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New observatory project underway..... been a long time coming!

Dark Horizon

By Dark Horizon
in DIY Observatories

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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Been without a permanent home for my gear for about 9 years. Bought new gear 2012 and have hardly used it due to the faff of setting up and limited time / unpredictability of British weather.

Well, no more!! I've just started on laying down the floor plan of my new obsy so I can make the most of my Dark Anglesey skies.

I will be back in business this season!! :)

The learning curve is again going to be steeeeeep :)

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A40farinagolf

A40farinagolf

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Looking great and I'm envious already, you've got some great kit - are you sure the pier will take your Tasco.

I've designed mine but that's as far as I've progressed, this time next year perhaps.

Looking forward to your future updates for more inspiration - good luck.

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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Looking great and I'm envious already, you've got some great kit - are you sure the pier will take your Tasco.I've designed mine but that's as far as I've progressed, this time next year perhaps.Looking forward to your future updates for more inspiration - good luck.

Get digging holes! Things soon progress when you do, most part because the "better half" want you to fill them in again and sharpish. What better filler than concrete!! ;)

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A40farinagolf

A40farinagolf

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Hi,

I agree with your comments, slight problem though as I've too many balls to juggle:

work, wife, kids, golf handicap, kit car to finish - (see avatar), astronomy and DIY - I'm stressed already thinking about them all, not a bad challenge to have though being honest - I'm going outside now to chillax by viewing the Cosmos as it's a clear sky and almost dark. Kids in bed, wife overseas on business and single malt calling.

You could build my obsy when yours is done as you're not too far away and you be fully proficient.

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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I'm already fully proficient. This will be the 4th one I've built. Not all for me. Each time different construction.

Sell kit car and concentrate on what is important..... astronomy! Besides, you can't fit any kit in it. ;)

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Vox45

Vox45

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Pier base is down.... I decided to use a mixer for the concrete. I'd have been spent without it. :)

Good decision ! :)

I see a black tube sticking out and noticed that you dug a trench... Are you planning to run cables underground ?

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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I popped it in as an after thought, so that I can run an armoured cable to the pier for a block of sockets. I might yet cut a channel to receive the cable as I'm Not convinced the cable will bend through the curve! Like I said, it was an after thought. :/

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A40farinagolf

A40farinagolf

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Looking very good and it's inspiring me to get mine sorted.

Just one bit of constructive feedback for you based on how the images appear.

The slenderness ratio of the main column looks OK but you might find additional stiffening webs would be beneficial to reduce potential to flex, also the combined cross sectional area of the 4 hexagonal bolts appears to be less than the cross sectional area of tube making the bolts the weakest part of the structure. I'd be tempted to increase their diameter or increase how many you use and I'd also reduce the distance between the top flanges by as much as possible.   Why not clamp the 2 flanges together as they don't need to be level to achieve polar alignment.

Also it would be beneficial to fill the tube with a dense material such as pea gravel etc. hopefully you don't think I'm telling you to suck eggs. :smiley:

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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So..... the saga continues!!

This is where I'm at right now.

10" strip foundation poured + 9" of blocks laid flat with a 3:1 mix as most of it is below ground level.

Then back to a 5:1 mix for the remaining block work.

Sub base in (needs wackering) before Tuesday's work of blinding, DPM and slab pour.

Let that all set for a few days and hopefully on to the walls.

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Dark Horizon

Dark Horizon

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I've popped some of the gear on to the pier so that I can take more measurements. I'm considering building a dome instead of a roll off. Decisions to be made.... :/

If I go for a dome I'm gonna have to increase the pier height, which might be a good thing seeing that I just bounced my head off the counter weights!! Ouch! :)

Anybody got any views / pointers in respect to dome V roll off??? Any construction tips?

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