Since I have the dome sorted, I have waterproofed the roof and then install the skirt around the base of the dome. For that job I use 90mm x 11mm pine trim. Manage to get one coat of painting completed before it rained, yeah.
Last edited by anthony2302749; 05-10-2024 at 07:48 PM.
I think this is probably the neatest installation I have ever seen, Anthony, beautifully done.
Keep on top of the painting. I look like having to replace a panel because water got into a hairline crack, froze, got bigger, etc while I was crook this last year.
While waiting for the rain to pass so I could do another coat of paint on the dome I decided it would be a goodtime to purchase and install a door. $80 bucks later the observatory is now up to lock up stage.
You may notice a white box attached to the wall left of the entrance, this is a caravan inlet power point. I have an external power point at the back of the house so all I need to do is use a 10m power cord to run power to the observatory. A neat solution.
I think this is probably the neatest installation I have ever seen, Anthony, beautifully done.
Keep on top of the painting. I look like having to replace a panel because water got into a hairline crack, froze, got bigger, etc while I was crook this last year.
This weekend the following was completed on the observatory, electrical work, insulation, plasterboard and additional waterproofing measure to the roof.
Electrical work involved installing 6-power point and a light circuit. For the 240v I have used a caravan inlet adapter mounted to the exterior of the observatory. From here cable was run to connect 5 x double power point and one single power point. The last power point would have been a double, but I came up short and it was the only one left in my electrical junk box. I will be swapping it out later.
For the light circuit, I wired up a two-way switch using two 2-gang switches. One gang for red the other for white. This arrangement allows me to switch the lights on and off from either side of the telescope. As for the lights these are your stock standard trailer lights, one red the other white. As the lights are 12volts the whole system is powered by a 12v 2Amp DC power supply which is tucked away under the floor in a purpose made cable management conduit and is connected to a power point which I installed specially.
In practise the whole system works extremely well. As mentioned, I have an exterior power point installed on the back of the house so it just a simple matter of running an extension cord to the observatory and plugging it in to give power to the observatory. The lighting works well giving adequate illumination both in red and white light.
Saturday saw most of the insulation, (I got my hands on to two free bags of insulation, I included them in the build, should be of benefit), plasterboard and power points installed and Sunday the remaining wall was completed.
Still a bit more work need to finish the interior of the observatory e.g putting in some trim to tied up the corner's ceilings, plastering, painting and installed corner work benches and a pully system to open and close the shutter.
During past rain events I have notice water seeping back into the observatory via the roof edging. e.g. water runs off of the edge of the roof, but a small amount trickles back on the underside and makes its way into the observatory. To stop this from happening again I added a 20mm skirt and waterproofed with the same waterproof base as the roof. Proof will be in the pudding next Friday when Melbourne is expecting up to 20mm of rain.
So as the project is coming to a close, I am thinking of returning the telescope very soon as I would like to get some images of Saturn completed before it is to later.
Looks great and all sounds like good ideas, the 12V trailer light is cool
Conventional wisdom usually says that the walls around the telescope are better not insulated, to allow temp equilibrium to be reached faster..? Was this your thinking or were you more interested in air conditioning the inside and preventing energy loss during this process?
Looks great and all sounds like good ideas, the 12V trailer light is cool
Conventional wisdom usually says that the walls around the telescope are better not insulated, to allow temp equilibrium to be reached faster..? Was this your thinking or were you more interested in air conditioning the inside and preventing energy loss during this process?
Mike
Was more my thinking, just assume that it would help in preventing to much heat buildup, Wasn’t aware of conventional wisdom. Anyway time will tell.
So giving some thought to Mike’s post, I have set up an indoor/outdoor thermometer to get a bit of an idea regarding how long it will take to achieve equilibrium once the observatory is open.
Currently at 8:50pm indoor temperature is 17.2 and outside temperature is 16.8, a different of 0.8. Of course this is just the first of many results and I will of course repeat the process of cooling the observatory over the next week and months see if there is a trend.
