upahill

I used the PG-5 27:1- wanted the extra torque to ensure there wasn't any slip.

I could be wrong but I think it gives you more steps in the CFZ too, there were a few motor choices which I had to steer clear of because of this. Worth calculating with your scope as you may need that extra gearing (or tweak your microstepping)

It's been a while since I played with it and to be honest was never quite satisfied with how I built mine so will be going for the ZWO option instead

34 minutes ago, Stu Todd said:

I use a 5mm piece of red perspex cut to the laptop screen size. Cost about $10 and works great, especially on the original daytime settings of your screen. Easy.

👍 Perspex is great, I use it on the laptop too when im outside etc. The only problem I find is that even with filters the website shown above still produces a lot of brightness coming through the filter than is necessary. I would rather a dark website being shown through a red filter than a bright white one.

Indoors I use a 42" screen and two 24" screens, even if I had perspex to cover those it would still be quite bright, this just mutes whats coming through from surfing the web etc so helps a little more and is free.

2 hours ago, lensman57 said:

Just be careful with handling of the resin. These guys do print with incredible resolution and smoothness but I am not sure how permanent the prints are. Like the PLA that is beautiful to print but has no real use in the real world due to lack of strength.

I pretty much exclusively print PLA and never had issues with it. Now im not printing shelving brackets or caribiners for mountain climbing but a lot of the fears about PLAs stability seem to be theory rather than fact.

Im closing in on 18months experiment with a EQ6 pier adapter printed in PLA, mounted outdoors 24/7 with plenty of temp variation, sunlight exposure etc. Not a single problem.

This printer looks interesting, I have a Formlabs but the resin trays are a pain and expensive when they go wrong. Going to get rid of it and get something like this I think, I had been looking at the Anycubic photon but really want something that self levels - first layer adhesion was always an issue.

I can just about handle the cleanup of parts although it is not a pleasant job. Invest time in setting up a good quality alchohol wash and alcohol rinse station and save some annoyance each time.

Most of my PC is dark themed, wallpapers, browser themes etc.

One thing that bugs me though, especially on the laptop when im outside is if I need to browse the web and web pages come up with huge white space areas. I have the same problem working on the pc at night indoors - the glare can be quite bad.

I found by accident the plugin for firefox called Dark Reader. It recolours almost any website to be dark themed much like SGL.

Heres the BBC page side by side comparison so you can see what I mean

Hopefully it will help others, apologies if its been mentioned before.

ASI1600, Filter Wheel & some gear to hopefully automate the dome. Also the remaining parts for my CNC router.

I should be saving for a house, car repairs, retirement, financial freedom and all that boring stuff - but FLO sell shiny things!

On the plus side my new PC is built so thats one big project / expense out the way for a few years.

9 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

+1 for the BBQ cover!

+1 more, I opted for the egg chair cover for additional height, but in reality it was a bit too long - the one Anthonyexmouth posted looks much better.

That being said, I would have prefered a 365 cover, I have found some signs of condensation on the inside of the material which I dont like.

1 hour ago, Victor Boesen said:

@upahill nice PC you got going there! Is you graphics card the 2060? I have the 2070 in mine and I mostly built my computer towards gaming while also being able to do some 3d-modeling like you say and some video editing. I also have an I5-9600K which I can easily overclock to 5ghz but I left it at 4.7ghz since the temperature at this clock speed is a little more comfortable. If you need some help feel free to ask(I see you have almost everything set so there might not be any). And by the way! Here's a pic of mine:

Thanks, yours too - love the blue - yeah its the 2060 - with a view to upgrading to the 2080Ti if I ever feel the need to. Im a bit of an AMD fanboy so stuck with them and went for a used Threadripper 1950X - 16 cores / 32 thread, again with a view to upgrading to the 2970WX if I feel the need and the prices come down. 32GB of ram right now which I can push to 256 on this board.

I cant believe the prices of hardware at the moment, had to compromise on every component, but should be a nice upgrade from my FX8320 with 16GB and RX480! And was a radical shift from the Dual E5 Xeon system I was planning.

1 hour ago, parallaxerr said:

I must admit, I'm totally converted to the AIO water cooling solutions. Had a few Corsair units now and they're great. My 12 year old i7 940 is overclocked to the high heavens and still runs cool (relatively speaking as the 940 was always a burner). 

