Looking good Anthony, have you tried your custom rollers out yet?
Sorry, I deleted my former messages, I wasn't trying to hijack the thread in any way, just curious about the steel ring and roller set up mentioned for a future project (an automatic adjustable step ladder set up designed and modelled by my son to revolve around a pier for use with a Newtonian, adjustable step height with electronic control).
Looking good Anthony, have you tried your custom rollers out yet?
Sorry, I deleted my former messages, I wasn't trying to hijack the thread in any way, just curious about the steel ring and roller set up mentioned for a future project (an automatic adjustable step ladder set up designed and modelled by my son to revolve around a pier for use with a Newtonian, adjustable step height with electronic control).
This weekend was devoted to the construction of the observatory building which everything will sit upon. Started with digging in the foundation for the floor frame, had made a bit of a start on it last weekend. Total of eight holes dug out, a bag of concrete for each, levelled. I then used TuffBlock 300 x 300 x 90mm Instant Foundation System Deck Support for the 100mmx100mm timber foundation. Of course, the old observatory had to go before I could do any further work, pretty quick job taking it down.
Did the out frame first, levelled and squared and then filled it the remained of the joists. That was Saturday's job. Sunday saw the wall frames go up and the floor loosely fitted.
Other than making one small mathematical error the construction of the observatory building was quick and easy. The one thing I was concern with was the ease to which I could climb in an out of the observatory. Turns out not a problem at all.
Cheers
Last edited by anthony2302749; 11-08-2024 at 05:03 PM.
How tall are you making the walls? They don't look more than 4 feet tall.
Cheers,
V.
Hi Steve
4 foot 4 inch to be precise. Due to council bylaw I can’t exceed 3m and my back yard isn’t flat. I averaged the lay of the land out and add that into the calculation along with the dome height, roof height to come to suitable wall height. Did make an error of 90mm at the start which I quickly corrected. So cross fingers I have got the observatory height under 3m and the council will not annoy me about it.
This afternoon I did go back to the original plan by Charles Baetsen which I downloaded from the internet, his plan had wall height of 4 feet. Also check the dimensions for 2.3m Sirius Observatory, its wall height is 5 feet. So I sit between the two.
So, this week saw the installation of the roof/dome support and the floor is now cut in and nailed down. One of the things that I did to make cable management a bit easier was to install a sub floor for the routing of any power or device which may be connected to the telescope. All made with repurposed timber from the old roll of box observatory.
Also, fiberglass the shutter for add water protection and slapped a bit of paint on the inside before installation for the last time.
First project for this weekend was to get the dome up on to the observatory with the help of my son. While the dome is bulky it is not overly heavy which meant it was a good two-man lift in army vernacular.
I used a set of dolly boards to manoeuvre the dome from the pergola up on the paving then up on to the lawn. From there we man handle it on to the lifting frame and slowly jacked it up until we got it in a manageable position where we could slide it onto the observatory. As Scott Cam would say, "Job done".
Once up I discovered couple problems which will need to be rectified. They are the rollers, found that the bearings moved within the aluminium tube so made some modification to fix that issue. All so the shrink tube on some need hitting with the heat gun again.
Other more annoying problem is that the dome base doesn't sit flush the observatory. The problem comes down to a carpentry error on my behalf, my levels are not level. I have a fix in mine which I will discuss next weekend.
So, I am happy the dome is up, it is waterproof, and the project is coming together nicely even with a SNAFU.
Cheers
Last edited by anthony2302749; 25-08-2024 at 04:52 PM.
Second project for this weekend was to clad the outside of the observatory. Got most of it done until I had to call it quits due to the rain. The cladding itself is just fence paling that I recycled from the previous observatory. As Bob the Build puts it Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. I will be painting the exterior later to give the cladding a nicer appeal, haven't decided on a paint colour yet.
Looking really good Anthony!
Have you given any thought to mechanisation/automation?
