New observatory

[xelasnave]

Hi there Trevor..have not watched the movie...

I don't have the beard and shoulder length hair as it had to come off for the operation to remove my thiriod and the cancer therein...I must change it.

Now let's me give you some advice, particularly as you seem new to worrying bout health issues...attitude is key..it does not matter if they tell you that you only have a week to live you must stay positive and happy that you at least have another week...it is so easy to focus on the negatives of dieing in particular but the real .loss is the time you spend fretting which takes your real time you see....and things will get to you but you have to be insanely strong and make every moment a winner... I have looked death in the face three times and it is seductive..it tells you to relax and leave...so be ready to avoid death..it's easy for me now as I know how it calls to you...you find nothing matters..well at that point you really have to get a grip and fight past that feeling...but you can't have days where you are not happy...it is just not allowed.

Now stop worrying if you draw a bad hand don't stop for a moment..I would say about the cancer..it may take my life but I will not let it ruin my life...and so I bought a sports car and a truck load of astro gear to show it who is the boss...now many folk thought I had gone mad but I knew what I was doing and things worked exactly as I thought they would.

I say I am the luckiest man on the planet and I sincerely believe that and I am because I sincerely believe that...get it..but I am I live something most folk .ca not even understand.

And you are going great guns with your build so do not let bad news slow it down..not for a second...and thanks for your inteterest...if you want to chat..pm me

Alex

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

Well said Alex!

Trevor: "Live life like there was no tomorrow so that when there is no tomorrow you'll have no regrets"

Not sure who said that- it may have been me.

Neville
LSO

[xelasnave]

Good thinking Neville..when I was younger and a little wild I lived that way but at some point during the night I would look at my watch to find that it was in fact to morrow.

These security cameras are to screw into a light socket...they come with a light socket but now to use them I need to put in wiring and their light sockets fittings..so they certainly have created more work...but I can't test them until they are placed which I do not like..best putting them to one side and thinking more...

Alex

[TrevorW]

Hey Alex I'm not worried if something does show up bad from the scan then I'll go out with a bang in more ways than one rest assured of that

[xelasnave]

The motor and track arrived today so that was pretty good delivery time.

I only just now took it out of the box as earlier it was to hot to do a thing...

Anyways here is a photo as I promised..I only openned it to show you guys like I said I would.

Tomorrow we are going to see if we can instal it...I have "borrowed" a long piece of timber from my daughters project which saves me so many problems..like getting a Bunnings delivery for one piece of timber ...so thats good..

I have not read the instructions yet but check out the warning sign..I really do not understand it at the moment..in out left right why would you care?

I hope it works.

Alex

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

just a guess it means it rolls the gate from left to right by default...

Looks good and solid.

Neville
LSO

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by LonelySpoon

just a guess it means it rolls the gate from left to right by default...

Looks good and solid.

Neville
LSO

Yes but it is not a gate

Update on progress. The stand for the motor is in place, the track beam is now here, the track is being fitted right now..but it is so damn hot ..I am worried my assistant may lose efficiency in this heat, but I think he is going ok but with the air conditioner running I cant hear him working....

He removed the cover and the motor is huge thank goodness.

The problem may be movement so I am going to lie down and worry about that in an effort to contribute to the project.

I had no idea that supervising could be so draining.

Alex

[dikman (Richard)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

I had no idea that supervising could be so draining.

Alex

Yeah, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it.

[xelasnave]

Some photos.
Assistant had to go home to change out of wet clothes...funny I did not see it rain

[xelasnave]

He ran out of fuel so I took us to lunch.
Back to work and it is actually near finished another couple of weeks should see it done..all jokes aside the movement of the roof in its curtent tracks may cause issues...anyways I am trying.

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

>>Yes but it is not a gate

But have you told it that?

Good that it seems well over-rated for the job.

Looking forward to seeing how it works out.

Neville
LSO

[xelasnave]

Running into problems...

The roof is wider at one end which we have rectified so it is only now 5mm difference..but I need to reduce that to 2 mm or manage horizontal movement to restrict it to 2 mm...this is an issue as it has bearing on how the cog will line up with the track...I will add wheels to control horizontal movement and perhaps a nylon guide just before the cog.

This will be further exasibated as the track upon which the roof travels is made from two lengths of L section steel and I have detected a slight bend...I think I can fix that.