Fingers crossed they deliver and you can get up and running, good luck!

Well it arrived....

... and despite the seller listing it as the TR4 edition and specifically stating it was for Threadripper, it isn't. It's the normal version for standard AMD/Intel sockets.

So have ordered a Cooler Master ML360 TR4 on a next day pre-noon service as a stop gap and now the labourious returns process can begin 😔

I have had an AIO before, the Corsair H50 or H55 I think and didn't rate it so hopefully the CM one will be better.

1 hour ago, Davey-T said:

Can't remember what time it was but they generally have two sittings so it drags out for quite a while 

Dave

Hopefully we can make it work, we missed out on the roast last year but the curry and hog roast were fantastic 😋

2 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

Looks ripe for a water cooler to me 😉

Will be getting a custom hard line loop eventually but will have to wait as I already went WAY too far over my budget and if I go water I want to do it properly. Will also be resleeving all the cables etc.
Air cooler was £50 - Custom water cooling circa £300-£400 with the GPU too 😔 so it was the first of many compromises. Im not a gamer so its a little unnecessary to be honest and will be mainly for aesthetics if I go for it.

Hermes are due to deliver within the next 3.5 hours - fingers crossed.

Good luck with the project, being able to leave everything setup makes life soooo much easier. Look forward to seeing how it goes together. RE the roof, have you considered option 3 of a roll away shed? If you have the space for it of course.

29 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

How about Neoprene sheet, cuts easily, but don't know if you can get it deep enough ?  but I suppose multiple sheets stuck together.....

Hadn't considered neoprene, but I have about 150mm of travel on the cnc and can always layer up for really deep cuts.  The laser has less travel at around 80mm and would suffer from weird kerfing with multiple passes through that depth - neoprene might be tricky to laser as I believe it contains chlorine?? will have to research it a bit more.

56 minutes ago, AKB said:

Interesting!

Is flocking a good idea, though, for optical components, actually?  I spend my time trying to keep little bits of fluff off things!

Good point, I guess I was trying to mitigate little bits of foam / foam dust - maybe a different treatment or perhaps not required at all with the right foam.

The inside of an old OTA I had was flocked and I did see this which made me think of it but spanners are slightly more durable than eyepieces :)

This product is called Shadowfoam and looks quite nice, can be laser cut or CNC cut too - the laser would make light work of it if done in layers.

Was sat in the barn trying to find ways to justify finishing my CNC build and got to thinking about a video I watched where someone was carving into a block of foam as a test before running a cut on a final peice of stock material.

I have seen the pick and pluck foam for equipment cases but would there be much interest for a bespoke foam carving for equipment boxes?

Im going to give it a go as soon as the new motors arrive but could build a stock library of cut outs for standard equipment / eyepieces etc and then cut to size / preferred layout?

My CNC is approx 4x4 foot so could cover a large selection of OTAs with custom cut outs for accessories, cables etc.

Im going to use this thread to seperate it from my other projects, but the plan is:

• Start off simple with a case insert to hold some Hyperion eyepieces I have.
• Practice cutting different foams to test finish.
• Look into vacuum moulding flock covers for the finished foam inserts.

I imagine peli-cases etc would have a standard shape/size to stick to, but the external edges could be cut to fit anything.

We did something similar 10 years ago with fibreglass insulation boards and celotex, routing lines in them to enable them to be folded for ducting but I think the fibreglass material we used for that would be too dusty. As would florist foam - any other suggestions?

Just added a food order via FLO for all 3 meals, any idea what time the Sunday roast will run until - possibility of OH having to work the weekend (in Hereford) so may not get back until late afternoon?

Lots of postmen over the past couple of days dropping off parts for a new rig geared more towards astro-processing and 3d modelling.

Had to make quite a few compromises to keep the budget less than astronomical though. Managed to get the majority ex-display or second hand though so grabbed a few bargains.

Unfortunately Hermes have let the side down again and it has been sat ready to test for 3 days until a CPU fan arrives

Bolts arrived today so got the handle attached, its pretty sturdy - wouldnt want to depend on it for life but the occasional manouvere should be fine. Also got the bolts for the finder shoe so the new guide scope is installed and ready for testing.

