condensation under control, it works quite well. This will be put on a timer as soon as I can work out how to do it.

The underside of the shutter has a product called Form Shield, this stops condensation dripping onto the scope. It is a 10mm foam with a foil on one side. I have stuck it to the zinc with contact adhesive. I also have put this on the lower vertical wall. I got this from Clark Rubber.

All of my 240v electrical is under the floor and comes to the bottom of the pier.

The dome runs on 12v DC. I have two battery's, one under the floor this runs the dome rotation. And one mounted to the dome wall, this runs the shutter and the LED's.
The one under the floor is charged by a switch mode charger by Projecta. This charger is also a 35 amp power supply. I have a control for the charger mounted on the desk. The charger is mounted under the floor.
The battery on the dome wall is charged via the solar panel through a regulator.

I made a curved desk to fit the radius of the dome.
I am waiting on some more ottomans from Harvey Norman, I have ordered some so the seats tops come off. I will use them as extra storage.

There is not much more to do except for automation.

Cheers
Phil

[Marke]

Looking magic in there now Phil :thumbsup: Glad you got a handle on the condensation and the LEDs work well dont they :)

[CDKPhil]

Yeah the LED's are great, they are super bright and use very little power. Thanks for the idea of using strip LED's Mark. :) If I hadn't seen them in your Obs I would have done something different.

Cheers

[ChrisM]

Phil,
I've just caught up with your project progress, and it's looking very swish. What size is the dome? I used a Clark Rubber product on the inside of my dome's metal shutter to combat condensation. It is a sticky-backed foam sheet, about 10 mm thick, and has a silver coloured layer exposed. It completely stopped any condensation forming. It would cost quite a bit to line the entire inside of a dome.

Keep the pics coming!
Chris

[CDKPhil]

Hi Chris,
The dome is 3m in diameter and 2.7m high, the slit is 900mm wide.

The foam product works really well, you are right it would cost quite a lot to line the inside of the whole dome. So far the dehumidifier is doing it's job so I should not have to put any foam on the wall. I am still contemplating if I will put some sort of covering over the floor.

All I have left to do is automation, and a few small jobs to make the dome more secure.


Cheers
Phil