Build a Solar system model - Page 8

Coz (Colin) · #**141** 09-03-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen

Week 24

Morning!
Well, you're just coming up to part 26 - (that's a grammar school education for you!) - which has Saturn and moons.
Be careful with the moons - 3, on a very fine wire construction. Easy to bend, if the postman's not already done it for you.
Saturn might be the start of the problem with droop - (steady, woman, steady) - as it's the heaviest planet from memory.

I'll keep looking on here to see if there are any squeals of pain!

Jen · #**142** 09-03-2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

Morning!
Well, you're just coming up to part 26 - (that's a grammar school education for you!) - which has Saturn and moons.
Be careful with the moons - 3, on a very fine wire construction. Easy to bend, if the postman's not already done it for you.
Saturn might be the start of the problem with droop - (steady, woman, steady) - as it's the heaviest planet from memory.

I'll keep looking on here to see if there are any squeals of pain!

Thanks Coz
So far so good but dont you worry when i start to have trouble you will hear me alright even the emoticons in here will be running from me

Coz (Colin) · #**143** 10-03-2009, 05:45 AM

For reasons I won't bore you, a member on one of the other forums has asked for some photo's of the planets - and it dawned on me that you lot won't have seen some of 'em yet.....so a link for you -

http://www.musicodes.co.uk/orrery.html

I'll leave 'em up for a few days....

goober (Doug) · #**144** 10-03-2009, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

You'll see what I mean when you get further on!
What stage/mag issue are you lot up to now?

Thanks Colin - that makes perfect sense. I'm not sure about the others, but I've just installed Ceres, and have half my Jupiter bits ready and waiting. I'll be certainly installing that fix.

Coz (Colin) · #**145** 14-03-2009, 06:04 AM

Hi all.
("Oh no!" I hear you scream, "He's going to bang on about arm droop again!")
And you're right - I am!

Most UK subscribers are now on issue #51, awaiting the final part which features the power supply unit. Needless to say, some folk have got a suitable 6v job lying around and have therefore been able to give the whole thing a test drive.

I've hijacked somebody's photo's here (with their permission, by the way) and added 'em to the URL I gave for the planet photo's - and this is what to watch out for.
Note the photo regarding seemingly identical collars - they're not.
The "chamfered" hole variety are the ones which tend to cause the problem, allowing too much play in the support arm.
There's another photo showing what can happen in extreme circumstances, when the arm is so loose that it rests/snags on the gear below - something else to be wary of.
I've had limited success with these "defective" collars by inverting them in the sandwich - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

goober (Doug) · #**146** 19-03-2009, 01:56 PM

I got my "Saturn" bundle today, along with the offer on a Patrick Moore DVD issue. I'm not sure I need this, but if Coz Colin can comment...?

Coz (Colin) · #**147** 19-03-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goober

I got my "Saturn" bundle today, along with the offer on a Patrick Moore DVD issue. I'm not sure I need this, but if Coz Colin can comment...?

[Bugger me - I've just typed a lengthy answer and update, only to find that you get logged out after x minutes! Log back in, you lose your text.....bloody hell!
I'll do it in notepad and then paste - more later!]

Jen · #**148** 19-03-2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

[Bugger me - I've just typed a lengthy answer and update, only to find that you get logged out after x minutes! Log back in, you lose your text.....bloody hell!
I'll do it in notepad and then paste - more later!]

why do you get logged out? sometimes im in here all day i never have to log in

marki · #**149** 19-03-2009, 10:43 PM

Me neither. Logged out????

Coz (Colin) · #**150** 19-03-2009, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marki

Me niether. Logged out????

Quite.
Logged in, typed with astounding speed for five minutes, pressed "Submit"...and it asks me to log in again.
Did so.
Text gone.
Patience gone.
Concentration gone.
Sense of humour gone.
Blood pressure up.
Temper up.

And do y'know, it was the best damned piece of writing I'd seen in years.....

(By the way, <pedant alert> the word is "neither"!</pedant alert>

Coz (Colin) · #**151** 19-03-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goober

I got my "Saturn" bundle today, along with the offer on a Patrick Moore DVD issue. I'm not sure I need this, but if Coz Colin can comment...?