The other issue from two sections of steel is that one is slightly thicker on the base section which means we have a vertical movement to remove...all opinions so far considered are not exciting ...grinding probably not sensible..adding a strip of metal to gain the same level seems mandatory but do I add another track on top of say wood...or perhaps buy actual gate rollers and track ....

Ensuring constant cog to track contact will not be easy so we have much to do...

However...the platform upon which the motor sits (you can see the silver mounting plate where the motor sits in the photo) has been erected using shelving brackets hung on the exterior of the door frame and the door frame has been complimented by adding two 3x2 hardwood posts attracted either end with shelving brackets and on one side two horizontal pieces of 3x2 posing as guard rails..which is good because I have nearly fallen of the open end of the deck a few times now...there was supposed to be guard rails but it never got done until now..but it all comes together to provide a very solid platform for the motor..need to add something on the ends yet....so at least it won't move it is the track side that now has huge issues.

I changed out the timber which we attached the track because it had a slight wiggle and it is clear that this job demands perfection simply because any short fall effects cog to track contact and the tolerance I rate as probably only 2 mm...so a 3.8 x 3.8 mt roof has to basically be square with an error only 2 mm...

Anyways we are learning a great deal

Alex

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

Wow:

>>so a 3.8 x 3.8 mt roof has to basically be square with an error only 2 mm...

My maths is a bit rusty, but isn't that around 0.05%?

Asking a lot, but good luck with it.

My feeling is that things like gate openers are built to be big and bulky and forgiving of things like dust and grit build up in the grooves- not so observatories!

As you chase down the last irregularities hopefully it will all slide together for you.

Neville
LSO

[glend (Glen)]

Forgive this question, but is it not possible to build some flexibility and guides into the motor mount to allow it to track the cog track as the roof moves?

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by glend

Forgive this question, but is it not possible to build some flexibility and guides into the motor mount to allow it to track the cog track as the roof moves?

Hi Glen

Yes and I hope my ideas in this area will work.

For horizontal I will add wheels (4) on each end which in theory should manage horizontal alignment and in addition place nylon guides ( a cut up cutting board from the Supermarket) ...You would think those two additions should work however the rails upon which the wheels travel will need to be straight and parrallel...this is not to case at the moment...as the bend is inside walls may need "adjusting".

The horizontal worries are less than vertical movement concerns particularly after discovering the height changes between the two sections of steel...the surface needs to be raised...all I can think about is how...I am thinking fibre glass resin with a new srtip of steel for the wheels to ride upon or timber and getting the actual track sold by the motor supplier together with their rollers.

Assistant is available Tuesday so we will straighten and make parrallel the rails and make the roof perfectly square, add the wheels to manage horizontal and also position the nylon guides...in other words nail down horizontal with the track and motor fitted and inspect vertical movement over the course of travelling closed to open..an inch at a time...each side has four wheels so one hopes the vertical movement is not significant and fixing the height thing is not necessary because there will be so much work and maybe require the entire roof to come off...however I am a lucky person and if we need to take off the roof that will make it easy to paint when on the ground...

I take the time to cover these problems mainly so anyone thinking about doing similar will know what to be concerned about...

I really would like it to be operational by Christmas so I can call it my Christmas present.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by LonelySpoon

Wow:

>>so a 3.8 x 3.8 mt roof has to basically be square with an error only 2 mm...

My maths is a bit rusty, but isn't that around 0.05%?

Asking a lot, but good luck with it.

My feeling is that things like gate openers are built to be big and bulky and forgiving of things like dust and grit build up in the grooves- not so observatories!

As you chase down the last irregularities hopefully it will all slide together for you.

Neville
LSO

All problems come because a roof is different to a gate.. frankly I had never noticed before...the big problem is expansion and contraction of the roof due to change in temperature I expect...if the worst comes to worst I will add a single bed and stick the gate motor on my front gate.

Alex

[xelasnave]

Well it is done...and it works...

The remote works from my bed ...

It occasionally trips the inverter but it resets in a couple of minutes and you can carry on...this is great because I thought I would need a bigger inverter, just to use it, but I can live with it playing up ...and it may be that it was hot and the batteries were not fully charged given all our testing.

Many adjustments were needed but far less than I was preparing for...

I cant believe that I got this done..and special thanks to my assistant who did all the up and down on the step ladder and indeed most of the work.

I am very very very happy.

Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Alex,
I bet your happy , great achievement
Well done !!

Cheers
Martin

[TrevorW]

well done Alex getting there

[oska (John)]

Now that's an awesome chrissy pressie. Congrats!