Was more my thinking, just assume that it would help in preventing to much heat buildup, Wasn’t aware of conventional wisdom. Anyway time will tell.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by anthony2302749
So giving some thought to Mike’s post, I have set up an indoor/outdoor thermometer to get a bit of an idea regarding how long it will take to achieve equilibrium once the observatory is open.
Currently at 8:50pm indoor temperature is 17.2 and outside temperature is 16.8, a different of 0.8. Of course this is just the first of many results and I will of course repeat the process of cooling the observatory over the next week and months see if there is a trend.
Actually, it's unlikely to be an issue, an insulated wood and gyprock wall has little thermal mass, so once you open the dome for an evening ahead, any ambient heat built up inside the observatory should dissipate pretty quickly, with low levels of continued radiation from the walls..?
Brick, stone or concrete walls are probably the sort of materials worth avoiding.
Lonely Spoon Obs has 50mm thick foam insulated walls. When open, the dome room quickly achieves ambient temperature as it just doesn't heat up much.
On a hot (35+) summer day the inside is around 25 degrees when I go in.
In winter the dome room can be only 4-5 degrees but the control room will be around 12 with me in it. I've considered gifting myself a small heater.
So, the telescope has been returned on Tuesday with the help of my son and the walls were plastered yesterday. A light sand and then on to painting and installing corner workstations. Plan to fully cover telescope before commencing any sanding or painting if you were worried.
Thanks for the comments in regard to the insulation. The temperature inside and out has been relatively consistent. The inside temperature has been one or two degrees lower than the outside. Got a 30-degree day coming up so should see some interesting results.
As for weatherproofing the observatory stood up well to the 20 plus mm of rain here in Melbourne with only two minor leaks detected.
Great to hear Anthony and I'm sure you are right re the walls Like many others I am sure, I've enjoyed following your build, it's a beauty. Watching others construct their dreams is quite cathartic and satisfying your inside shots do remind me of my first observatory build 20 years ago, including the scope and regardless of my current improved version, I do miss many aspects of that first build...(including my physique ) so thanks for the show
Just a quick post, while the observatory is not full fitted out, I decide/wanted to test the scope out and at least get a practise shoot in of Saturn.
Powered up the telescope and left it tracking while I tried to spot Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS to no avail. On return notice the telescope was tracking in the wrong direction, forgot to enter site after factory reset. After a GPS fix it was all good. Tick off the GPS works inside the dome.
Did a couple of image runs on Saturn with laptop on the floor and happy with the results.
So, over the past week or so I have painted the interior of the observatory and installed a work bench. It is somewhat finished, and I am now using it for imaging, mainly Saturn. Only have about a half dozen tasks to be ticked off for the Observatory is truly finish which I will work towards over the coming months.
So, what did it cost, currently I am sitting at $2559. This is not exact but very close to what I had calculated.
The important part, the dome cost around $989. The materials purchase was at least 4 sheets of 2400mm x 1200mm x 12mm CD Non-Structural Plywood for the ribs and support ring, 5 sheets of 2440mm x 1220mm x 3.6mm Hardwood Exterior. Plus, sundry items such as roller, wood glue, paint, screws etc.
Remainder of the cost was invested in constructing the building for the dome to sit on. This was made out of 90x45mm structural timber, plaster board, fence paling etc. Sundry items include power points, paint etc.
I also scrounged what I could to reduce the cost like two sheets of plaster board, paint, electrical cable, screws etc.
So, for those who have ambition to construct their own observatory you now have an idea of cost. Mine you, if you need to purchase power tools such as a router this will add to overall cost.
Your figures match closely with mine, at around $2500 for all the wood related part of the set-up, not counting concrete, etc.
Add $4k to mine for the insulated metal 6mx3mx2m shed to sit it on, call it $7k
WAY less than buying a commercial dome (less than the delivery for some).
You have now joined the dome club, envied by many, scoffed at as 'unnecessarily complicated' by others!
) so thanks for the show 
