Another update, the top half is sealed with some 4mm marine ply. The next stage is to seal the edges and install a continuous rubber strip on the lower section of the top half to allow water or rain to have less opportunity to flow into the lower half.
Since the photo I have block planed the edge and is much smoother transition from edge to edge.
Still considering locking arrangement for the lower half though.
Just another update, layer of paint, university break now so I have a bit of time available to do more. Although still have a lot of uni work even during the break.
Well applying the paint showed up a lot of imperfection relating to the large amount of silastic applied to keep the weather out. Don't really care as it is more for practical purposes rather than aesthetics.
Placed a couple of handles to open and close the lid manually, may consider auto lifting but that is not important at this stage.
Fitted a neoprene border to direct water past the lid opening. This half worked (or half failed) depending on your take on it. I will investigate it further to see if can be fixed.
Although I still have a fair amount work left, mostly it is small but unfortunately more costly aspects. I can now start looking at what I want to do for the electronics.
The final 2 stages that I will complete will be the insulation and the locking mechanism. This I hope will allow the equipment to be place inside when done.
I will create another post where I have just started to test a Raspberry Pi connection to the camera with initial success. This will be another long application but may have more time available as I will consider using C instead of Python scripting. That will be for another blog.
Cheers all, I hope this can be ready soon to start taking pics. I have been waiting for nearly 2 years to get rolling. Money the the key factor on delays.
Just an update, I had left everything covered for the entire winter with so much to do along with some medical conditions, I finally opened the obs up and it went through winter with no problems, apart from a Daddy Long Legs spider in one corner.
To continue i have decided not to reinvent the wheel and will configure the scope and PC the same as before so i can get back into imaging. I really missed it.
The only recent addition is a simple stand to open the obs. I still not sure how long it will take to get things up an running again but I sure hope it is soon. Still suffer from heavy fatigue, but at least I have some more time available.
Just another update, have now got everything in most working order. The pier is a stark contrast to the tripod and the motors vibration is significantly quieter.
I have though filled the inside of the pier with sand, I believe this has made a significant difference to the vibration.
Still have some initial alignment to do and will work on this tonight.
Getting closer to capturing
Created a small video, testing a new microphone although forgot to switch off the external sounds, excuse the wind noise. http://youtu.be/kddYd5Ony9I
Very nice work, couple of questions. What is the cat5 cable going into your mount? Is it all finished and working now? And how thick did you make the concrete?
Very nice work, couple of questions. What is the cat5 cable going into your mount? Is it all finished and working now? And how thick did you make the concrete?
Hi Couple of things, The CAT5 is just an adaptation I made for the serial to mount EQDIR connection. I also have a Bluetooth one as well. I have been imaging with it for a while with great results.
Another post, the application of the rental Observatory will be a success, we have secured the new premises and the new place will be able to fit the concrete pad which was my only concern.
I will though be doing a top half modification and possibly use it as a dome instead of the original fliptop lid.
I will update once I start putting things back together but we won't be moving until around 27 May.
As far as the fliptop lid is concerned it did work and it worked quite well. So in that instance the application worked really well and provided a good weather secured location for all my gear.
I wish though to look at making a miniature dome instead as the only problem that I had experienced was any wind that had shifted the mounts based on the backlash issues with the EQ5 Mount. A dome would provide the best wind protection.
I had devised another alternative with the fliptop lid which would have worked as well but I decided as we are going to move it would be better to attempt to make a dome instead of maintaining the fliptop lid.
I will be spending most of the winter designing and building that section. To do it economically though I have a round table that is laminated and I envisage installing everything above that table and ensuring good water proofing at the same time so that I don't have to place a tarp over the top.
glad it is approved, now time for the tender process to commence 
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