Yawning Angel

9 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Do you know how long it is?

It's 30mm, stainless

17 minutes ago, JamesF said:

That might just be slim enough to do the job

It has an OD of 13mm.  I've one spare if it'll help?

8 hours ago, JamesF said:

I'm pretty sure the hole goes all the way through rather than being blind

You could keep it contained in the adapter by drilling out the underside to take the head of an M10 cap head.

A stainless stud connector on an M10 bolt, for ref:

I suggested a stud connector to Stacey, but maybe, from your description, there isn’t the clearance to fit it?

Another option is to grind a point on the bolt, like a grub screw, and let it bite into the aluminium bottom of the hole?

Looking smart! Those adapters are beautifully made 😀 If you need more diameter for the bolt, try threading on a ‘stud connector’. They are either hex sided or smooth. Should be about £1 on eBay

On 13/05/2019 at 10:03, Yawning Angel said:

spur feeding the pier's 240V, but I've not tried getting that down the duct yet...I imagine it's going to take some effort

The twin and earth is in place - It wasn't too bad to pull except the obs was quite warm after a cloudless day. 

On 09/05/2019 at 09:41, Yawning Angel said:

a drag strap

As @JamesF found, searching eBay for 'Drag strap' is a eye opener! Just to clarify, it's a DOOR-PULL-STRAP like you'd get in a stripped out car for closing the doors. 

9 hours ago, JamesF said:

You do not want to search ebay for "drag strap"

So, I checked my ebay history....it's a pull strap, sorry! Link for anyone looking for similar DOOR-PULL-STRAP (Sorry it's too late to save your eyes, James!)

You should find that a Win10 box can be correctly powered off from an RDP session. It still doesn't do WoL natively, but the solarwinds solution is quite robust. There are also fully featured Microsoft RDP client apps on both iOS and Android, along with WoL apps, so you can manage the process from a phone or tablet

As a side project, it might be worth considering virtualizing the old XP box and running it on fresh hardware - it then becomes a simple thing to backup and restore, along with being pretty hardware agnostic

Looks like they where waiting till you'd sealed the floor 🙂

Happy tile laying!

A money-pit of observatories?

A little more work this weekend, when not enjoying the sunshine:

The desk needed finished, so I took it out, trimmed one edge where it was a little tight and drilled 2 60mm holes for cable access. Then sanded the whole thing (it's 28mm furniture board) and applied beeswax with 0000 grade wire wool. Buffed that after it dried and gave it a second coat with a cloth. Polished that up, job done! I've some table grommets ready to drop in to make it look all posh 🙂 

The electrickery continued too, I ran the 12V cable out to the pier, which was the first try of the underfloor duct - the draw rope I left in worked, which had been a worry since it was quite thick nylon rope left over from holding the roof tarp on. It did also mean I needed to cut holes in the carpet tile over the duct. The cable is 25 amp rated, 2mm², and will be fed from a Nevada PSW-30 hiding in the warm room. 

On a cabling roll, I fed a second twin and earth through the trunking back to the box for the spur feeding the pier's 240V, but I've not tried getting that down the duct yet...I imagine it's going to take some effort

I then moved to networking, and terminated the incoming SWA into patch panel, along with the first 2 network sockets, fed that into it's round place in the comms cabinet, connected it all up and tested - it works! Quite pleased with how well the cabinet fits under the desk too, snug like it was made for it!

With that working, I connected up the wireless access point and a spare PTZ webcam, connected the LED controller to the WiFi, set up a smart plug on the inspection light's socket and plumbed it all into Amazon Alexa. Resulting in "Alexa, turn on the observatory lights". This makes the IT geek in me smile 

Desk's-eye view - no, it's not in the final position, just a test 🙂 There'd be more pictures, but for 2 things. 1) Wires wires and more wires isn't very photogenic and 2) I forgot...which is the real reason

There is still loads to do, but things are getting ticked off the list. The mountain of bits and pieces I've been tripping over in the house for months is starting to dwindle as they get installed

The same then, thank you. No tape it is! 🙂

46 minutes ago, wimvb said:

It certainly has given me inspiration to start on my own build

I can only echo these words. Without this thread, and @JamesF 's I wouldn't be building mine!

Thanks @Merlin66& @Astrokev, that seems like sound advice and it saves me a job 🙂

It may make a difference that my tiles are spongy foam rubber, rather than solid - but it's easier to tape them if it need, rather than remove it if it's a problem

On 08/05/2019 at 00:47, JamesF said:

You might have to buy some more kit to fill it up

The universal law will surely apply -  "Stuff expands to fill the available space" ?

A little more detail: The trunking is 100mm x 50mm with 3 segregated channels inside - top to bottom I'm running Mains, 12V and network. I'm thinking to punch through the wall into the scope room, and extent the trunking a meter with a couple of sockets 'just in case'. They have a great selection at TLC Electrical Supplies

As I was installing the electrics during the day, I planned on rolling the roof off for daylight, while the power was off. Calamity, the roof wouldn't budge! It seems that my tight tolerances between the wooden roof beams and the V rail had been gobbled up by the natural movement and settling of the wood ? 

All was not lost, however - as the roof isn't inherently captive, I was easily able to jack it up, add some spacers under the wheel bolts then drop it down. It now glides effortlessly again, panic over!

Since I was working on the roof, I also installed a drag strap to the inside frame, to save me reaching up to open and close it. Something I'd had sitting in the bits pile since spotting it on eBay in about November!

They’ve been up to 40degree in direct sun. Even without sticking them, they didn’t seem appreciable effected. I’m just thinking of them not lifting and becoming an unseen trip hazard ?

That said, the grab on that tape is quite aggressive, as I found when I tried to lift a carpet tile I’d laid wrong! It can only help

I’ve not done yet, in case it needs lifting before the end, but I will - same as the warm room tiles, TESA tape, great stuff

TESA double side - Amazon link

I used left over paint from outside - so another yes for “seal the floor”? If it’s normal ply, one spilt coffee and it’ll might start delaminating

Have you tried annealing the printed parts? There are pros and cons, but it's the added strength and closer layers might help

In goes the desk (first fit) along with the trunking, mains sockets and network cabling in the warm room

I was intending to change hats after my networking success, and continue sanding and treating shelving, but I really didn’t want to get changed into scruffs!

Thus I did more techie work, and started the mission control board

12V power distribution block, PC, Dew controller(usb controlled) and PC power brick, 1st draft layout. To this I need to add a USB hub on the right. Inputs will come in the bottom, scope connections out of the top. The whole board is going into this :

This construct is going to be floor mounted, next to the pier. I toyed with getting a metal enclosure, but I wanted a clear door. The ‘locks’ can be swapped to proper keyed ones, but as it’s plastic I’m not sure if it’s worth it 

Network!

A step closer, the wiring in of the CAT6 SWA network cable. It seems a long time since I was laying this underground, but now : 1Gbps connection straight to the broadband hub!

So this is the official 'first post' from the observatory itself!

Back on the subject of rails: if I were back at the planning stage, I'd be looking at linear guide rails (C-rails) instead of V / C grooved. The guide rails have the advantages of making the roof 'captive', along with being able to keep the rail on the outside so removing the water ingress problem. Looks a little more expensive, but it does remove the need for hold-down clamps and any engineering of your own captive system

That is a thing of beauty, well done! It should be on display in the finished build ?