3 hours ago, fwm891 said:

As a local (Hereford) can I come along without having to book a pitch etc...

Might be worth emailing a mod, I know some camp sites get funny about "non-residents" especially as SGL doesnt have the site exclusively.

Other than that how are your ninja skills? 🤣

We thought about driving home each night as only in Monmouth but its a nice excuse to get the caravan out and not have to take it far. You could always pitch a £10 tent and drive home each night.

On 01/09/2019 at 14:59, upahill said:

Picked up a bit of a bargain at the carboot today (if it works).

As it stands the unit will change four outputs based on windspeed and/or rain. Not sure if I will use the interface box on the left or just just the sensors on the right and try to interface with them in some otherway (maybe even get some data logging going on)

I need to do a bit more reading up on how I can use it but thought it was a pretty cool addition to the project.

Also managed to score some foam tiles for the obsy so thats the next project in there I think.

So the more I look into this, it seems it would be great for controlling mains voltage actuators - but lacks the fidelity I want, since the output from the sensors is nothing more than terminals I feel a arduino nano tucked in the box on the right and a relay control board would give me more control and better integration with software so might not even use the main controller.

The expanding bolts in the concrete blocks was a fail, they wont expand fully and grip the block as they just spin (despite using the correct size drill etc.) I now have the PITA job of trying to get them out of the holes. I have a set of Resin anchor bolts arriving in the post tomorrow which I am hoping will do better, they are the type with the hex head on the top to stop them spinning when I tighten down the pier so fingers crossed by tomorrow night the pier will be mounted and some pipe for a cable run will be underneath the deck.

Picked up a bit of a bargain at the carboot today (if it works).

As it stands the unit will change four outputs based on windspeed and/or rain. Not sure if I will use the interface box on the left or just just the sensors on the right and try to interface with them in some otherway (maybe even get some data logging going on)

I need to do a bit more reading up on how I can use it but thought it was a pretty cool addition to the project.

Also managed to score some foam tiles for the obsy so thats the next project in there I think.

Swept up and got the pier in place to get a feel for it. Its probably a little high but only having a tiny frac on it for now so im actually pretty happy as it means I should be able to see over the base ring easily and capture the low southern sky if needed.

Next job, drilling holes

My love for alexa has returned so will be installing a wireless repeater, echo dot and RGB bulb in that light fitting, so "Alexa, observatory lights to 10%" should give me a nice dim red glow when needed. I can also switch them off from indoors if I forget. Ill tie this into the rest of the automation when its ready and maybe even write some custom skills for opening dome roof and positioning.

I am also toying with the idea of painting the inside of the dome a darker colour - is this a good or bad idea? I feel like it might make sense.

The peg in the pier adapter is going to need a new hole drilled and tapped too Its about 45 degrees out as it is

That took too long but almost at the finish line (pier wise)

Dug the hole as deep as I could before hitting stone and ended up shovelling out with a cup. First row of blocks held in with concrete and today have added two more courses of blocks + a slab.

Hopefully the mortar is going to set properly and not turn to dust like the last time I tried laying bricks :D

Current plan is to drill the four holes for the pier and drop in some anchor bolts. Need to figure out how they work but should be straightforward. Bolts should go through the slab and grip into the block. The slab is levelish <2-3 degrees either way.

Ill tidy around the edge with some foam and fill the gap with deck boards - then centralise the dome around the pier before bolting that down.

Excuse the mess.

It's not the largest pier but its ~300kg all in on stone boulders so should be fairly stable.

This was the clip from the feed I watched, the youtube channel livestreams from South Padre 24/7!

Gives a better sense of scale than the spacex feed.

58 minutes ago, Astroscot2 said:

Well done Space X with the successful test of the starhopper - loving the progress Space X are making …,

 

Regards

Mark

Was great to watch! Especially after the scrub at T+.8 the day before.

I don't know why but somehow the Starhopper launch felt even more exciting than a full scale launch - I think its the fact that it was quite raw, I had been watching a live feed from a few km away and seeing cranes moving around, bits getting taken off and put back together really drove home how experimental and unknown alot of this tech still is.