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  #41  
Old 11-01-2022, 03:40 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Eagleview acquired a new addition today woohoo!...currently (much to my wife's delight ) a loungeroom ornament...for now..will have some sort of enclosure eventually but cant wait to get it under the stars!

Mike
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  #42  
Old 11-01-2022, 04:34 PM
AdamJL
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Nothing good can come from that sort of wife's "delight"

Get as much use of it before you can't

But congrats, that looks like an absolute beauty (the scope )
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  #43  
Old 11-01-2022, 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by strongmanmike View Post
Cheers Adam

See the attached sketch, it should look pretty well like this...except the 12" Dob depicted has been upgraded to an 18" GOTO Dob, just today in fact ...that's a 3M Scopedome from Sidereal Trading here in Oz.
Outstanding. That's going to look so great, and a ScopeDome to boot. Highest and coolest observatory in Australia!
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  #44  
Old 28-01-2022, 03:50 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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My 3M Scopedome arrived in Melbourne today and the wonderful guys at Sidereal Trading sent me some photos of it in their warehouse...I think just to make me pine

The dream is slowly coming together...it's all getting very real, this is really happening!....

Mike
PS. I excitedly sent these photos to my wife and she said..."that's nice dear"
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  #45  
Old 28-01-2022, 04:48 PM
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astroron (Ron)
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Coming along nicely Mike.
Cheers
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  #46  
Old 28-01-2022, 09:17 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Coming along nicely Mike.
Cheers
Cheers Ronaldinho
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  #47  
Old 29-01-2022, 10:44 AM
AdamJL
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Can’t wait to see it setup in its new home, Mike!
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  #48  
Old 30-01-2022, 02:06 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Can’t wait to see it setup in its new home, Mike!
Yeah should look pretty schmick

Mike
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  #49  
Old 30-01-2022, 03:22 PM
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astroron (Ron)
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Cheers Ronaldinho
Mike When it's "completely safe" to venture south of the border
I may venture down your way to peruse the scene myself.
In the mean time I will just watch this space.
Cheers

Last edited by astroron; 30-01-2022 at 06:39 PM.
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  #50  
Old 30-01-2022, 05:06 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Mike When it's "completely safe" to venture south of the border
I may venture down your way yo peruse the scene myself.
In the mean time I will just watch this space.
Cheers
That'd great Ronald Mac, love to have you visit

Mike
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  #51  
Old 30-01-2022, 07:05 PM
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Zubenel (Wes)
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Originally Posted by strongmanmike View Post
I agree!...and given my wife only recently commented "hmmm?..we are hemorrhaging money at the moment on Eagleview.."...I'm not toooo confident of having my own large Dob anytime soon ....hence my excitement about yours!

Mike
Following Happy to see the big dob tick box filled. Looking at your views makes me breathe deep B1!!!!!! you are a fortunate man that has navigated life in such a way to make your (our ) dream come to fruition .( there is always a cost and not only $.....I'm also thinking about a ROS on a deck as "Zamar" (my 20" ) has prohibitive dome dimensions so following with interest to pick up any design Ester eggs
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  #52  
Old 30-01-2022, 07:22 PM
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Hi Mike '
Have you tried out the 18" at Eagleview yet ?
Can't wait to hear your report from such a great location .

Regards
Bobby
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  #53  
Old 30-01-2022, 09:37 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Following Happy to see the big dob tick box filled. Looking at your views makes me breathe deep B1!!!!!! you are a fortunate man that has navigated life in such a way to make your (our ) dream come to fruition .( there is always a cost and not only $.....I'm also thinking about a ROS on a deck as "Zamar" (my 20" ) has prohibitive dome dimensions so following with interest to pick up any design Ester eggs
Ha ha Wes, yes, luckily my best Astro buddy, Attila, came to the rescue when a suitable and affordable big dob came up on the used market and he snapped it up (hey a 20" would'a been good though ) and has kindly donated it to Eagleview so that it has the visual aperture such a site deserves! We will be erecting a solid reinforced garden shed, with double doors, on a slab with a short (~4m) concrete path out to an nice open observing pad, so we can simply wheel her in and out and be up and running in minutes. We will have the 12" Dob as a second and back up scope if we have visitors and for extra fun, Attila has a marvellous long FL 3" refractor that gives pristine dark high contrast views with text book pin point stars, like the good'ol days err? umm?...I also have a modest 6" F7.5 AstroPhysics Starfire APO in the wardrobe too and an Tak NJP mount sitting idle ...so a veritable visual and imaging scope fest can be had!

Your "Your (our)" dream comment, really resonates deeply, yes it is most of our dreams to end up somewhere similar to where I have and I don't, not for one minute, take it for granted and I know very well just how incredibly lucky I am, it makes me smile and reflect, both at the same time. I hope to make the site available, in some sort of capacity, to as many others down the track as possible, as to not do so, in the words of some of our governing clowns, would be just plain un-Australian

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobbyoutback View Post
Hi Mike '
Have you tried out the 18" at Eagleview yet ?
Can't wait to hear your report from such a great location .

Regards
Bobby
Soon Bobby soon, reality is that, even (still) being stronger than the average man, it is not an easy one man setup (without pulling it apart) and the weather and getting the two of us together at the same time hasn't happened yet...soon. It looks awesome in the lounge though

Mike
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  #54  
Old 31-01-2022, 10:18 AM
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multiweb (Marc)
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That dobsonian looks awesome. I really like the hardware around the optics. Minimalist with excellent ventilation. Do you find the trusses stiff enough for the secondary/focuser assembly?
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  #55  
Old 31-01-2022, 11:18 AM
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That dobsonian looks awesome. I really like the hardware around the optics. Minimalist with excellent ventilation. Do you find the trusses stiff enough for the secondary/focuser assembly?
Haven't looked through it yet actually, probably this weekend if the clouds let us

Attila and I had a childhood (16/17 year olds) dream of operating an 18" F5 telescope, on a mountain, under dark skies, somewhere near Canberra.....well, it took nearly 40 years but we have finally realised it

Mike
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  #56  
Old 31-01-2022, 09:42 PM
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Yea Mike ' sure looks good in the house !

Bobby
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  #57  
Old 01-02-2022, 02:08 PM
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“that’s nice dear” made me chuckle.I get the same reply every time I buy another camera or lens.Good to see the progress Mike and it’s always good to have family support in one’s endeavours even though their enthusiasm may not quite be as much as ones own.
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  #58  
Old 01-02-2022, 02:10 PM
AdamJL
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“that’s nice dear” made me chuckle.I get the same reply every time I buy another camera or lens.Good to see the progress Mike and it’s always good to have family support in one’s endeavours even though their enthusiasm may not quite be as much as ones own.
If they don’t kill you, it’s a positive outcome. Apathy is as good as praise in my books
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  #59  
Old 04-02-2022, 02:21 PM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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Picked up the rebar cage for the centre column and footing yesterday, it fits perfectly!

You can see the arrow on top of the bolt pattern template, this will allow accurate positioning
of the bolt pattern, ie. by pointing it directly at the stake with white top there in the distance
this stake is positioned very exactly true south of the centre of the footing hole.

Next is to construct the form work around it to facilitate a single pour, monolithic, one piece result.

The weather up here so far today has been quite blowy, drizzling and a frigid 9 deg C (only 4 deg with wind chill)

...inside in front of a fire kinda weather really

Mike
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  #60  
Old 04-02-2022, 02:39 PM
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mura_gadi (Steve)
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so for the concrete pour?

a) time capsule or
b) a coin from this year into the concreting?

Nice to see some progress, weather is fairly foul till next Thursday from the current reporting.
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