Neville
LSO
Hi Neville
I have explored some options for motorisation of the dome. I will probably start with a wind wiper motor to start with. Then work towards a more advance system using computer control. But first need to do some adjustments to the dome to get it to roll smoothly after my little Snafu. This will involve cutting some of the ribs where they are affixed to the ring and packing them out once the dome ring fit flush to the observatory. The saving grace is that the joins were glued and tack into position, so easy to cut with the right tool. Should have the modification completed by the end of the weekend. Photos and explanations to follow.
It's looking great Anthony!
Windscreen wiper motors seem to be the go, high torque units and low speed, plus, easy to get and I'd guess wreckers wouldn't want an arm and a leg for one?.
I used one out of a Ford Consul back in the early 70's to power a small project I built.
Have you looked into tracks/gears yet?
I noticed a thread by a fellow (G_Day - Matthew) who had trouble with the spacing and gearing on his Sirius dome (from memory) recently. It would be a good idea to ask for options.
I wouldn't go for nylon gearing because it can strip easily, steel can rust. It would be somewhat of a tricky compromise I suspect, possibly a driven roller system as Neville had mentioned using roller skate wheels (wait, skateboard wheels, I don't remember) running on a steel ring he had rolled. It would be easy to make one set (or two sets) of the wheels driven to provide the guiding/rotation.
Now you've got me thinking about how I would go about it if I had a dome, something I don't see in my immediate future.
Two new wiper motors cost about $50 each off Ebay a couple of years ago.
Although one seems quite happy pushing my 3m dome around, I put the second one on the opposite side.
This did two things: it smoothed out the rotation by cutting out any tooth jumps (on my giant planetary gear), and it served to equalise the sideways pressure on the ring.
They also gave two potential maximum speeds. I chose the fastest and put a speed controller from Jaycar in the line
So, I made mess of the dome ring by stuffing the levels which meant the dome did not sit flush with the top of the observatory. To correct the problem, I had to cut several of the dome ribs to get the dome ring to sit flush. Job was made easy with Ryobi 18V ONE+ Multi Tool fitted with a Wood and Metal Plunge Cut Blade and a small jimmy bar. Once I got the ring free of the ribs and plywood covering, I clamped the dome ring into position and packed out each rib the required amount. This task was followed by affixing 20mm x 8mm trim between each rib to just tied up the inside of the dome a bit. Proof will be in the pudding next weekend.
NOTE: - To anyone who may be contemplating a similar project I would recommend that you build a flat surface out of two sheets 18mm ply and structure timber. This way everything will be level, something I should have done if I was not a tight ass. Plus, I should have trussed the levelness of the decking. Anyway, lesson learnt.
Considering you've done the entire build yourself with what you had, there was always the possibility of minor teething problems.
Aren't these battery powered multi-tools amazing in a pinch, renovators or whatever the call them?
I have a pneumatic one I've never used and a battery one I grab on short notice.
Overall Anthony you have made one outstanding obs' by yourself and you should be both proud of the end results and your own work. It looks amazing!
Been a while since my last update. Between, high winds, rain, funeral and wedding anniversary etc I finally got the dome sorted.
As I stated in my previous post, I made mess of the dome ring by stuffing the levels which meant the dome did not sit flush with the top of the observatory. After stuffing around trying to resolve the problem, I decide the best course of action was to redo the levels from scratch. So, working through the problem I realised a laser level would be the way to go. I ended up purchasing a Ozito 360-degree line laser from Bunnings for $139. Important point, should have purchase the unit at the start of the project would have save a lot of time and material. Oh well live and learn.
So, I level the top of the observatory, built a new ring for the dome, cut out the old dome ring inserted the new one, checking the level as I went. The end result is that the top of the observatory sits flush with the base of the dome. And with the rollers installed the dome now rotates smoothly.
Cheers
Last edited by anthony2302749; 05-10-2024 at 07:37 PM.