[Right! We'll try again!]
Can't comment on the DVDs, I'm afraid - I didn't sign up for them. Have to admit that I'm not particularly interested in astronomy as a whole, and seeing that they didn't deal specifically with the orrery, I decided not to bother.
We've finished the build in the UK, with the exception of the (official) power supply unit. That's about three weeks overdue now, so needless to say a few folk have strapped an alternative to it in order to check things.
Suffice to say, some are experiencing headaches at the death. Quite a few reports of faulty and/or noisy motors, for example.
In my particular case, I can't get an earth/sun orbit time anywhere near the suggested 36.5 seconds (=10 days) even at full speed, leading to lots of tinkering. Tighten some bits, loosen others, to gain a second or two. The downside is that this tends to have a negative knock-on effect elsewhere....usually the arms.
Another concern has been with the collars (!) - or rather, the support arms. It appears that there's even a range in arm diameters, from about 2.95mm through to 3.05mm. Granted, just a "gnat's" as they say, but you get a "bad" arm and a "duff" collar, and you've got a bad combination there!
Don't get me wrong - it's still an impressive looking piece of kit, but whether it's the "accurate working model" that's claimed....well....time will tell, I suppose.

marki · #**152** 19-03-2009, 11:10 PM

G'day Coz

Have you clicked the remember me box under the log in?

I always mix up my i's with my i's especially after c's

.

Mark

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

Quite.
Logged in, typed with astounding speed for five minutes, pressed "Submit"...and it asks me to log in again.
Did so.
Text gone.
Patience gone.
Concentration gone.
Sense of humour gone.
Blood pressure up.
Temper up.

And do y'know, it was the best damned piece of writing I'd seen in years.....

(By the way, <pedant alert> the word is "neither"!</pedant alert>

Coz (Colin) · #**153** 19-03-2009, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

....suggested 36.5 seconds (=10 days) even at full speed,

Of course, the more astute of you will have noticed that the above statement is, by and large, utter b*****ks.

36.5 seconds = 1 year.
1 second = 10 days.

Coz (Colin) · #**154** 19-03-2009, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marki

G'day Coz

Have you clicked the remember me box under the log in?

I always mix up my i's with my i's especially after c's

.

Mark

<indignant head>
YES!
OF COURSE I HAVE!
</indignant head>

[****....where's this box, then?]

Coz (Colin) · #**155** 19-03-2009, 11:17 PM

[Oh...that box.]

marki · #**156** 19-03-2009, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

<indignant head>
YES!
OF COURSE I HAVE!
</indignant head>

[****....where's this box, then?]

Jen · #**157** 20-03-2009, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coz

[Oh...that box.]

yep thats the one

PeterM · #**158** 20-03-2009, 06:35 PM

Hi Colin,
You gave us the height, and thank you for that. Now that Jupiter is in place it sure looks like it will be needing a wide shelf when completed to rotate, can you tell us how wide. Thanks again.
PeterM.

Coz (Colin) · #**159** 20-03-2009, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterM

Hi Colin,
You gave us the height, and thank you for that. Now that Jupiter is in place it sure looks like it will be needing a wide shelf when completed to rotate, can you tell us how wide. Thanks again.
PeterM.

Morning, Peter....
To avoid knocking off that Moorcroft vase or blinding the sleeping cat, you'll need 2' (x2' for obvious reasons) - that'll give you a bit of clearance, but not much.

Coz (Colin) · #**160** 23-03-2009, 10:35 PM

Morning all.....
Still unfortunately having fun and games with the motor - just how something so small and plastic manages to sound like a bag of spanners is beyond me - but thought I'd bang up a couple of videos of the "finished" item.
http://www.musicodes.co.uk/orrery99.html
I say "finished" - I'm still waiting for the official power wall-wart, which hopefully is a little more attractive than the once-white alternative strapped to it at present. I've also cut the audio - you'd have kittens if you heard the racket that the motor is kicking up.
Until the replacement turns up, there's obviously little point in calibrating for speed - not that I know how to do it anyway. The subject (i.e. achieving a speed of 6.8 rpm) is mentioned briefly in issue 1, and refers to more info being in a later edition - I've either missed it, or it's in #52.
(By all means have a look, but frankly I can't face ploughing my way through 51 magazines - with no index!)
The same applies to positioning the planets - there are references to this in issues 1-4, but they seem contradictory (or ambiguous) in places.
Of course, there is a third option, which is me being dense.
(You choose, but don't let me know, thanks!)