NSW Northern Rivers 2008

[glenc (Glen)]

Be fine by tomorrow night!

[CoombellKid]

Be fine for the next month!!!! me hopes!

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by glenc

Be fine by tomorrow night!

Your wish looks like it will be granted.... a bit slushy on the yard
out here... but I might stick the bino's out all the same. I get a
week free of kids next week, So hopefully it'll be nice enough for
me to do some work on the 16". Got the Ali for the truss poles
today... bar ordering another piece of gear off Peter today I'm
finish (well almost, need a power pack) buying stuff for the time
being. Although there is probably a few dollars in bolts, nuts and
screws (you'd be surprised how many you need) I've pretty much
have everything here.... boy there are a lot more bits than I first
imagined and a few bits I ended up buying instead of making.

regards,CS


regards,CS

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Just ordered a 12 inch GSO super deluxe dob from Andrews today.
Will try and figure out how to carry it
when it gets here. Where there's a will, there's a way.

It might end up on the Patrol's roof rack in a padded bag.

Please note that it is a normal 12 inch scope, not one of
those 16 inch howitzers that Some People build.

Will look forward to trying out some of the more modern
eyepieces, but just for the moment will use what I've got.
The wife would start pulling bits off me if I started buying
Naglers and suchlike.

Cheers, Paul M.

[glenc (Glen)]

Paul congratulations, the 12" should fit in the Patrol OK. I bought one up from Sydney in my 307.

[CoombellKid]

Congrats on the new scope purchase you'll need the Patrol
to get up my driveway if you ever come out this way

btw, I willingly now pass on the bad weather baton

regards,CS

[GrahamL]

The wife would start pulling bits off me if I started buying
Naglers and suchlike.

you can squeeze a couple of eyepieces over time
with only mild suspicion l found

It is important to only leave retailers websites loaded onscreen that carry some cheaper offerings never what your really looking at

whos off to astrofest in a couple of weeks btw ?

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

It's struck already. No sooner ordered the scope
than the freezing wind came up our way
and a bloke at work we call "walking epidemic'
gave me his lurgi. Damn.

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by nightstalker

whos off to astrofest in a couple of weeks btw ?

I'll be staying away again this year, I think I have spent enough money
on astro things this year.

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

lotsa moon... clear and Brrrrrr out here

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by nightstalker

you can squeeze a couple of eyepieces over time
with only mild suspicion l found

It is important to only leave retailers websites loaded onscreen that carry some cheaper offerings never what your really looking at

whos off to astrofest in a couple of weeks btw ?

Yeah! those Pentax XW's look just like them GSO plossls

regards,CS

[glenc (Glen)]

How's the 16" going? I decided to skip the Qld Astrofest this year, will go to Undara and Lostock instead.

[CoombellKid]

Slowly as I've been a bit busy doing other things, Hopefully I can focus
on it a bit more over the next few weeks. Recut new rings for the SC
they have been stained and are now recieving 6 of the required coats of
high gloss polyurethane finish... 12 hrs between coats.

Hopefully have an almost complete SC at the end of the weekend, then
I can start working out weights and balance...etc...etc.... and the height
of the rocker box.

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well I'll chirp in here again to keep us active... anyone notice the view
counts on our thread(s)... considering there is only 3 maybe 4 of us active
in here... might as well give them something new to read

I have put four coats of clear on the rings and in the process learnt a
couple of things. Firstly painting with this poly base suff, intricate obljects
like SC rings with decorative holes isn't a good idea with a brush no
matter how expensive the bush. And secondly let the warmth of the day
set in before trying. I think the best alternative would be a spray pack
which I dont have access to. but I did find something that has allowed
me to fix my mistakes (kind of). A 25mm x 150mm roller stuck on the end
of some 3/16" boker rod has worked a treat and fits nicely into the 15/16"
decorative holes. I've got two coats to go and already the rings feel, sound
like poly or plastic. Sorry no pictures but I reckon the rings will be ready
to be built into a SC in a couple days and I'll have some photos then.

Well it's has been fairly nippy out here over the last week or so...
difinitely stoking the fire of a night and morning. It has been quite nice
doing an early morning session with the bino's and coming inside to stoke
the fire into action with a ciggy and a hot coffee.

regards,CS

[GrahamL]

Funny rob I was just slapping a little gloss on my uppercage on the weekend..and yes getting the dribbles down those holes is pretty easy to do ..heres another I stuffed up last week ..I put a second coat of gloss on fairly late in the day while it had quite a few hours to dry ..it musn't of been quite there when the dew came in just on dark ..every upward faceing surface finished up matt instead of gloss .

[CoombellKid]

Originally Posted by nightstalker

..heres another I stuffed up last week ..I put a second coat of gloss on fairly late in the day while it had quite a few hours to dry ..it musn't of been quite there when the dew came in just on dark ..every upward faceing surface finished up matt instead of gloss .

Ouch! can it be fixed? sanded out maybe.

I've finished coating the rings and although I'm not hugely impressed with
my initial effort, a bit of sanding and using the roller has brought it back
to almost reasonable. Was going to try and fit the secondary cage wall
today but didn't have time. So here is a couple of pics of the wall sitting
in the cage, not in it's proper location and yet to be cut to size. But it
gives you an idea of where we're going. the wall is made from 1.5mm
hoop pine 3 ply.

regards,CS

[GrahamL]

looks good mate

easy fixed just put another coat over it.

[glenc (Glen)]

Do you want to come to my place this Fri or Sat night?

[CoombellKid]

Glen,

I've got both my boys this weekend, but might possibly pop in on Sunday
night (early) on the way back from Lismore after dropping Hayden at his
other home. I'll have Jake with me.

On another note, here's an update on the 16". On Thursday night last week
I installed the SC wall, using super strength slow drying Araldite and over
the weekend I started to install the rest of the bits and wiring, except
the secondary mirror and DG2 I'll wait until I'm ready to star test.

Also pretty much finished the mirror cell, here's a front and back view.

My attention has turned to the rocker box. And during the process of
working out measurements, I've found the bearings I've ordered were too
small as the photo shows. They will interfere with the position of the front
side, split blocks. So the supplier has offered to get a set rolled in solid
ali and do a straight swap... how good is that the bearing
you see here on the mirror box has an OD of 20 1/2" the new one will have
that as an ID and OD of about 23 5/8" which will make the rocker box sides
about 40mm shorter.

I plan to make a special mention to all that have help with this scope once
it is completed.

Regards,CS

[glenc (Glen)]

OK cu Sunday night. The forecast looks good.